Sparklehorse Artistfacts

1995-2010
Mark LinkousVocals, guitar
Scott MinorDrums, multi-instruments
Sparklehorse was the moniker for singer/songwriter Mark Linkous. Linkous' 1995 debut album with the Sparklehorse name was called Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot and featured members of the California band Cracker.
While on tour in Europe with Radiohead in 1996, Linkous overdosed on anti-depressants, valium, alcohol and heroin in a London hotel room. He fell unconscious with his legs pinned beneath him for nearly 14 hours. When he was discovered, the potassium build up in his legs caused his heart to stop for several minutes. Linkous had to have emergency surgery to prevent him from losing his legs. He was wheelchair-bound for six months after the incident.
Sparklehorse's 1998 album Good Morning Spider was inspired by singer Mark Linkous' brush with death in Europe two years earlier. The song "St. Mary" was dedicated to the nurses at the hospital of the same name in London where Linkous recovered from his overdose and ensuing surgery.
Sparklehorse's 2001 album It's A Wonderful Life featured collaborations with Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Vic Chesnutt, and Nina Persson from The Cardigans. The album was the first one the band didn't make in their farm studio in rural Virginia.
In 2003, Mark Linkous from Sparklehorse wrote and recorded a song called "Shade and Honey" for actor Alessandro Nivola to sing in the movie Laurel Canyon. The song instead wound up on Sparklehorse's 2006 album Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain.
In 2008, Sparklehorse recorded a cover of "Jack's Obsession," from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. The song appeared on the official compilation album Nightmare Revisited.
Sparklehorse founder Mark Linkous committed suicide in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2010. Close friends say Linkous was going through some personal struggles but had recently moved to Knoxville to complete his band's new album. One afternoon, the singer was at a friend's house when he said he was going for a walk. Linkous went to an outside alley and shot himself in the heart with a rifle. He was pronounced dead on the scene. After his death, several members of the music community issued statements mourning the loss, including members of Death Cab For Cutie, Metric, The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, and The Jesus Lizard.

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