Elliott Smith

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Elliott Smith
Elliottjenn.jpg
Elliott Smith (right) with Jennifer Chiba
Background information
Birth name Steven Paul Smith
Born August 6, 1969 (age 54)
Instrument(s) guitar, vocals

Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. Smith originally came to prominence as the co-leader of the short-lived, alternative band Heatmiser. Concurrent to that band's run, Smith began a solo career that quickly eclipsed his original group both commercially and critically, which arguably led to the group's downfall by the end of the decade.

Smith was dating Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo's ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba, at the time of his apparent suicide on October 21, 2003. Smith's death was ruled a suicide, though an autopsy report did not rule out homicide.[1] Cuomo wrote the song "The Other Way", which appears on Weezer's Make Believe, in an effort to console Chiba.

Heatmiser's drummer, Tony Lash, worked with The Special Goodness and Organic Mechanic in 1996 and 2001, respectively. He also lived with Patrick Wilson in Portland, Oregon during the mid-90's.

Throughout 2021 and 2022, as Cuomo began planning what would eventually become the SZNZ series of EPs, Cuomo frequently described the planned winter-themed EP as "sad acoustic, Elliott Smith-style" music,[2][3][4] although the final product was noted by some critics as having diverged from that initial intent.[5][6]

  1. "Rocker's Autopsy Doesn't Rule Out Homicide" The Smoking Gun. 8 January 2004. https://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/rockers-autopsy-doesnt-rule-out-homicide
  2. Bienstock, Richard. "Weezer have four – yes, four – new albums in the works" Guitar World. 3 February 2021. https://www.guitarworld.com/news/weezer-have-four-yes-four-new-albums-in-the-works
  3. Richards, Will. "Weezer have four new albums in the works, one inspired by Elliott Smith" NME. 3 February 2021. https://www.nme.com/news/music/weezer-have-four-new-albums-in-the-works-one-inspired-by-elliott-smith-2871340
  4. Blistein, Jon. "Rivers Cuomo Teases Weezer’s Four-Album ‘Seasons’ Project on ‘Good Morning America’" Rolling Stone. 16 July 2021. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rivers-cuomo-weezer-seasons-1198252/
  5. Hudson, Alex. Exclaim!. 22 December 2022. https://exclaim.ca/music/article/weezers_sznz_winter_album_review
  6. Blistein, Jon. "Weezer Ring in the Solstice With Final ‘SZNZ’ EP ‘Winter’" Rolling Stone. 21 December 2022. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/weezer-release-final-sznz-ep-winter-1234651213/

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