Coroner Duane Northrup has announced the cause of death of ex-Wilco member Jay Bennett and it seems his recent hip surgery was likely related to the tragedy. Billboard reports (via The Daily Swarm) that Bennett overdosed on Fentanyl, a painkiller commonly prescribed following surgery and for chronic pain. His death is believed to be an accident at this point.
In Bennett’s final blog post on MySpace, he discussed his struggle with chronic pain and joint problems after he tore his ACL stage diving at a Titanic Love Affair gig. Despite insurance troubles, Bennett had scheduled the surgery and, according to unconfirmed sources, the surgery was performed in the weeks prior to his death.
This is very sad news, but also a testament to the fact that Bennett literally may have died as a result of rocking as hard as he could.