David Berman, whose band Purple Mountains was to be one of the headliners at Raleigh’s Hopscotch Music Festival in September, has died.
Berman’s label, Drag City, posted the sad news on Twitter yesterday. It was confirmed by The New York Times.
Berman’s former band, Silver Jews, was legendary among indie-rock fans (an early incarnation included members of Pavement) and remained active from the early 1990s until well into the 2010s.
After a ten-year absence from music, Berman, who persevered through decades of well-documented mental-health and addiction issues, returned earlier this year with a new band, Purple Mountains, and a widely acclaimed album of the same name.
Beloved for his poetic lyrics and distinctive voice, Berman is being widely remembered and celebrated by fellow musicians and fans on social media.
No cause of death has been reported. Berman was fifty-two years old.
Watch Purple Mountains’ “All My Happiness Is Gone” video below.
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