Producer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter Richard Swift died this morning in Tacoma, Washington, a representative confirmed to Pitchfork. He was 41 years old. A post on Swift's Facebook page read, “And all the angels sing 'Que Sera Sera.'” “Today the world lost one of the most talented musicians I know,” Dan Auerbach, Swift’s bandmate in the Black Keys and the Arcs, wrote in an Instagram post. “I will miss you my friend.”
Last month, it was revealed that Swift had been hospitalized due to a “life-threatening condition,” and a fund had been launched to cover his medical bills.
In addition to releasing music as a solo artist, Swift was also a member of the Shins from 2011 to 2016, was the touring bassist for the Black Keys in 2014, and played drums for the Arcs. He also played keyboards for Starflyer 59 early in his career. As a producer, he worked with Foxygen, Guster, the Mynabirds, Sharon Van Etten, Damien Jurado, Pure Bathing Culture, and many others. Swift founded and owned National Freedom, a recording studio in Cottage Grove, Oregon.
Swift was born in California. He grew up living in Minnesota, Utah, and Oregon before eventually moving back to Southern California to pursue music. While working at a studio called the Green Room in Huntington Beach, Swift made his first records—Walking Without Effort and The Novelist—during his off hours in the early 2000s. (A self-taught musician and producer, he played most instruments and engineered the entire project). He signed to Secretly Canadian and re-released the projects as The Richard Swift Collection Vol. 1 in 2005. Swift’s last solo full-length under his own name was 2009’s The Atlantic Ocean. In 2016, he released a collaborative covers album with Damien Jurado.
