Former Deerhunter bassist Josh Fauver has died at age 39.
The band announced the news on Instagram on Sunday (Nov. 4) with the message “very difficult times now,” along with a picture of the group during Fauver’s tenure. A spokesperson for Deerhunter confirmed Fauver’s death but said there was no additional information on the cause at press time.
Fauver joined the Atlanta-bred band in 2005, replacing original bassist Justin Bosworth, who died of a head injury sustained in a skateboarding accident. He was in the studio with the Bradford Cox-led rock group when they recorded their debut full-length album, 2005’s Turn It Up Faggot, and appeared on 2007’s Crytograms, that year’s Flourescent Grey EP, 2008’s Microcastle and Weird Era Cont. and 2010’s Halcyon Digest before leaving the group in 2012.
Fauver also played with S.I.D.S. and Electrosleep International and ran the Atlanta-based label Army of Bad Luck, which released singles and albums by The Sunglasses, Hawks, Hollow Stars, Vera Fang and Battlecat.
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Farewell to Josh Fauver, who made our world better with his music. This long live performance of “Nothing Ever Happened” stands out https://t.co/xHQMegsS8y
— Lance Bangs (@lancebangs) November 4, 2018
Devastated to learn of Josh Fauver’s passing. He was a truly sweet and gentle human, and the absolute essence of cool. May his music live forever.
All of our love to everyone in the @DeerhunterMusic extended family. pic.twitter.com/PqmVKPFa6T
— Holy Fuck (@holyfuck) November 5, 2018
Super sad to hear about the original bassist from #Deerhunter —@DeerhunterMusic Josh Fauver is one of the coolest bassists to have ever lived. So talented & so badass. Always hoped he’d release some of his own music. #legendsneverdie
— Shady Groves (@shadygrovesband) November 4, 2018
I’m so devastated to hear of Josh Fauver’s death, he was really one of the good ones. Here’s a picture of Josh from the night I met him, at Holocene back in 2008. He was just such a sweet goofball, and a kind person. My heart hurts. pic.twitter.com/xX44E8NW4h
— Anna K. Logic (@Ramona_Flowers) November 4, 2018