What effect did the deaths of two close friends have on Screaming Trees and Queens of the
Stone Age Singer Mark Lanegan?
And what caused his own tragic death at the age of just 57?
Mark Lanegan was born on November 25, 1964, in Ellensburg, Washington, with a complication:
His umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck.
Even after that was corrected, his home life wasn't great, according to the Guardian.
His mother was abusive and his father was an alcoholic, and they went their separate
ways when Lanegan was just in elementary school.
Lanegan said that his mother took her troubles out on him.
His father, on the other hand, was what he called "a good-hearted, caring man who means
well but could not control me."
By the time he was 12 years old, Lanegan had already started drinking and gambling, and
five years later, he was an alcoholic who had a lengthy rap sheet that included charges
for vandalism, drug possession, breaking and entering, fraud, and underage drinking.
Lanegan was longing for a sense of adventure.
According to Variety, it was then when he decided the best way to do that was with Screaming
Trees.
He wrote in "Sing Backwards and Weep," his memoir,
"I would never find any of it in this dusty, isolated cow town.
If the band could get me out, could get me into that life I so craved, it was worth any
indignity, and hardship, any torture."
"I had a job working for these people and their kids had a band, and they rehearsed
in the back room, and I became friends with them."
Mark Lanegan and fellow Washington native, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, had a genuine
friendship.
Sadly, Cobain took his own life in 1994, and the loss was devastating.
The Sun reported Lanegan felt a sense of guilt after his friend's passing, as he often bought
heroin for Cobain.
Lanegan wrote in his memoir,
"At heart, I was just a sick f---ing enabler."
He also stated that Cobain called him several times on the day he died, but he ignored him,
as he didn't want to be involved with his issues with his wife, Courtney Love.
He told Vice,
"The shame of my life is that I just f---ing sat there and listened to him speak into my
answering machine three times that day."
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lanegan said that Cobain looked up to him, and he
regretted not providing him the guidance that he needed, saying,
"I just was a guy who became one of those people that would go out and buy drugs for
his more famous friends who couldn't go out in public.
That was hard to reconcile, and it will always be.
I could have been a different kind of person, and I wasn't."
The death of Cobain led Lanegan to reevaluate his life, and Cobain's widow was instrumental
as well.
Love gave him material about the Musicians' Assistance Program, which later became part
of MusiCares, an organization that aids musicians in getting clean.
Love helped him by paying his rent for three months, and she also sent him a letter that
read,
"Kurt loved you as a big brother and would have wanted you to live."
Lanegan was always open about his struggle with drugs, particularly heroin, and it was
so bad that he had rotten teeth and was even homeless at one point, according to NME.
In 1997, he was charged with drug possession after authorities spotted him during an alleged
drug deal, and he was found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia as well.
However, the charges were later dropped because the amount of drugs involved was below the
minimum requirement for prosecution, MTV reported.
Lanegan stated that at his worst, he was on all sorts of drugs, telling the Tampa Bay
Times,
"I was very ill at the end.
Heroin, crack, just about everything.
I was a hard-core heroin addict for several years, that was the main thing, but I did
just about everything."
Lanegan watched his friends die of drugs, and he admitted that he almost died several
times.
Fortunately, he was able to kick his drug habit after spending time at a rehabilitation
center and in recovery homes.
Chef Anthony Bourdain's death was another devastating blow to Mark Lanegan.
The two communicated through phone and email before they met, and they had a solid friendship.
Lanegan — together with Queens of the Stone Age bandmate Josh Homme — also provided
the theme song for Bourdain's show "Parts Unknown."
In an interview with Vice, Lanegan said that it was Bourdain who pushed him to write a
memoir.
In fact, he wasn't too keen on releasing a "stupid f---ing bio" but the chef encouraged
him to do so.
Lanegan had written only a few chapters of his memoir when Bourdain took his own life
in 2018.
After that, he knew that he had to finish his book to honor his friend.
Lanegan wrote a tribute to Bourdain in The Guardian, where he said that writing his book
was "like climbing Everest" but Bourdain was greatly supportive.
He wrote,
"I'd sent chapters to him before my editor, and he'd reply with comments and suggestions.
That was the kind of person he was — always giving, always wanting to support people."
He also told The Australian that losing Bourdain was like losing a part of himself because
the chef always encouraged him and had such a positive force.
He dedicated "Sing Backwards and Weep" to Bourdain and the friends he lost by writing,
"For Tony / And all my other absent friends."
"I miss some of the guys that were around then, that aren't around anymore, you know.
Some of my friends.
But, you know, that's life."
On February 22, 2022, news of Mark Lanegan's death was officially announced on his Twitter
account.
The tweet stated:
"Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland."
No other details were shared.
He was 57 years old.
In 2021, Lanegan contracted COVID-19, and he shared that he nearly lost his life.
He suffered from temporary hearing loss and was in a month-long induced coma.
In addition, he also had other conditions and was on kidney dialysis.
He likewise told Heavy Consequence he suffered from a perpetually injured knee.
While in recovery, Lanegan wrote another memoir, titled "Devil in a Coma," that chronicled
his horrible experience battling COVID-19.
He told Louder Than War,
"I actually started writing it while I was still going through it because I had months
of hospitalization and ... a bit of time on my hands."
As of the making of this video, it is not known whether or not his recent illnesses
had anything to do with his death.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available.
Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact
SAMHSA's National Helpline
at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).