Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity. His primary instrument was the guitar, but he was also proficient at piano, clarinet, bass, drums and harmonica. Smith had a distinctive vocal style characterized by his "whispery, spiderweb-thin delivery" and use of multi-tracking to create vocal harmonies.
After playing in the rock band Heatmiser for several years, Smith began his solo career in 1994 with releases on the independent record labels Cavity Search and Kill Rock Stars. In 1997 he signed a contract with DreamWorks Records, for which he recorded two albums. Smith rose to mainstream prominence when his song "Miss Misery", included in the soundtrack for the film Good Will Hunting, was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song categor
More about Elliott Smith (From Wikipedia)
Early Life
Steven Paul Smith was born at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Bunny Welch (née Bunny Kay Berryman), was a music teacher at an elementary school, and his father, read more...
Heatmiser
Smith graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1991 with a degree in philosophy and political science. "Went straight through in four years," he explained to read more...
Roman Candle
His first release, Roman Candle (1994), came about when Smith's girlfriend at the time convinced him to send a tape of "the most recent eight songs that [he’d] recorded on read more...
Elliott Smith And Either/Or
In 1995, the self-titled album Elliott Smith was released on Kill Rock Stars; the record featured a similar style of recording to Roman Candle, but with hints of growth and experimentation. read more...
Miss Misery And The Oscars
In 1996, Smith was tapped by director and fellow Portland resident Gus Van Sant to be a part of the soundtrack to his film, Good Will Hunting. Smith recorded an orchestral version read more...
XO And Figure 8
In 1998, after the success of Either/Or and "Miss Misery", Smith signed to a bigger independent record label, DreamWorks Records. Around the same time, Smith fell into depression, read more...
Final Years And Recording Of From A Basement On The Hill
A follow-up to Smith's 2000 album was originally planned to happen with Rob Schnapf, but their sessions were abandoned. Smith also began distancing himself from manager Margaret read more...
Death And Reactions
Elliott Smith died on October 21, 2003, at age 34 from two stab wounds to the chest. According to girlfriend Jennifer Chiba, with whom he was living at the time, the two were arguing, read more...
Posthumous Releases
From a Basement on the Hill, with almost four years in production, was released October 19, 2004 by ANTI- Records (a part of Epitaph Records). With Smith's family in control of his read more...
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, read more...