Vic Chesnutt dead at 45 after alleged suicide attempt

By Rick Griffin
Dec 25, 2009 10:41 PM

Vic Chesnutt, whose battles in multiple inner demons fueled a celebrated set of album releases, died in a Georgia hospital on Christmas day after a suspected suicide attempt left him in a coma earlier in the week.

Chesnutt was 45 and had lived in the Athens, Georgia area. His music career began after he lost the use of his legs in a car accident at 18, a situation that he said provided him focus as a musician.

But the physical and emotional challenges of the accident also fueled an adult life mired in depression, drug use, alcoholism and anxiety—demons that Chesnutt spoke and sang of frequently.

Tweets from former Throwing Muses singer Kristen Hersh—a longtime friend of Chesnutt—circulated among bloggers through the day on Christmas Eve.

Among her posts:

no calls in the night-well, only to talk about how much we love vic-and no news is good news…if we lose him i’ll have lost my equilibrium.

and later

yeah, i can tell you what i know, but no one knows much: another suicide attempt, looks bad, coma—if he survives, there may be brain damage.

Chesnutt’s death had been prematurely reported by several outlets, and Soundspike published an initial article on Chesnutt’s condition on Christmas Eve based on some of that reporting.

But later Christmas Day, Chesnutt’s record label, Constellation Records, issued a statement confirming Chesnutt’s death.

Surrounded by family and friends, Vic Chesnutt died in Athens Georgia this afternoon, Friday 25 December at 14:59.

In the few short years that we knew him personally, Vic transformed our sense of what true character, grace and determination are all about. Our grief is inexpressible and Vic’s absence unfathomable.

We will make more information available according to the wishes of Vic’s family and friends.

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