Vic Chesnutt died of an overdose of muscle relaxers on Christmas Day, according to The New York Times. He was 45.

The songwriter’s collaborator Kristin Hersh first broke the news that the seminal Athens, GA-based songwriter has tried to kill himself yesterday in a Twitter message. The singer lingered in a coma before passing on today. The musician had used a
wheelchair since suffering injuries in a car accident when he was 18.

After moving to Athens, Chesnutt befriended local hero Michael Stipe, who produced his first two albums: 1990’s Little and 1991’s West of Rome. Chesnutt’s eerily dark, moody songs inspired several generations of southern entertainers, from filmmaker Billy Bob Thornton – who cast the singer in his 1996 breakout Sling Blade – to younger indie/roots bands like Drive-By Truckers and Dead Confederate. The Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, Soul Asylum, Indigo Girls, R.E.M. and Victoria Williams are just a few of the acts who covered Chesnutt’s music on the 1993 tribute CD Sweet Relief II.

Chesnutt had a longstanding relationship with the members of Widespread Panic. The Athens jam-titans have released two albums with Chesnutt under the alias brute: 1995’s Nine High a Pallet and 2002’s Co-Balt. Songs from those albums like “Protein Drink/Sewing Machine,” “Let’s Get Down to Business” and “Expiration Day” remain staples in Panic’s live set. Chesnutt has also joined Panic onstage a handful of times, most recently at Athens’ The Classic Center on April 25, 2007.

Earlier this year Chesnutt released the albums At the Cut and Skitter on Take-Off. He recently completed a tour in support of At the Cut that featured members of Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Witchies and Fugazi as his backing band.