Richard Swift, a musician best known for playing with the Shins, Black Keys, and the Arcs, passed away on Tuesday morning, his representative has confirmed.
He was 41 years old.
This sad piece of news was confirmed to Pitchfork, which writes that Swift died in Tacoma, Washington several hours ago.
Swift had been suffering from an undisclosed “life-threatening condition,” insiders have reported, as a GoFundMe was launched last month to pay for his medical expenses.
The musician was also a solo artist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist.
He played with the Shins from 2011–2016; was a touring bassist for the Black Keys in 2014; a drummer for Dan Auerbach’s side project the Arcs; and a keyboardist for Starflyer 59.
Swift’s extensive resume included work with Sharon Van Etten, Guster, Foxygen and others from across various genres.
“Today the world lost one of the most talented musicians I know,” Auerbach wrote on Instagram.
As you can see above, a post on Swift’s Facebook page reads as follows:
“And all the angels sing ‘Que Sera Sera.’”
In just 13 days las month, the aforementioned GoFundMe campaign raised over $ 87,000.
This is what it stated at the time:
“Dear friends of Swift, Richard needs your love and support now as he is up against some tough odds. He has been hospitalized due to a serious medical condition.
“He is receiving excellent care in Tacoma Washington and everything is being done to allow his body time to repair and heal.
“He is uninsured and the cost of the care he is getting is a lot. If you can afford to share the weight of this burden, it would be most deeply appreciated. Anything helps.
“Mostly, thank you for supporting our beloved Richard and his family.”
In an update just a few days later, Swift was seemingly doing a lot better.
Read this update:
“Thank you so much for your support, friends!! We are so grateful you have extended so much generosity and love to our beloved Swift.
“He has been making some progress the last two days and Drs are impressed with the way be has been responding to the care he’s been getting.
“I wanted to let you know I have set up your donations to go directly into Richard’s bank account so that bills can be paid and expenses met while he is staying in the hospital.”
Concluded this post:
“I will continue to post updates here. Thank you again for all your donations!! This campaign will not only help pay medical bills, your kind words and hope are very encouraging.
“It means the world to the whole family.”
Tragically, it’s now evident that Swift never did recover from this illness.
May he rest in peace.
