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Garage rocker Jay Reatard dies, age 29

Filed under: Jay Reatard — Tags: — ldt @ 9:14 am January 14, 2010

Jay Reatard

Memphis garage-rocker Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr, aka Jay Reatard, has died. The 29-year-old was found at his Memphis home early on Tuesday morning.

Lindsey was one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of today’s lo-fi punk-rock scene, releasing of his breakthrough LP, Watch Me Fall, just six months ago on Matador Records.

Memphis newspaper the Commercial Appeal reports that Lindsey’s room-mate discovered his body at about 3:30am on Tuesday. According to police spokeswoman Jennifer Robinson, Lindsey was in bed and had recently been complaining of flu-like symptoms.

“We are devastated by the death of [Jay],” said Matador spokesman Nils Bernstein. “[He] was as full of life as anyone we’ve ever met, and responsible for so many memorable moments as a person and artist. We’re honoured to have known and worked with him, and we will miss him terribly.”