David Berman, the singer-songwriter best known for leading the long-running band Silver Jews, died Wednesday at the age of 52. Drag City, the Chicago record label that has released all of the group’s albums dating back to 1994’s Starlite Walker, confirmed the musician’s death. The label did not immediately reveal the cause of death.
“We couldn’t be more sorry to tell you this. David Berman passed away earlier today,” the label wrote in a statement. “A great friend and one of the most inspiring individuals we’ve ever known is gone. Rest easy, David.”
In July, Berman, called a “literary indie rock great” by Rolling Stone, released his first album in 11 years with the new project Purple Mountains. “What follows is a uniquely grizzly breakup album, depressed but resiliently clinging to a desire to see what possibilities might lurk past the next heartache,” wrote Rolling Stone‘s Jon Dolan. “It’s emotionally bare-knuckled.”
A cult hero due to his poetic lyrics and droll delivery, Berman was an early collaborator of future Pavement leader Stephen Malkmus and a fixture on Drag City as well as a published author.
Berman formed Silver Jews in 1989 with Malkmus and another future Pavement member, Bob Nastanovich. From 1994 through 2008, the band released six acclaimed full-lengths; of 1998’s American Water, Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield wrote, “It’s torture to pick just one highlight from such a flawless album.”
This story is developing