This past week singer-songwriter Mark Lanegan passed away. He was 57 years old. Several musicians have shared kind words about Lanegan on social media, with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder addressing a live crowd about Lanegan’s passing. In also reflecting on his life, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl has recently shared some words about Mark Lanegan.
In a conversation with The Independent on February 23rd, Grohl spoke to the talent that the late Lanegan displayed in his art. Grohl said, “It was so pure and so real. If he sang about pain, you believed it and if he sang about love, you believed it.”
Grohl continued, “If you know anything about his story, or have read any of his books, you’ll understand why he sang what he did and why he sang it the way that he did. There was nobody like him. In Seattle he was much loved.”
Grohl also shared a personal story involving him and Lanegan. “When I first joined Nirvana I was living with Kurt [Cobain] in our tiny apartment – one weekend he said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna go up to Seattle for the weekend and hang out with a friend, do you want to come?’
“We went up to stay with his friend Dylan and we went to a show. I passed out on the couch and woke up in the morning and opened my eyes and Mark Lanegan was sitting in a chair right across from me. His first words to me were, ‘Who the f*** are you?’”
Grohl continues, “I had just discovered his first solo album, which is a f***ing masterpiece. It’s one of my most influential records. I didn’t necessarily know him as the Screaming Trees singer, I just knew him as himself. It’s heartbreaking.”
Mark Lanegan was born on November 25th, 1964 in Ellensburg, Washington.
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Words by: Michael Pementel
