Mazzy Star Drummer Keith Mitchell Dead
Keith Mitchell, longtime drummer for Mazzy Star and a member of Opal, Monitor and Green on Red, died Sunday. The band confirmed Mitchell’s death, though a cause of death was not revealed.
Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval and David Roback said in a statement, “Our hearts are broken. We have lost the much beloved Keith Mitchell, a very talented and amazing drummer that we have had the privilege to work with for many years, he will live in all of our hearts forever… We’ll miss you Big Fella.”
After stints with Monitor and Green on Red, Mitchell joined Opal alongside Roback and singer Kendra Davis. After a pair of EPs and 1987’s Happy Nightmare Baby, Davis left the group. Roback then recruited Sandoval to join Opal before the band was reborn in 1989 as Mazzy Star.
With the dream-pop group, Mitchell provided drums on all four of Mazzy Star’s albums: 1990’s She Hangs Brightly, their breakout 1993 album So Tonight That I Might See (featuring the hit “Fade Into You”), 1996’s Among My Swan and the band’s 2013 reunion album Seasons of Your Day.