http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1068430,00.html I haven't heard it confirmed by a real news source, but his website http://www.sweetadeline.net says it was suicide. This is terrible news. I'm stunned.

what a bummer. he had a heroine problem, didn't he?

That's really sad.

i suspected he was doing junk sarah, he and a girlfriend of ours hung out quite a bit and she has all the marks of a junkie and though nico insists she's not, I think otherwise. Knowing her relationship with us, she wouldnt tell us anyway. but in short, yes, junk was around his scene, so maybe.

This is sad. I read it on Yahoo! and immediately thought of Spider.

why is it so sad? (rhetorical) anyone could have seen it coming in his music. the guy ooozed self-inflicted death.

This totally bums me out. I may not have talked about him much here, but I LOVED Elliott Smith, and I always use him as the chief example of someone who deserves to be more famous. He was so talented...anyone with any taste at all would like his music. I can listen to "No Name No. 5" on repeat all day and not get tired of it. My best friend and I used to have long arguments over which was better, X/O or Figure 8, when we lived together. We never could decide. That man could make "everything means nothing to me" sound like the sweetest thing. Goddamnit.

It's sad when anyone dies, Patrick, and it's also sad because he won't make any more music ever again.

I heard "Needle in the Hay" today on our local college radio station. What an apt song. I always felt a great sadness and melancholy in his music. Some people are just too fragile to be artists. I'm glad I'm not one of them.

some people make great artists *because* they are so fragile.

I'm creeped out, because today I was just thinking about the scene in Royal Tenenbaums where Smiths "needle in the hay" is playing, as Richie attempts suicide... *shivers*

Yep. There's a fine line between being a genius and being a looney.

I wonder how many obituaries of Smith will have the words "Nick Drake" in there

all of them

HA! from a blog i frequent: "Maybe you have heard, maybe you haven't, Elliot Smith killed himself. I know you are 'fans' so I thought I'd be the one to break the news. If you need comfort, I think Insound and Epitonic are running helplines. Certainly don't come to me. That guy was an idiot. At first I thought he did it by listening to his own records. And then I read that he used a knife. What a loser way to die. Even Cobain, that self-absorbed vagina, used a gun. As far as I'm concerned, if you are a rockstar, you can go in one of the following ways: A) firearm B) horrible accident involving a car and/or pool C) pills Note that a knife doesn't even make the list. I guess since his tolerance was so high he'd have to clear out Pfizer to do C. That left A and B for him. But I guess using a knife just proves how indie he is. Does this mean I can rock my "I Killed Elliot Smith" shirt now? Or is that too ironic...or is that unironic? I can't tell."

oh shit, i just realized i know his girlfriend. the one who drove him to the hospital. rather than call 911. odd.

Maybe he was already dead. Plus, I think stabbing yourself in the chest is a pretty insane way to die. Lots more guts than blowing your head off, hari-kari style I guess.

I'm thinking "already dead" would be MORE of a reason to call 911 instead of driving to the hospital.

One article I read said that he was pronounced dead an hour after he was taken to the hospital. So there's your answer about that. He was still alive, barely, when they found him.

Elliot Smith. Rerun. What a bad week.

I can't get over the weird, violent way he died. What kind of pain do you have to be in to stab yourself?

you want the story? the wife got it first hand last night. she's known his girlfriend for sometime. first, she's a fucking manic nutball. second, she and elliott have had this emotional, dramatic table turning, door slamming, screaming "i hate you" type of relationship. typical for a manic and a depressed individual right? the wife has witnessed it herself in a bar one night. well. they were having one of those episodes. he had been making strides as of late, was off the depression pills and really on the upswing. during this episode she was really pressing him, for one reason or another. she, in her manic fury locked herself in the bathroom. he, went to the kitchen, got a steak knife. KAPUT! After some time (after her lithium kicked in?) she came out, found him, removed the knife, and drove him to a hospital on the other side of town. She may have been able to save his life if she called 911. pulling the knife out expedited his death most likely.

that'll teach her.

What a waste. Shoot, I had just gotten over re-mourning Glenn Quinn's heroin OD and the question of why people have to die senselessly, and now this. It makes me angry, but I don't know what I'm mad at.

If only people were careful and rational all the time.

"If only people were careful and rational all the time." god what a depressing thought.

yeah right. most of the time spider. *most* of the time. life gets boring when its safe and secure all the time.

If only people were careful and rational just enough not to cause stupid death.

Right, what he said.

that is seriously fucked up. fucking idiots.

Elliott Smith case not closed http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=795&ncid=799&e=3&u=/eo/20031231/en_music_eo/13198

Look at the smoking gun today,sounds like his girlfriend might have done it.

You better believe it. Why Didn't the girlfriends record all of the sudden not come out and the disbandment/ maybe becuase Jennifer Chiba Killed Elliott Smith.

I know it is a long time after this last post... I found this message board through a google research. I am trying to do a little research on the subject, because, for my own peace of mind, I would like to know exactly what happened that day of october. At the beginning I placed my confidence in the police because they were doing an investigation, but after all this time nothing new has come up! Does any of you has learnt or heard anything new? I wish people who know more than the official story would talk! I met Elliott a couple of times, I miss him very much and I want to know what happened to him. Thank you!

So, nothing to add to that tragedy?