Stuart Adamson, lead singer and guitarist for the Scottish rock band Big Country, had a high blood-alcohol level in his system when he committed suicide in a Honolulu hotel last month, according to city coroners.
The medical examiner's office determined Adamson, 43, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.279 percent when he was found dead Dec. 16 in his hotel room near the Honolulu International Airport. The legal limit to drive in Hawaii is 0.08. An autopsy determined the British-born Adamson's cause of death was asphyxia due to hanging, according the office.
Adamson's estranged wife, Melanie Shelley, reported the singer missing from his Nashville home on Nov. 26. Nashville police suspected marital troubles prompted his disappearance.
Adamson had played with the Scottish New Wave group the Skids before he formed Big Country in 1981. He played guitar and sang lead; fellow guitarist Bruce Watson, bassist Tony Butler, and drummer Mark Brzezicki completed the quartet. Big Country had a minor hit in Britain with "Harvest Home" before making its name with the international hits "Fields of Fire" and "In a Big Country," both from the 1983 album "The Crossing."
Adamson relocated to Nashville around 1997 and remained active, including a collaboration with Nashville singer-songwriter Marcus Hummon.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The medical examiner's office determined Adamson, 43, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.279 percent when he was found dead Dec. 16 in his hotel room near the Honolulu International Airport. The legal limit to drive in Hawaii is 0.08. An autopsy determined the British-born Adamson's cause of death was asphyxia due to hanging, according the office.
Adamson's estranged wife, Melanie Shelley, reported the singer missing from his Nashville home on Nov. 26. Nashville police suspected marital troubles prompted his disappearance.
Adamson had played with the Scottish New Wave group the Skids before he formed Big Country in 1981. He played guitar and sang lead; fellow guitarist Bruce Watson, bassist Tony Butler, and drummer Mark Brzezicki completed the quartet. Big Country had a minor hit in Britain with "Harvest Home" before making its name with the international hits "Fields of Fire" and "In a Big Country," both from the 1983 album "The Crossing."
Adamson relocated to Nashville around 1997 and remained active, including a collaboration with Nashville singer-songwriter Marcus Hummon.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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