American singer, songwriter and musician, best-known as leader of Sparklehorse. Originally from Virginia, Linkous lived in North Carolina where he established the Static King Studio in Hayesville, NC. He was the first in his entire family to not be a coal miner.
Linkous cofounded indie band Dancing Hoods in the 1980s. Following their breakup, Linkous continued writing songs (notably “Sick of Goodbyes” with David Lowery, which appeared on Kerosene Hat by Cracker). Linkous founded Sparklehorse in 1995, who have since released four records.
In 1996, while supporting Radiohead on the first Sparklehorse tour, Linkous overdosed on alcohol, Valium and antidepressants and possibly other substances in his London hotel room [1]. Unconscious and with his legs pinned beneath him for almost fourteen hours, the resulting potassium buildup caused his heart to stop for several minutes after his body was lifted up. He was treated at St Mary’s Hospital, London. The following surgeries nearly caused him to lose both legs and left him wheelchair-bound for six months.
Most recently, Linkous released Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain in September 2006 through Sparklehorse, and the much anticipated Dark Night of the Soul album with the producer Danger Mouse, the director David Lynch and ten other musicians was released on the Internet in May 2009, as was a book of photographs by David Lynch to accompany the music.
Linkous committed suicide on March 6, 2010 with a single shotgun blast to the head. Linkous’ family members initially found him (still alive) after the shotgun blast. With extensive facial and cranial trauma to Linkous’ head (Linkous suffered a particularly devastating “blow-out”-type wound wherein the blast evacuated the back portion of his head), his family called police and an ambulance crew. Linkous lived for an additional three hours after the shotgun blast, but was later pronounced dead by ambulance EMT workers.
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