Biography
Mark Linkous recorded as Sparklehorse, a project based in Richmond, Virginia, active from 1995 until his death in 2010.[1] The name, he said, simply sounded good and loosely suggested a motorcycle.[1]
His albums were Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (1995), Good Morning Spider (1998), It's a Wonderful Life (2001), Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain (2006) and Dark Night of the Soul (2010, with Danger Mouse). A final record, Bird Machine, was completed after his death and released in 2023.[1]
His second album, Good Morning Spider (1998), was recorded after the London collapse in a 16-track home studio on a Virginia farm, built from thrift-store keyboards, a cheap sampler and other secondhand gear.[3] Linkous spent months in a wheelchair and feared the experience had ended his ability to write songs, yet only a couple of the album's tracks, such as "Saint Mary" and "Pig," directly address the hospital period.[3][4]
In 1996, while touring Europe with Radiohead, Linkous overdosed in a London hotel room and lay unconscious for roughly fourteen hours. His heart briefly stopped, he needed dialysis, and he used a wheelchair for months afterward.[1][2] His work was widely admired by peers such as PJ Harvey, Nina Persson and Tom Waits, though it never crossed over to a mainstream audience.[1][2] He died by suicide in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 6, 2010.[1]
References
- Sparklehorse, Wikipedia — Band history, the 1996 London overdose and recovery, discography and Linkous's death.
- It's a Wonderful Life: The Sad and Beautiful World of Sparklehorse, Crack Magazine — Long read on Linkous's career, the lasting effects of 1996 and the documentary.
- Good Morning Spider Turns 20, Stereogum — Recording methods and gear for Good Morning Spider, and which songs reflect the 1996 hospital stay.
- Revisit: Sparklehorse, Good Morning Spider, Spectrum Culture — Details of the 1996 collapse, months in a wheelchair, and fear of losing the ability to write.