Saturday, August 23, 2003

from pitchforkmedia.com....
"Alternative Tentacles has reported that Chicago's most prolific street singer, Wesley Willis, peacefully passed away yesterday evening in his hometown. Willis, who suffered from schizophrenia and Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, was brought to a Chicago hospital to undergo emergency surgery at the beginning of June to supress some internal bleeding, but his health had reportedly been deteriorating since. He was 40 years old.

Wesley Willis' recordings were strikingly unique, a textbook example of what music journalist Irwin Chusid has termed "outsider music" due to its similarities to outsider and folk art. Willis began to gain national recognition for his unusual songs-- on which he was often notoriously backed only by a Casio keyboard-- that routinely paid homage to musicians whose work he appreciated. He managed to score minor hits in the early-to-mid 90s with two of these, "Alanis Morissette" and "Kurt Cobain".

Jello Biafra-- ex-Dead Kennedys mouthpiece, Alternative Tentacles founder and dear friend to Wesley-- stated in a press release today that Willis "will go down as one of the most unique songwriters and entertainment personalities in history. His music, lyrics, drawings, insight and the way he put them together are like no one else. Ever. There will never be another."

Willis recorded more than fifty full-length albums for various labels during his lifetime, the most recent of which, Full Heavy Metal Jacket, was released via the Artist Workshop label in 2001. He has also released two greatest hits CDs, with a third volume due out on Alternative Tentacles in October."


this is depressing.

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