Benjamin Curtis School of Seven Bells - H 2013
Getty ImagesThis article first appeared on Billboard.com.
School of Seven Bells’ Benjamin Curtis has died. He was 35.
The guitarist of the New York-based indie rock duo passed away Sunday night (Dec. 29), the Dallas Observer reports. He had suffered from T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma, a form of cancer, since his diagnosis earlier this year.
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Curtis formed School of Seven Bells with vocalist Alejandra Deheza in 2007, releasing three full-length albums — the last, Ghostory, coming in 2012 and peaking at No. 8 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart.
Previously, he was part of Dallas-based rockers Secret Machines, which found critical acclaim with 2004’s Now Here Is Nowhere and 2006’s Ten Silver Drops, the latter of which hit No. 159 on the Billboard 200. In the late 1990s, he was a member of the alt-rock group Tripping Daisy.
Since his cancer diagnosis in February, multiple musicians had rallied around Curtis, Pitchfork notes, including Interpol’s Paul Banks, the Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr. and Devendra Banhart, who helped raise funds to cover treatments.
In October, Filter magazine published an article containing words of support from Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups, the Polyphonic Spree’s Tim DeLaughter and more.
