Name	Elliott Smith
Height
Naionality	U.S.
Date of Birth	August 6, 1969
Place of Birth	Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Famous for	Indie rock, folk rock, lo-fi

Elliott Smith was born Steven Paul Smith on August 6, 1969 in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents divorced about a year later, and Smith went to live near Dallas, Texas, with his mother and stepfather. Smith learned to play both the piano and guitar as a child and wrote his first song when he was 13. At 14, Smith moved from Texas to Portland, Oregon, to live with his father, Gary. He graduated from Lincoln High School on June 3rd, 1987. He began calling himself Elliott, since he thought Steve sounded too much like a jock name. http://www.sweetadeline.net/bio4.html No one is quite sure why he chose "Elliott." Some speculate it came from a street name in Portland, some say it was an idea of his girlfriend's at the time, and was the last name of her ex-boyfriend. Elliott is spelled with two "t"s like the last name. Others, however, believe that his name may be related to the American Revolutionary folk singer of the 18th century, Gilbert Elliot. During high school, in the early/mid 1980s, he was part of the band Stranger Than Fiction (w/ Garrick Duckler, Jason Hornick, and Adam Koval). Smith graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, with a degree in philosophy and political science. After returning to Portland, Smith formed the band Heatmiser in 1991 with Neil Gust, Tony Lash, and Brandt Peterson (later replaced by Sam Coomes of Quasi). Heatmiser disbanded in 1996. He recorded three solo albums on independent labels (including Kill Rock Stars) and two more on DreamWorks Records. His final album was released posthumously by the Anti label in 2004.

Death
Smith battled depression http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/06/news-pelisek.php, alcoholism, and drug addiction for many years, which is sometimes evident in his music; however, seemingly obvious songs such as "Needle in the Hay" were frequently misinterpreted to be about his own battles, when in reality his own problems with drugs did not develop until years later. In 2002, Smith went to the Neurotransmitter Restoration Center in Beverly Hills to start a course of treatment for his drug addiction. http://www.undertheradarmag.com/es.html He died in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California at age 34, from a single stab wound to the chest. While the death was originally reported as a suicide, the official autopsy report released in late December 2003 left the question open:While his history of depression is compatible with suicide, and the location and direction of the stab wound is consistent with self-infliction, several aspects of the circumstances (as are known at this time) are atypical of suicide and raise the possibility of homicide. These include the absence of hesitation wounds, stabbing through clothing, and the presence of small incised wounds on the right arm and left hand (possible defensive wounds). Additionally, the girlfriend's Chiba]'s] reported removal of the knife and subsequent refusal to speak with detectives are all of concern.According to the coroner's report, the alleged suicide note, written on a Post-it, read, "I'm so sorry-love, Elliot God forgive me." The misspelling of "Elliott" was later acknowledged as a mistake on the part of the coroner.Multiple unreleased songs he had recently recorded were released as ''From a Basement on the Hill'' by his family following his death.His death has not been officially declared a suicide and the investigation of his death continues.

Trivia

Smith had a tattoo of Ferdinand, a bull from a children's story who was too gentle for the bullfighting ring and preferred to amble about his field smelling the flowers. He also had a small tattoo of the state of Texas.