Wilco Performer Died of Painkiller Overdose, Coroner Says
By Dave Itzkoff

A coroner said that the singer and songwriter Jay Bennett, a former member of the rock band Wilco, died of an overdose of a painkiller, The Associated Press reported.

Mr. Bennett, who performed with Wilco beginning in 1996 and contributed to the band’s albums “Being There,” “Summerteeth” and “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” died on May 24 in Urbana, Ill., where he lived. The cause of death was initially unknown. Duane Northrup, the coroner of Champaign County, said that tests showed Mr. Bennett had died from an overdose of fentanyl, a drug prescribed to treat chronic pain, and that his death was being investigated as an accident.

Shortly before his death, Mr. Bennett wrote on his MySpace page that he had severe pains in his hip and needed hip-replacement surgery but did not have proper health insurance. He was fired from Wilco by its lead singer, Jeff Tweedy, before the release of “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” and filed suit against Mr. Tweedy for breach of contract in May.