Editing Mark Linkous (section)

{{short description|American musician}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Mark Linkous
| image             = Linkousin1992.jpg
| caption           = Linkous in 1992
| background        = solo_singer
| birth_name        = Frederick Mark Linkous
| birth_date        = September 9, 1962
| birth_place       = [[Arlington, Virginia]], US
| death_date        = March 6, 2010 (aged 47)
| death_place       = [[Knoxville, Tennessee]], US
| genre             = {{hlist|[[Lo-fi]]|[[indie rock]]|[[alt-country]]|[[Bluegrass music|bluegrass]]|[[Folk music|folk]]|[[Psychedelic rock|psychedelic]]|[[southern gothic]]}}
| occupation        = {{hlist|Musician|singer-songwriter|record producer}}
| instrument        = {{hlist|Vocals|guitar|piano|keyboards|bass guitar|drums|percussion}}
| years_active      = 1984–2010
| label             = {{hlist|[[Capitol Records|Capitol]]|[[EMI Records|EMI]]|[[Astralwerks Records|Astralwerks]]|[[Caroline Records|Caroline]]|[[Virgin Records|Virgin]]|[[EMI Records|EMI]]|Konkurrent|[[Combat Records|Combat]]|[[Relativity Records|Relativity]]|[[Anti- Records|Anti-]]|[[Epitaph Records|Epitaph]]}}
| associated_acts   = Dancing Hoods, Salt Chunk Mary, [[Tom Waits]], [[Daniel Johnston]], [[PJ Harvey]], [[Fennesz]], [[Danger Mouse (music producer)|Danger Mouse]], [[House of Freaks]], [[Sparklehorse]]
| website           = {{URL|sparklehorse.com}}
}}

'''Frederick Mark Linkous''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɪ|ŋ|k|ə|s}} (September 9, 1962 &ndash; March 6, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as leader of [[Sparklehorse]]. He was also known for his collaborations with such artists as [[Tom Waits]], [[PJ Harvey]], [[Daniel Johnston]], [[Cracker (band)|Cracker]], [[Radiohead]], [[Black Francis]], [[Julian Casablancas]], [[Nina Persson]], [[David Lynch]], [[Fennesz]], [[Danger Mouse (music producer)|Danger Mouse]], and [[Sage Francis]].<ref name="spinner">Spinner article: "[http://www.spinner.com/2010/03/07/mark-linkous-of-sparklehorse-commits-suicide/ Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse commits suicide]."</ref>

A member of the 1980s [[indie music|indie]] band the Dancing Hoods, Linkous moved with the group from his native [[Virginia]] to [[New York City]] and later [[Los Angeles]] in hopes of achieving mainstream success. By 1988, the band had failed to land a major record label deal, and it disbanded, with Linkous returning to Virginia, where he began writing songs under various monikers.<ref name="variety" />

By 1995, he created a project named Sparklehorse, of which he remained the only permanent member. The band released a quartet of critically acclaimed albums: on [[Capitol Records]], ''[[Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot]]'', ''[[Good Morning Spider]]'', and ''[[It's a Wonderful Life (album)|It's a Wonderful Life]]''; and on Astralwerks records, ''[[Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain]]''. Linkous lived the last years of his life in [[Hayesville, North Carolina]], where he established Static King Studio. He died by suicide in [[Knoxville, Tennessee]], on March 6, 2010.<ref name="latimes" /><ref name="eonline" />