James Woolley – former keyboard player for Nine Inch Nails from 1991 to 1994 – has passed away over the weekend at the age of 50.
His ex-wife, Kate Van Buren, announced the news in a Facebook post on Tuesday, writing: “James passed away this weekend. I wanted our friends to know so you can please keep Brendan, Mary and Anne, the Woolley family and all his loved ones in your prayers.” No cause of death was given.
In the post, Van Buren reminisced on when she first met Woolley at a club in Los Angeles in 1991, saying “it was love at first sight.” She also spoke about his time with Nine Inch Nails and his time afterwards, where he briefly played with Rob Halford’s band 2wo and worked on a sound design job for The Simpsons.
“James worked hard and played hard with NIN. He brought coolness to playing keyboards, which isn’t as easy to do as playing guitar or drums,” Van Buren wrote. “Those years were truly magical and quite an adventure. After his time with NIN came to a close, we moved into a house in Topanga Canyon, got married and started a family.”
Van Buren shared images of her ex-husband with their three children, saying that “he loved being a father.”
She wrote, “Because of significant neck and spine injuries, he wasn’t capable of doing a lot of physical activities with them, but he loved sitting down to paint, or teach piano, or just look at nature. He passed his amazing musical and artistic talents to all three children.”
Read the entire post below:
