Nick Cave has paid tribute to the late Mark Lanegan, hailing him as a “beautiful soul”, who was “loved by all”.
Lanegan passed away in his Killarney home earlier this week aged 57. He was known as frontman for the band The Screaming Trees, along with his work with Queen of the Stone Age.
A cause of death is also unknown.
“voice tears right through you” – Cave Pays Tribute To Lanegan
Lanegan’s death led to an outpouring of grief. Artists such as Eddie Vedder, Manic Street Preachers, Tim Burgess, Dave Grohl and others all paid tributes.
Cave’s longtime collaborator Warren Ellis even paid homage to Lanegan. “Mark wherever you are I hope you hear the tears. True gentleman. One of the great voices. Love to your loved ones. Warren x”.
Now, it was Nick Cave’s turn. Cave had worked with Lanegan on copious collaborations over the years.
“I encountered Mark many times over the years — we engaged in some extremely dubious escapades back in the ’90s; he sang ‘White Light/White Heat’ and ‘Fire and Brimstone’ with Warren [Ellis] and me on the Lawless soundtrack; he recorded my favourite ever Nick Cave cover — an astonishing version of ‘Brompton Oratory’; we did something together for the Jeffrey Lee Pierce record, I think; and he toured and hung out with us on The Bad Seeds’ 2013 Australian tour”, Cave wrote.
“Go online and watch Mark sing Blixa’s ‘father’ part with me in ‘The Weeping Song’ on that tour”.
You can check out that performance in question below.
Nick Cave continued, “As a frontman, I move around a lot on stage, I can’t help it, it is a habitual nervous thing, a kind of neurotic compensation for a voice I have never felt that comfortable with”.
“But watch Mark, watch how he walks onto the stage, plants himself at the mic stand, one tattooed fist halfway down the stand, the other resting on top of the mic, immobile, massive, male. When the time comes to sing, he simply opens his mouth and releases a blues, a blues lived deeply and utterly earned, and that voice tears right through you, his sheer force on stage absolutely humbling”.
“A greatness, Mark, a greatness — a true singer, a superb writer and beautiful soul, loved by all. Love Nick”.
