Flaming Lips' Nell Smith dies aged 17

During a Flaming Lips concert on October 6, frontman Wayne Coyne shared the sad news with fans, explaining that Nell had been in a car accident.

Before playing “Everything Has Changed,” Coyne said: “We have a very sad announcement to make tonight. We have a Canadian friend, her name is Nell. We recorded a fantastic album with her three years ago, an album full of Nick Cave songs. We have some very sad news today – she died in a car accident last night.”

“We are once again reminded of the power of music and how empowering it can be to be with the people you love.”

Nell was preparing to release her debut solo album in 2025, which had already received support through a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Bella Union's Simon Raymonde, the head of her label, shared his sadness on Instagram: “We are all shocked and devastated to learn of the sudden and tragic death of our artist and dear friend Nell Smith… As we all try to find ourselves “We are unable to make any further comment at this time on the terrible news and out of respect for Nell’s grieving family.”

Nell's relationship with The Flaming Lips was nothing short of extraordinary. The connection began in 2018 when Nell, then just 12 years old, attended one of her shows in a parrot costume and caught Coyne's attention.

This moment sparked a lasting friendship between Nell, Coyne and their family. Coyne encouraged Nell when she started playing guitar, and their collaboration really took off during the pandemic.

When their plans to record together were scuppered by COVID-19, Coyne proposed an ambitious project: Nell would record covers of Nick Cave songs, even though she didn't know much about Cave's work.

The result was Where the viaduct appearsa 2021 album featuring Nell's haunting renditions of Cave's songs, backed by The Flaming Lips. Coyne remarked at the time: “It’s always great to meet excited, young creative people. With Nell, we could see that she was on a journey and thought it would be fun to follow her for a while and see if we could get things going.”

Nick Cave himself praised Nell's work, particularly her cover of “Girl in Amber”, and continued to write The Red Hand Files in 2021: “This version of 'Girl in Amber' is just beautiful, I wanted to say Nell Smith influenced the song but that's wrong, more like her.” clears the song in a way that I would never be able to do.”

“It's always been hard for me to break away from this particular song and sing it with the necessary distance, I'm just so twisted in the words, I guess.”

“Nell shows a remarkable understanding of the song, a sense of dispassion that is both beautiful and frightening. I just love it. I’m a fan.”

Nell Smith's musical journey may have been short, but it was full of creativity, passion and a brave spirit. Their collaborations with The Flaming Lips and their unique interpretations of Nick Cave's works made them a force to be reckoned with in the indie music scene.

Smith's death is another heartbreaking moment for the Flaming Lips family. The band's instrumentalist, Steven Drozd, is currently dealing with the disappearance of his 16-year-old daughter Charlotte “Bowie” Drozd.

Both Drozd himself and frontman Coyne shared on their social media pages on Monday (October 7) a missing poster of 16-year-old Charlotte “Bowie” Drozd, who has been missing since around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. According to the posts, Bowie was last seen on the monorail in Seattle, Washington, near the Space Needle.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Seattle police at 206-625-5011 or call Bowie's mother, Becky.

Listen to “Into My Arms” by Nell & The Flaming Lips below: