Nell Smith, musician who collaborated with Flaming Lips, dies at 17

Canadian musician Nell Smith, who collaborated with the Flaming Lips, has died at age 17. 

Simon Raymonde, a co-founder of the report label Bella Union, confirmed her dying Monday on Instagram. 

“We’re all shocked and devastated to listen to of the sudden and tragic passing of our artist and pricey buddy Nell Smith, over the weekend in British Columbia,” Raymonde wrote. “Nell was simply 17 and was making ready for the discharge of her first solo report in early 2025 on Bella Union, made in Brighton with Penelope Isles’ Jack and Lily Wolter.”

Smith got here into the highlight with the discharge of “The place the Viaduct Looms,” an album of Nick Cave tune covers recorded with the Flaming Lips in 2021. 

The label didn’t disclose a reason for dying. The Flaming Lips mentioned at a live performance Sunday in Portland, Oregon, that she died in a automobile accident. 

“We’ve got a really unhappy announcement to make tonight,” band chief Wayne Coyne mentioned, in response to video shared on social media. “We’ve got a Canadian buddy, her title is Nell, and we recorded an incredible album together with her three years in the past. … We obtained some very unhappy messages at the moment that she was killed in a automobile accident final night time, and we’re reminded as soon as once more of the ability of music and the way encouraging it may be to be round folks that you just love.”