Musician Nell Smith, an up-and-coming singer recognized for collaborating with The Flaming Lips, has died at 17 years previous, the sufferer of a automotive accident.
Smith’s household confirmed her loss of life in an Instagram put up on Tuesday, the place they wrote, “It pains us so much to say that our feisty, talented, unique, beautiful daughter was cruelly taken from us on Saturday night.”
“We are reeling from the news and don’t know what to do or say,” Smith’s household went on. “She had so much more to experience and to give this world but we are grateful that she got to experience so very much in her 17 years. She has left an indelible mark on the word and an unfillable chasm in our hearts.
“Hold your kids extra tight tonight and for now please leave us to work through things. We will shout when we need you. Jude, Rachel, Jed and Ike.”
The Flaming Lips’ frontman, Wayne Coyne, was one of many first to share the tragic information, mourning his former collaborator Sunday throughout a live performance in Portland, Oregon.
In keeping with the The Hollywood Reporter, Coyne informed the viewers, “We have a very sad announcement to make tonight.”
Jim Dyson by way of Getty Pictures
“We have a Canadian friend, her name is Nell. We recorded an amazing album with her three years ago, an album full of songs by Nick Cave,” he mentioned. “We have some very sad messages today — she was killed in a car accident last night.”
“We are reminded once again of the power of music and how encouraging it can be to be around people that you love,” Coyne concluded, earlier than paying tribute to Smith with the music “Suddenly Everything Has Changed.”
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Smith cast a friendship with Coyne and the band after attending one in every of their 2018 live shows sporting a parrot costume, a lot to the singer’s amusement.
In the course of the pandemic, Coyne inspired the teenager to be taught guitar, paving the best way for her to work on an album of Nick Cave covers with The Flaming Lips.
The 2021 album, “Where the Viaduct Looms,” ended up incomes the eye of the goth rock icon himself, who praised Smith for her rendition of “Girl in Amber.”
“Nell shows a remarkable understanding of the song, a sense of dispassion that is both beautiful and chilling,” Cave wrote on his web site, The Crimson Hand Information. “I just love it. I’m a fan.”
Smith had been readying herself for the 2025 launch her debut solo album.
