The 34-year old singer of moody, anguished songs apparently killed himself with a stab wound to the chest. —Washington Post. “Like so many rock deaths, his was a long time in the making, but no less sad or shocking for all the warnings that preceded it. ‘Give me one reason not to do it,’ Smith sang on his final album, which now remains unfinished.” —Alex Abramovitz eulogizing Smith in Slate .