Luke Bell, a well-known musician, was found dead in Tucson, Arizona, nine days after he went missing. Matt Kinman, Bell’s traveling companion, stated that he was missing on Saturday, August 20, 2022. Bell suffered from bipolar illness and would disappear anytime Kinman went out to eat.
Kinman told Saving Country Songs, “We came down here to Arizona to work and perform some music, and he just took off.” He was in the truck’s rear. I went inside to fetch some food. When I came out, he’d gotten out of the vehicle and departed.” Nine days later, he was recovered dead not far from where he went missing. Bell was 32 years old when he died. His death cause has not yet been established.
Luke Bell had one record and it’s better than most artists will spend a lifetime trying to make. So cool and so different. I’m sad to hear the news of his passing. I’m grateful I found this record he made. pic.twitter.com/gm2ytP1w4Z
— Shelby Lee Lowe (@ShelbyLeeLowe) August 30, 2022
The career of Luke Bell in the music business
Luke Bell was born on June 27, 1990, in Cody, Wyoming. He briefly attended college. He went on to work as a performer at a nearby tavern, where he met singer-songwriter, Pat Reedy. In 2011, Bell was chastised for playing excessively loudly with the rock band Fast Luke and the Lead Heavy at the Hole in the Wall pub near the University of Texas. They were finally fired. He was then asked to play at Austin’s legendary White Horse, which was established by a bartender called Dennis O’Donnell.
He traveled to Nashville in 2014 to make an album called Don’t Mind If I Do. He then went to Santa’s Pub. His music video for Sometimes at the Time catapulted him to fame. The WME agency found him and gave him the chance to tour alongside great musicians like Willie Nelson, Hank Jr., and Dwight Yoakam.
Bell joined Thirty Tigers in 2016 and started working on his self-titled album, which included a couple of songs from Don’t Mind If I Do as well as several new tracks. The record was a tremendous success, and despite multiple offers, he turned them down. However, Bell regularly collaborated with recording artist Matt Kinman. In 2017, they performed together at the Pickathon event in Portland. Luke also received an Ameripolitan Award nomination for Best Honky Tonk Male.
What caused Luke’s subsequent demise?
Luke Bell started to make fewer public appearances and, at one point, practically vanished. People made assumptions about him, but the fact was that he was suffering from bipolar illness. His mental condition had an effect on his life as well, as some of his friends started to withdraw from him. Bell’s disappearance was highly publicized, and he was typically discovered in hospitals or jailed. He continued to sing and present in concerts despite his various challenges.
