RIP Jay Reatard: 1980-2010
By: Thomas Hannan
Rockfeedback has had news that Jay Reatard tragically passed away in his sleep last night, at the ridiculously young age of 29. Memphis police have opened an investigation in to his death, suspecting homicide.
Born Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr. on May the 1st 1980, Jay achieved one heck of a lot in his short life, appearing on fourteen albums and three times as many seven inches with various bands, including two LPs and a pair of singles collections under his Jay Reatard moniker released on the Matador label. Such was his unashamedly bratty nature, he pissed off as many people as he counted as admirers, and for that very reason was definitely a force for good – we’ve lost a punk rocker, and the world is a poorer place for it.
We filmed Jay Reatard at the 2009 Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona. The footage is below, and striving to produce music that is the antithesis of “strummy bullshit acoustic records” is how we’ll remember him.
Artists in this article: Jay Reatard