Musician of Sparklehorse fame takes own life outside Knoxville home

Photo by Michael Falco/New York Times

Mark Linkous, right, leads the band Sparklehorse Feb. 28, 2007 at Webster Hall in New York City. Linkous committed suicide in Knoxville March 6, 2010.

KNOXVILLE - Rock groups that include Radiohead and rock journals ranging from Rolling Stone to New Musical Express are paying tribute today to singer and songwriter Mark Linkous, who committed suicide over the weekend in Knoxville.

Linkous, 47, shot himself with a rifle in the chest about 1:20 p.m. Saturday outside a North Knoxville house on Irwin Street, according to the Knoxville Police Department.

Linkous' friend, Parice Minor, told police Linkous was moving in with him when he told Minor he was going for a walk after getting a text message with bad news, according to records. Minor later heard a gunshot.

According to the report, Linkous had been drinking.

Linkous, frontman for Sparklehorse, was among the artists who performed last year at Knoxville's inaugural Big Ears Festival.

Radiohead's Colin Greenwood posted a message on the band's Web site about Linkous:

"I was very sad to hear the news that Mark Linkous has died. He and his band toured with us in Europe, at the start of OK Computer, and they were great every night. His first two records were very important to me, and I carried his music from the tour into my life, and my friends' lives too. He was softly spoken, with an Old South courtesy I hadn't heard before: he introduced me to Daniel Johnston's music, and the West Virginian writing of Pinckney Benedict. Mark wrote and played some beautiful music, and we're lucky to have it. Rest in Peace."

More details as they become available online and in Tuesday's News Sentinel.

© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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