Richard Swift's Cause of Death Revealed in Public Statement

On July 3, the indie music world lost a great one. Lauded producer, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Richard Swift passed away in Tacoma, Washington, at the young age of 41.

At the time of his death, the cause was unknown aside from a GoFundMe that was launched to help cover medical bills after the musician had been hospitalized and recovering from a "serious medical condition." Now, it's been revealed Swift battled with alcohol addiction, which is “ultimately what took his life.”

His family, label and management teams released a statement on Facebook that goes into more detail about the artist's struggles and health problems.

"We are grateful to the many fans, friends, artists and collaborators who have shared their thoughts, love and support this week. It has been a bracing force for many of us," the statement began.

"A number of questions have come up surrounding Swift’s life, his work and his death, and we’d like to answer some of them candidly, here:

"Yes, Richard Swift suffered from alcohol addiction, and it’s ultimately what took his life. With the support of family and friends and the assistance of MusiCares, Richard had checked himself into rehab for multiple stays over the past two years, but his body gave out before he could overcome the disease. He was diagnosed with hepatitis and liver and kidney distress in June. Multiple hospitals worked to help stabilize him over the course of that month, but his body was unable to heal and, per his wishes and with his family’s consent, he was moved to hospice care. Richard passed in the early morning of July 3, 2018 in a hospice facility in Tacoma, WA. He is survived by his wife Shealynn and their three children Madison, Adrian & Kennedy."

The statement also addressed that Swift had been working on new music when he died that was slated to come out in November. Though there's not a timeline for completion, his family and team hope to release it sooner than that. 

Read the full statement below.

Aside from releasing solo music, Swift was a member of The Shins from 2011-16, was The Black Keys' touring bassist in 2014 and played drums for The Arcs, Dan Auerbach's other project, The Arcs. Earlier in his career, he played keyboards for Starflyer 59. As a producer, he worked with Foxygen, Guster, the Mynabirds, Sharon Van Etten, Damien Jurado and Pure Bathing Culture, among others.

Photo: Getty Images