BEN KWELLER Dedicates New Ballad ‘KILLER BEE’ To The Unfortunate 17-Year Old Songstress NELL SMITH

13 April 2025


Press

Back in 2021, highly skilled UK-born and US-based, musical teenager NELL SMITH recorded at the age of 13-year an album, named Where The Viaduct Looms with Oklahoma’s eccentric legends The Flaming Lips.

Frontman Wayne Coyne spotted her at one point as she attended several gigs with her father. They got in touch with each other and after Coyne found out that she’s a singer he proposed her to work with the band on a Nick Cave tribute album he already had in mind for some time.


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Last October, the worst happened when Nell died in a vehicle motor crash,
only 17. Her debut LP, titled Anxious was released posthumously last Friday.

Also now, San Francisco songsmith BEN KWELLER has shared a goosebumps ballad, named KILLER BEE. A track from his upcoming 7th full-length Cover The Mirrors. It features backing vocals by The Flaming Lips.

His first new music since the sudden passing
of his 16-year-old son Dorian Zev in 2023.

Kweller: “Today we release the song ‘Killer Bee’ in memory of Nell Smith. Nell was
a gifted artist who marched to the beat of her own drum. Like my son Dorian, she was
taken from us out of nowhere, driving alone, freak car accident, 17 years old. Grief makes
us feel isolated and the weight seems too heavy to carry alone. Community reunites and
lifts us up. Love on your people today and every day.”

Heartbreaking.

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