Justin Townes Earle, Nashville-based singer/songwriter, passed away last week due to a possible drug overdose, according to a spokesperson for the Metro Nashville Police Department.
A friend of Earle’s contacted the police on Sunday after not hearing from Earle for three days. The Nashville Fire Department entered Earle’s home the same day and found the 38-year-old musician dead on arrival. An autopsy is forthcoming.
Justin Townes Earle’s History of Substance Abuse
Earle was no stranger to drug addiction, and struggled with substance abuse since the early age of 12. His attempts to get clean in rehab were successful for periods of time, but Earle relapsed on multiple occasions. Earle said that his addictions began when his parents separated, and later believed that drugs enhanced his work as a musician.
“I think I was dealing with a lot of things I didn’t know how to deal with, between my father leaving and my mother bringing in a slew of drunken bastard boyfriends to live with us for a little while … by the time I emerged from my parents’ household at 15 years old, I was a very fucked-up kid,” he told Rolling Stone in 2012. “I discovered very fast that my way of doing things was going to get me in trouble, and I kept going with it, because I believed the myth for a long time, and I believed I had to destroy myself to make great art.”
Artists and Friends Pay Tribute
As news broke of Justin Townes Earle’s passing, friends and fellow musicians sent thoughts and condolences as they paid respects to the talented musician who lost his life too soon.
[H/T Rolling Stone]
