“She has left an indelible mark on the word and an unfillable chasm in our hearts”: Teenage prodigy Nell Smith dies, aged 17
Flaming Lips collaborator was set to release debut album in 2025
Sad news from British Columbia in Canada. Nell Smith, the teenage prodigy who has worked with the Flaming Lips and was set to release her debut album on Bella Union in the New Year, has died. She was just 17.
The news was first announced by Bella Union label boss Simon Raymonde, on an Instagram post: “We are all shocked and devastated to hear of the sudden and tragic passing of our artist and dear friend Nell Smith, over the weekend in British Columbia,” Raymonde wrote.
“Nell was just 17 and was preparing for the release of her first solo record in early 2025 on Bella Union, made in Brighton with Penelope Isles’ Jack and Lily Wolter.”
A post shared by Simon Raymonde (@mrsimonraymonde)
A photo posted by on
More details came via Wayne Coyne who said that Smith had been killed in a car crash on Sunday night.
Addressing the audience at a Flaming Lips show in Portland, Oregon, Coyne said: ‘We have a very sad announcement to make tonight. We have a Canadian friend, her name is Nell. We recorded an amazing album with her three years ago, an album full of songs by Nick Cave.”
“We have some very sad messages today – she was killed in a car accident last night (October 6). We are reminded once again of the power of music and how encouraging it can be to be around people that you love.”
Smith first worked with the Lips when she was just 14 in 2019. She would attend the band’s gigs in a parrot costume and eventually struck up a friendship with them. A keen musician, she recorded an album of Nick Cave covers, showed it to the band who then added their own instrumental parts. The results were released as Where The Viaduct Looms in 2021.
Get the MusicRadar Newsletter
Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here.
Cave himself was impressed by the album. Speaking of her version of the song Girl In Amber he said: “I was going to say Nell Smith inhabits the song, but that’s wrong, rather she vacates the song, in a way that I could never do. Nell shows a remarkable understanding of the song, a sense of dispassion that is both beautiful and chilling. I just love it. I’m a fan.”
Undoubtedly Smith had a big future ahead of her, which makes the news even more cruel. Writing on social media, her parents said: “She had so much more to experience and to give this world but we are grateful that she got to experience so very much in her 17 years. She has left an indelible mark on the word and an unfillable chasm in our hearts.”
There’s no news yet on whether Smith’s debut album – which was pencilled in for early in 2025 – will now be released posthumously.
“It’s a beautiful instrument that suits many different styles of playing”: Lerxst celebrates 40 years of Rush’s Grace Under Pressure by unveiling Grace – a limited edition replica of Alex Lifeson’s Hentor Sportscaster
"For me (it’s) the last, most egregious oversight in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”: Tom Morello says he’ll “chew” his leg off to get this band in
Will Simpson is a freelance music expert whose work has appeared in Classic Rock, Classic Pop, Guitarist and Total Guitar magazine. He is the author of 'Freedom Through Football: Inside Britain's Most Intrepid Sports Club' and his second book 'An American Cricket Odyssey' is due out in 2025
“It’s a beautiful instrument that suits many different styles of playing”: Lerxst celebrates 40 years of Rush’s Grace Under Pressure by unveiling Grace – a limited edition replica of Alex Lifeson’s Hentor Sportscaster
"For me (it’s) the last, most egregious oversight in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”: Tom Morello says he’ll “chew” his leg off to get this band in