Well, 2009 is over, and after a rough year in which way too many music legends passed away, the final week on the calendar was no different, with several musicians tragically not making it to see 2010.
The most shocking of this week’s deaths was that of wheelchair-bound singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt at age 45. The critically heralded Georgia cult rocker, who was paralyzed in a car accident at age 18 in 1983 and went on to make a series of dark folk albums for nearly three decades, had worked with admirers like Michael Stipe of R.E.M., members of Widespread Panic and Lambchop, Throwing Muses‘ Kristin Hersh, Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto, jazz great Bill Frisell, and Van Dyke Parks. He was extremely prolific, releasing two albums in 2009 alone. Chesnutt died on Christmas Day, two days after lapsing into a coma after overdosing on muscle relaxants. The troubadour’s label, Constellation Records, posted a statement on its website that read: “Vic transformed our sense of what true character, grace, and determination are all about.”
While it is unclear whether Chesnutt’s death was the result of an accidental overdose or a suicide attempt, the Associated Press reported that Chesnutt had recently been hit with a lawsuit by a Georgia hospital over $70,000 in surgery bills that his medical insurance did not cover. A distressed Chesnutt told the Athens Banner-Herald that this legal battle shocked his Canadian bandmates, revealing to the newspaper in an October 2009 interview: “There’s nowhere else in the world that I’d be facing the situation I’m in right now. [My bandmates] cannot understand what kind of society would inflict that on their population. It’s terrifying.”
In other sad news, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, drummer for metalcore band Avenged Sevenfold (who were currently at work on their fifth album), was found dead in his Huntington Beach, California home on Monday. He was 28 years old. “It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we tell you of the passing today of Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan,” the band posted on its website. “Jimmy was not only one of the world’s best drummers, but more importantly he was our best friend and brother.” While Sullivan had a well-known reputation for rock ‘n’ roll debauchery, as of this writing authorities are reporting that he appears to have died of natural causes. The Orange County Coroner’s Office’s initial autopsy was inconclusive, and the results of additional toxicology, microscopic, and laboratory tests will not be ready for several weeks.
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