Faye Hunter, the founding bassist of jangly North Carolina '80s outfit Let's Active, died Saturday night (July 20) of an apparent suicide. According to Raleigh's News Observer, she was 59 years old.
"I'm not shocked, but I am surprised about the timing," the bassist's friend Jamie K. Sims told the News Observer. "She'd been talking about this for quite some time. The past three or so years were really bad."
Sims noted that Hunter was taking care of her elderly mother in recent years, adding, "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."
Hunter had been a founding member of '80s jangle-pop outfit Let's Active, who took part in the same Southern scene that spawned R.E.M. Hunter added bass, back-up harmonies and occasionally a lead vocal on records like 1983's Afoot EP, 1984's Cypress and 1986's Big Plans for Everybody before leaving the band.
Let's Active band leader Mitch Easter posted a message on Facebook yesterday (July 21) via his Fidelitorium Recordings studio, writing: "Today's news has broken our hearts. Faye Hunter, you will be missed and loved forever."
You can check out the group's "Every Word Means No" down below.
"I'm not shocked, but I am surprised about the timing," the bassist's friend Jamie K. Sims told the News Observer. "She'd been talking about this for quite some time. The past three or so years were really bad."
Sims noted that Hunter was taking care of her elderly mother in recent years, adding, "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."
Hunter had been a founding member of '80s jangle-pop outfit Let's Active, who took part in the same Southern scene that spawned R.E.M. Hunter added bass, back-up harmonies and occasionally a lead vocal on records like 1983's Afoot EP, 1984's Cypress and 1986's Big Plans for Everybody before leaving the band.
Let's Active band leader Mitch Easter posted a message on Facebook yesterday (July 21) via his Fidelitorium Recordings studio, writing: "Today's news has broken our hearts. Faye Hunter, you will be missed and loved forever."
You can check out the group's "Every Word Means No" down below.
