Country music star Luke Bell was found dead in Tucson, Arizona, after being reported missing for more than a week, fellow pal Matt Kinman confirmed. He was 32.
The singer/songwriter’s friend and fellow musician, Kinman, confirmed to Saving Country Music the “heartbreaking” news that Bell had passed away, the outlet reported on Monday.
Kinman said the Wyoming native was located where he was last seen before he went missing, according to the Tucson Police Department. There has been no official word as to the cause of his death.
Kinman said Bell had previously been diagnosed as bipolar, and he said he believed a recent adjustment to Luke’s medication might have “played a role” in his disappearance, according to The Boot.
Country star Luke Bell dead at 32 after going missing for a week https://t.co/kAM7vLHAv2 pic.twitter.com/xHbpbmUxcL
— New York Post (@nypost) August 30, 2022
Bell was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on January 27, 1990, and raised in Cody, Wyoming. He eventually found his way to Nashville, where he recorded a country album “Don’t Mind If I Do” in 2014 and became known on the honky tonk music scene, Saving Country Music noted.
Not long after, he ended up getting booked to open for such country legends as Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., and Dwight Yoakam.
Fellow musicians reacted to the news of Bell’s passing on social media.
“Man…Luke Bell…what the f***. RIP to a real one,” Joshua Hedley shared on Twitter. “Been a long time since I saw him and I was just talking about him the other day wondering what he’s been up to. Truly a sad night for country music.”
“Rest In Peace to our old friend [Luke Bell music],” Erin Rae tweeted. “Heartbroken for him.”
During an interview Bell gave to The Boot in 2016, he talked about living in the “day” and counting “smiles.”
“That’s it,” Luke shared at the time. “Listen, half the time, I end up drinking beer with my neighbors. Life’s not that bad.”
“The downside, in some ways, is I don’t have a wife and kids, but at the same time, it’s pretty ideal right now,” he added. “I just travel around to other cities and hang out with other people. … The goal is to have high hopes and low expectations … and have a good time.”