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Sam Jayne, the founding frontman of Brooklyn indie rock band Love as Laughter, has died aged 46.
Jayne was reported missing and had been last seen on December 6 in Brooklyn, according to posts from friends. A search campaign was launched and the New York Police Department were investigating his whereabouts, Pitchfork reported.
Love as Laughter bandmate Zeke Howard has since confirmed on Instagram, in a message shared to the band’s official Facebook page, that Jayne has died.
“The search for Sam Jayne has concluded and our hearts are broken,” Howard wrote. “Our dear Sam is no longer with us but his memory and impact will endure. Please respect the privacy of the family at this time.
“More information will become shared as it becomes known. please be patient while we mourn this loss.”
Posted by Love As Laughter on Tuesday, December 15, 2020
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department told Pitchfork that Jayne had been found in his car and that a preliminary investigation showed “no signs of criminality”.
In addition to being the founder of Love as Laughter, Jayne was also the frontman of Washington-based band Lync. The group went on to release their first and only album, ‘These Are Not Fall Colors’, through K Records in 1994. The group disbanded the same year.
After Lync dissolved, Jayne formed Love as Laughter. The band released a number of albums, their most recent being ‘Holy’ in 2008. Since ‘Holy’, Love As Laughter also released singles in 2012 and 2015.
As Brooklyn Vegan reports, Jayne was also a bartender in New York.
Fleet Foxes‘ Robin Pecknold, who knew Jayne personally, paid tribute to him on Instagram. He wrote, “You didnât know it but you were an elusive and formatively inspiring hero to me and you touched so many of the lives of the people we love.”
“Sam was a legend among the friends I made at my first real job, at the Cha Cha kitchen. He’d show up at random with so much life in his eyes, flashing that wonderful knowing grin of his,” Pecknold added in an Instagram story.
“The best stories people would tell on the job about their lives in Seattle at the time always involved Sam in one way or another.”
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