Faye Hunter, bass player in the band Let’s Active, has died of an apparent suicide aged 59, it has been confirmed.
Hunter formed the band, contemporaries of REM and Pylon, in North Carolina alongside Mitch Easter and drummer Sara Romweber in 1981. The group went on to release three albums and an EP between 1983 and 1988.
Raleigh’s News & Observer newspaper report that Hunter had struggled with employment and was caring for her elderly mother at the time of her death. Jamie K. Sims, a personal friend of Hunter’s, told the paper that: “I’m not shocked, but I am surprised about the timing… She’d been talking about this for quite some time. The past three or so years were really bad.”
Sims adds: “She’d become physically worn down, very thin and having physical problems from the stress of working and caregiving. Faye was thinking about leaving, but… I guess this is the only way she could figure out how to do it.”
Mitch Easter, frontman in Let’s Active, acknowledged Hunter’s death on the Facebook page of his Fidelitorium recording studio, posting a picture of his former bandmate and writing: “Today’s news has broken our hearts. Faye Hunter, you will be missed and loved forever.”