The country music artist was found dead Monday in Tucson after being missing for a week.
The C&I crew would like to extend sympathy and prayers to the family and friends of country music singer-songwriter Luke Bell, who was found dead Monday in Tucson after he had been reported missing Aug. 20 during a visit to Arizona. He was 32.
According to published reports, the Tucson Coroner’s Office confirmed Bell’s date of death as Aug. 26. There has not yet been an announcement regarding the official cause of death.
The Daily Beast reports: “Fellow musician Matt Kinman, who had been caring for Bell for the last six years, was traveling with the 32-year-old star when he suddenly disappeared near 4th Ave in Tucson.
“‘We came down here to Arizona, to work down here, play some music, and he just took off,’ Kinman told the popular country music blog Saving Country Music, adding that he believed Bell suffered from bipolar disorder and had a recent change to his medication, which may have played into his disappearance.”
A native of Cody, Wyoming, Bell was said to shy away from the pursuit of fame and the star-making machinery, even after he began performing as an opening act for the likes of Willie Nelson, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Dwight Yoakam, and signed a contract with Thirty Tigers in 2016. His self-titled debut album for the label was widely praised for its traditionalist country sound, and prompted Rolling Stone to praise Bell for playing “classic honky-tonk with a wink and a yodel that summons the sleeping ghosts of country better than any voodoo spell ever could.”
"To be honest, I live in the day, and I count smiles," Bell told The Boot in a 2016 interview. “That’s it. Listen, half the time, I end up drinking beer with my neighbors. Life’s not that bad. The downside, in some ways, is I don't have a wife and kids, but at the same time, it’s pretty ideal right now. I just travel around to other cities and hang out with other people... The goal is to have high hopes and low expectations and have a good time.”
Within just a few months of that interview, however, Bell’s career stalled. “His official social media pages were no longer updated,” The Boot reported Tuesday, “and performances became sparse. Touring was halted, aside from a sprinkling of small shows over the years.
“In 2021, Bell surprised fans by sharing a new single, [a cover of John Lennon’s] ‘Jealous Guy.’ Although many assumed the track was a signal of more new music to come, it would sadly mark the final release of a career cut far too short.”