Shawn Smith

Shawn Smith (October 28, 1965 – April 5, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and musician who was a member of several Seattle alternative and indie rock bands, such as Brad, Satchel, Pigeonhed and The Twilight Singers, as well as a solo artist. Smith cited Freddie Mercury, Prince and KISS as early influences. Other influences he noted are Steven Tyler, Bon Scott, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Andy Wood and Chris Cornell.Smith was born in Spokane, Washington in 1965 and attended high school in Bakersfield, California, relocating to Seattle in 1987. He befriended drummer Regan Hagar while both were working at Tower Records in the late ‘80s. The pair formed Satchel shortly thereafter, and eventually, formed Brad with Stone Gossard and Jeremy Toback. In an interview from 2014, Smith said that the main songwriters in Brad were he and Gossard.Brad would go on to release five studio albums during their career (Shame, Interiors, Welcome to Discovery Park, Best Friends?, and United We Stand) and Satchel would issue three studio albums (EDC, The Family, and Heartache and Honey), while both bands would share credit for a compilation (Brad vs. Satchel). Smith's only major chart hit came in 1999, when the British techno group Lo Fidelity Allstars remixed the Pigeonhed song "Battle Flag" and released it as a single. The song, credited to "Lo Fidelity Allstars feat. Pigeonhed", reached #6 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart in July 1999.In 2005, Smith unveiled a musical project called "The Diamond Hand" involving many musicians. He also has worked with Thaddeus Turner (formerly of Maktub and many other projects including Brad) under the name Forever Breakers. "From the North" was Shawn's newest band with core members of Malfunkshun (Regan Hagar, Kevin Wood, Cory Kane) and the lyrics left by the late Andrew Wood. Since 2006, the band has also been billed as "Power of Wings" and "Von Nord" (allegedly meaning "From the North" in German; whereas this actually reads "vom Norden" or "aus dem Norden"). Hagar has since been replaced by Seattle drummer Mike Hommel. The band changed its name in July 2008 to All Hail the Crown and planned to release new music under this banner.On April 14, 2010, the four surviving members of Mother Love Bone reunited for the first time in 20 years, with Smith serving as frontman, as part of a sold-out "Brad and Friends" evening at Seattle's Showbox.Smith died at his home in Seattle on April 5, 2019 of a heart condition related to high blood pressure. At the time of his passing, Smith was working on a new studio album with Brad.