R.I.P. Magnetic Fields Vocalist Susan Anway

The band write that their very first singer "was a lovely person and will be missed by all of us"

Photo: Diskarnate (Facebook)

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Sep 9, 2021

Susan Anway — former vocalist of Boston indie outfit Magnetic Fields — has died. The band confirmed Anway's passing in a statement shared today, while a Merge Records representative confirmed to Pitchfork that she died of complications from Parkinson's disease.

"We met Susan in the 80's in Boston, when she was the singer of a local band, 'V;'" the band wrote of their late vocalist. "She was a lovely person and will be missed by all of us."

Anway sang on the Magnetic Fields' 1991 debut album Distant Plastic Trees and its 1992 follow-up, The Wayward Bus. Subsequent albums would see primary songwriter Stephin Merritt handle vocal duties alongside other band members.

Following her time with Magnetic Fields, Anway would record with German/U.S. electropop band Diskarnate. You can revisit some of her work with both bands in the players below.

Merge previously treated Distant Plastic Trees and The Wayward Bus to vinyl reissues in 2016. Find out where the two albums rank in Exclaim!'s Essential Guide to Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields.

Magnetic Fields vocalist and collaborator LD Beghtol passed away last December.




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