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Gerard Smith, second left

April 20, 2011

Link

TV On The Radio's bassist Gerard Smith has died of lung cancer.

A statement was posted on the band's official site, Tvontheradio.com, confirming that Smith passed away on April 20th.

The band said: "We are very sad to announce the death of our beloved friend and bandmate, Gerard Smith, following a courageous fight against lung cancer. Gerard passed away the morning of April 20, 2011. We will miss him terribly."

They also cancelled a series of forthcoming shows:

St. Andrew Halls, Detroit MI (April 20)
Metro, Chicago IL (22)
First Ave, Minneapolis MN (23)
First Ave, Minneapolis MN (24)
Ogden, Denver CO (26)

Smith was diagnosed with the disease after the band finished recording their new album Nine Types Of Light, which was released on April 11.

[Edited 4/21/11 9:52am]

That's terrible news to hear, I love their music. I can only imagine it wasn't from smoking since he was younger than most victims of that cancer, it's a damn shame to because of his age. GOD bless his family, the group and his friends in their time of mourning.

Condolences to his family and to members of TV On The Radio.

Damn didn't they just release an album?

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Wow...Man, I'm sorry to hear this.....

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what??!! he was such a cool dude!!! i didn't know him that well, but the times i hung out with him, he was really cool. woah. okay... this is crazy. i didn't know he had cancer... wow.

i have a picture of a cat he drew me. i said, how did you know i loved cats? i think he said he loved cats too.

[Edited 4/20/11 20:31pm]

My condolences to the family, friends, and fans of this musician. I wasn't familar with the band or their music, but the fact they've been making a name for themselves, and are a serious band, makes me want to look up some of their music. I'm a bassist myself, so I definitely am going to go to youtube and check out their music.

A great loss. One of the top bands going right now. They reconfigure what can be black music.

Incredible band, and a tragic loss.

2freaky4church1 said:

A great loss. One of the top bands going right now. They reconfigure what can be black music.

sad

i just saw them a few weeks ago and they were excellent

their new album is great!!

black music? why does a band with black singers always have to get called 'black music'?

can't music just be music?

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He was so unbelievably thin and unrecognizable in this group shot. Although hie didn't enjoy a lengthy life, the suffering ended and the music lives on.