Singer-Songwriter Vic Chesnutt Dead at 45

Musician whose songs have been covered by the likes of Madonna and the Smashing Pumpkins died Friday in Georgia after intentional overdose

Singer and songwriter Vic Chesnutt is dead at 45.

The low-key "Sponge" penner was known for his dark, witty tunes, which have been covered by the likes of Madonna, R.E.M., Smashing Pumpkins and Hootie and the Blowfish.

Chesnutt died Friday in a hospital in Athens, Ga. He had been in a coma for a week since taking what a family spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times was an "intentional" overdose of prescription muscle relaxants.

In an interview with the newspaper earlier this month, Chesnutt discussed his country song, "Flirted With You All My Life," which he said served as a sort of confrontational letter to his own thoughts about suicide.

"I've been a suicidal person all my life, and that song is me finally being 'Screw you, death,'" Chesnutt said.

The low-key indie artist spent his career performing from a wheelchair, after a car crash at 18 left him partially paralyzed.  

It was that accident that spurred his songwriting career.

"It was only after I broke my neck and even like maybe a year later that I really started realizing that I had something to say," Chesnutt said in an interview on the NPR show Fresh Air.

The late musician leaves behind his wife, Tina Whatley Chesnutt, sister Lorinda Crane, and a bevy of hits from more than 15 albums.