A Sparklehorse tribute cover album that has been in the works since 2013 has now been halted by the estate of the late Mark Linkous, the man behind Sparklehorse.
Linkous committed suicide in 2010, and mental health awareness non-profit Box of Stars announced crowdfunded campaign to release the tribute cover album in 2013. The album was entitled Last Box of Sparklers and would feature covers performed by Phantogram, The Joy Formidable, Califone, Mark Lanegan, Dinosaur Jr. and more. The Flaming Lips even released their cover of Sparklehorse’s “Sad and Beautiful World” at the end of 2013.
The estate of Linkous recently halted the making of the album, so Box of Stars wrote to the fans who backed the project: “The estate of Mark Linkous decided that it will not support the project and has threatened legal action if we continue. Our silence on this matter has been neither willing nor willful, and it has been extraordinarily difficult to remain quiet while receiving the comments and reading the speculations that have understandably arisen in the past several weeks. For a variety of reasons, we believe it best not to release the album without the support of the Linkous estate … While we sincerely hope that these recordings will see the light of day at some point in the future, we can’t promise that, and it will not be in the form of the tribute album we originally planned.”
Unfortunately for the backers, the $46,000 that had been raised for the tribute album had already been spent on its production, so none of them will be receiving their money back. In the face of this obstacle, Box of Stars wrote, “We can and will offer future projects to you for your support, with perks over and above the value of each original individual contribution.”
Leave a Comment