Death
Shortly after the release of World of Echo, Russell was diagnosed as HIV-positive. Though the disease caused throat cancer (forcing Russell to undergo chemotherapy), he remained prolific, working on voice-and-cello songs for an album to be released by Philip Glass's Point Music (some of which surfaced on the posthumous Another Thought in 1994) and an electronic pop suite influenced by the likes of 808 State and William Orbit (provisionally titled 1-800-DINOSAUR) for Rough Trade Records. Much of the material intended for this project was included on 2004's Calling Out of Context.
Russell died of AIDS on April 4, 1992, at the age of 40. In an April 28 column, Kyle Gann of The Village Voice wrote: "His recent performances had been so infrequent due to illness, his songs were so personal, that it seems as though he simply vanished into his music."
Read more about this topic: Arthur Russell (musician)
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