Photo: Ebet Roberts/Redferns
Nanci Griffith has died.
The folk singer-songwriter behind songs such as “Love at the Five and Dive” and “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness” has died, according to her management company. She was 68.
“Nanci Griffith was a master songwriter who took every opportunity to champion kindred spirits, including Vince Bell, Elizabeth Cook, Iris DeMent, Julie Gold, Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, Eric Taylor and Townes Van Zandt,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, in a statement. “Her voice was a clarion call, at once gentle and insistent.”
“Her brilliant albumThe Last of the True Believersis a template for what is now called Americana music, and her Grammy-winning Other Voices, Other Rooms is a compelling guide to 20th-century folk songs,” Young added. “Nanci offered gifts that no one else could give.”
No cause of death was provided.
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Nominated for fourGrammy Awardsthroughout her life, her albumOther Voices/Other Roomstook the award for contemporary folk album at the 1993Grammy Awards.
Several country artists shared their condolences and tributes for the late artist.
“Today i am just sad man. I lost one of my idols,“tweetedDarius Rucker. “One of the reasons I am in Nashville. She blew my mind the first time I heard Marie and Omie.” And singing with her was my favorite things to do.”
Griffith was raised in Austin, Texas and performed alongside her backing band The Blue Moon Orchestra. She released a total of 18 albums, including her last one,Intersection, in 2012. Her most commercially successful records wereLone Star State of Mind.andLittle Love Affairs.
source: people.com
