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Benjamin Curtis, of School Of Seven Bells and formerly Secret Machines, has passed away at the age of 35.
It has been confirmed that Curtis died yesterday (29 December, 2013) in New York City after a year-long battle with cancer.
Curtis arrived on the scene between 1997 and 1999 with Tripping Daisy, who later became The Polyphonic Spree. Then in 2000, he and his brother Brandon formed the brilliant Secret Machines. The band found worldwide success, toured with the likes of Muse, U2 and Interpol and also found a fan in David Bowie.
Watch Secret Machines performing 'Lightning Blue Eyes' below
Benjamin released two incredible and critically-acclaimed albums with Secret Machines until he left before the release of their third album in 2008 to form the excellent dream-pop outfit School Of Seven Bells.
School Of Seven Bells released three exquisite albums together until their last was sadly 2012's Ghoststory. A year later, he was diagnosed with rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer found in the lymphatic system.
At the time, he released a statement which said: "It developed pretty aggressively, and the chemotherapy to treat it will be pretty aggressive, but the good news is that it’s TREATABLE."
Artists including members of Interpol, The Strokes, Polyphonic Spree andDevendra Banhart performed a range of benefits to contribute to treatment.
Watch the video for 'Half Asleep By School Of Seven Bells' below
School Of Seven Bells have since left the following touching tribute on their Facebook page:
