Athens, Georgia-based singer/songwriter Vic Chesnutt died today at the age of 45, as confirmed by his record label. A statement has not yet been released by his family, but this sad news follows numerous reports from yesterday that he was battling a coma after an overdose of muscle relaxants.
Former Chesnutt collaborator and Throwing Muses frontwoman Kristin Hersh has posted a number of heartbreaking reactions on her Twitter page, including statements that suggest his death was self-inflicted:
no one knows much: another suicide attempt, looks bad, coma—if he survives, there may be brain damage
this time, it’s real scary: *this* time, he left a note, *this* time, he asked them to call me
Hersh has also written a letter of remembrance about Chesnutt on a page set up for donations to help his family defray the cost of recent hospitalizations and his funeral here.