Much-loved Australian singer-songwriter Jack Colwell dies aged 34

The Australian music industry is mourning the death of an artist who was about to release his eagerly-awaited second album.

Beloved Australian singer-songwriter Jack Colwell died on Thursday at the age of 34.

An accomplished artist and musician who worked extensively within the music industry, Colwell’s years of work belied his relatively small recorded output: He released just one studio album, Swandream, in 2020.

That album, coming five years after stirring debut single Don’t Cry Those Tears, was produced by fellow singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko and was praised at the time as one of the best Australian releases of the year.

In what was to be his final social media post, he shared on his Facebook page just one week ago that a long-awaited follow-up album wasn’t too far away.

Colwell promised a second album was almost done just one week before his death.

“Hi all – looking forward to releasing some new music soon. The mixes are nearly done and the mastering is booked in. I’ve been saying for ages that LP2 will be with you soon and that day isn’t too far off!” he wrote on September 24. It is not yet known if that album will now be released posthumously.

Colwell’s friends and peers within the music industry are today paying tribute to the immensely talented artist.

Colwell's 2020 debut album Swandream was met with universal acclaim.

Colwell had released his debut single back in 2015 and steadily found a cult fanbase.

In an Instagram post, Sarah Blasko described Colwell as “one of my favourite people in the whole wide world, who possessed the charm of a thousand princes and a musical spirit like no other.”

“Love you always Jack.”

Australian comedian and writer Gen Fricker, a close friend of Colwell’s since high school, described him on Instagram as her “first best friend I have spent nearly two thirds of my life loving him … I am devastated and furious.”

In an obituary published by the Guardian today, Fricker remembers her friend, who amassed a loyal LGBTQ following through his career, as being “out and flamboyant at 14... So brave and so himself, always.”

Colwell’s cause of death has not yet been revealed.