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News Sun May 24 2009
Jay Bennett Dead at 45
Undertow Music Collective is reporting that former Wilco member Jay Bennett passed away in his sleep last night. Bennett was recently in the news for suing Jeff Tweedy over unpaid artist royalties.
Still developing... check back for updates.
UPDATE: Bennett's Wikipedia entry has been changed to say that he died after undergoing hip replacement surgery. He announced that he needed the surgery on his MySpace page just weeks before the suit of Tweedy--the timing raised some eyebrows since he reportedly did not have health insurance.
Jim DeRogatis has also confirmed the news after talking with Edward Burch, friend of Bennett. He also put together a nice chronicle of Bennett's musical career.
Greg Kot also has a nice tribute to Bennett and a "best of" roll.
Jeff Tweedy issued a statement on Monday that he is "deeply saddened by this tragedy."
5/26 UPDATE: An autopsy was performed on Bennett this morning, but more tests, including toxicology, are needed to determine a cause of death. It could be two weeks before these results are available.
kenny / May 24, 2009 10:35 PM
So, so sad. Jay truly was an immense talent, and there's no question that he brought something special to Wilco during his time with him that exceeded even that immense talent.