Mark Lanegan, Screaming Trees singer, dies at 57

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Seattle grunge pioneer Mark Lanegan has died. He started as lead singer of the band Screaming Trees in the 1980s.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

The hard rock group was best known for their single "Nearly Lost You," and Lanegan was known for his deep bass voice.

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(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NEARLY LOST YOU")

SCREAMING TREES: (Singing) I nearly lost you there.

MARTÍNEZ: In an interview with NPR in 2019, writer Mark Yarm, author of a book about grunge, described Screaming Trees this way.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

MARK YARM: They were led by Mark Lanegan, who's a big, brooding guy.

MARTIN: He says they had a reputation for getting in some fights.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

YARM: Amongst the grunge guys, they were kind of the rowdy bunch, I'd say.

MARTIN: Lanegan also sang with the band Queens of the Stone Age and co-wrote their hit "No One Knows."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NO ONE KNOWS")

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE: (Singing) We get some rules to follow.

MARTÍNEZ: Lanegan was 57. No cause of death was given. But in a recent book, he detailed a battle with COVID that put him in a coma for three weeks. He died at his home in Killarney, Ireland.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NO ONE KNOWS")

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE: (Singing) And I realize you're mine. Indeed a... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.