SAD: Cult musician Daniel Johnston Dies at the Age of 58

Daniel Johnston, whose guileless, homemade recordings inspired dozens of musicians from Kurt Cobain to Lana Del Rey, has died at the age of 58. The songwriter and artist "passed away of natural causes" at his home in Texas, said his family in a statement.

Born in California in 1961 and raised in West Virginia, Johnston became known as a songwriter after moving to Austin, Texas. His reputation in the city grew after he started handing out cassette tapes of his no-frills home recordings to people in the street. A cult figure on the local music scene, he gained wider exposure when MTV filmed a programme on the Austin music scene in 1985 for its series The Cutting Edge. Johnston's performance brought him almost overnight acclaim, and his early home recordings received a belated vinyl release on the indie label Homestead.

Kurt Cobain once described him as "the best songwriter on earth," and famously wore one of Johnston's t-shirts to the 1992 MTV Awards. Other musicians who have covered Johnston's songs include Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, Sufjan Stevens and Yo La Tengo. In 2013, Lana Del Rey and rapper Mac Miller each contributed $10,000 to fund a short film about the singer, with Del Rey recording a version of his song about heartbreak, Some Things Last A Long Time for the soundtrack.

Johnston was also known as an artist and comic-book writer, and his magic marker cartoon drawings were an inspiration for The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening.

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