Vic Chesnutt Reported Dead

Singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt has been reported dead after slipping into a coma on Thursday. Chunklet‘s Henry Owings took to Twitter two hours ago with the following message:

RIP Vic Chesnutt…

The A.V. Club’s Josh Modell posted the information an hour later, but was skeptical in declaring Chesnutt dead due to the source of the news. Still, just a short while ago, The Athens Blur blogazine posted that Chesnutt had indeed passed. However, the website did not say where the information came from. It might be too soon to say if indeed Chesnutt is dead, and Modell has every reason to be skeptical considering the number of false deaths reported via Twitter over the past year.

Chesnutt’s label, Constellation Records, did confirm the musician’s hospitalization. There are rumors that Chesnutt attempted suicide, though they are unconfirmed.

Chesnutt has been an icon in the Athens, Georgia music community for nearly three decades. His latest album, 2009’s At The Cut, was released to positive reviews and was followed by a fall tour featuring members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Silver Mt. Zion and Guy Picciotto of Fugazi.

UPDATE (12:42 AM EST): Creative Loafing’s Atlanta Music Blog is also reporting that Chesnutt has died. However, they’re attributing the information to Southern Shelter, which, at the moment, has no information on Chesnutt’s alleged death.

UPDATE (12:51 AM EST): Billboard is reporting that Chesnutt has passed. Their source is Henry Owings, who broke the news on Twitter earlier this evening. Billboard has said that the family has yet to release a statement, so at this time Owings is the only official source.

UPDATE (11:37 AM EST): There is new information this morning that Chesnutt is alive. Family and those close to Chesnutt have confirmed that he remains in a coma. Read more about it here.

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