Elliott Smith
Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. Raised primarily in Texas, he lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he gained popularity in the 1990s. Smith's primary instrument was the guitar, though he also played piano, clarinet, bass guitar, drums, and harmonica. His work was distinguished by his "whispery, spiderweb-thin" vocal style, his "artful chord changes," and his themes of "addiction, depression, and alienation.". The New Musical Express (NME) described him as a "widely adored singer-songwriter," who "touched countless lives with his compelling musicianship and lyricism."
After playing in the rock band Heatmiser for several years, Smith began his solo career in 1994, with releases on the independent record labels Cavity Search and Kill Rock Stars (KRS). In 1997, he signed a contract with DreamWorks Records, for which he recorded his final two albums. Smith's song "Miss Misery", recorded for the film Good Will Hunting (1997), was nominated for the 1998 Academy Award for Best Original Song.
A recovering heavy drinker and drug user, Smith was also diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression. His struggle with substances and mental illness affected his life and work, and often appeared in his lyrics. He died at his Los Angeles home from two stab wounds to the chest at age 34 in 2003. The autopsy evidence did not determine whether the wounds were self-inflicted. At the time of his death, Smith was working on his album From a Basement on the Hill, which was posthumously produced and released in 2004.
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