Mark Lanegan passed away this week at the age of 57. Several musicians, including Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder and Isobel Campbell, have paid tribute to the former Screaming Trees frontperson, solo artist and collaborator.
One of Lanegan’s many esteemed friends and collaborators was Nick Cave, who invited Lanegan to sing ‘White Light/White Heat’ and ‘Fire and Brimstone’ with himself and Warren Ellis on the Lawless soundtrack (2012). Lanegan supported Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds on the band’s 2013 Australian tour.
In a new post on The Red Hand Files, Cave recalls that he and Lanegan met in the 1990s and “engaged in some extremely dubious escapades.” Cave describes Lanegan’s cover of the Bad Seeds’ ‘Brompton Oratory’ (from 2013’s Imitations) as “astonishing” and his “favourite ever Nick Cave cover.” He also describes duetting with Lanegan on the Bad Seeds’ ‘The Weeping Song’ during the 2013-14 tour.
“[He] walks onto the stage, plants himself at the mic stand, one tattooed fist halfway down the stand, the other resting on top of the mic, immobile, massive, male,” Cave writes. “When the time comes to sing, he simply opens his mouth and releases a blues, a blues lived deeply and utterly earned, and that voice tears right through you, his sheer force on stage absolutely humbling.”
Watch footage of the performance below. Cave ends the post by saying, “A greatness, Mark, a greatness – a true singer, a superb writer and beautiful soul, loved by all.”
