Brit Turner, a founding member of the country rock band Blackberry Smoke, has reportedly passed away at the age of 57.
The band took to Instagram to announce the devastating news. “It is with the deepest sorrow that we inform everyone that our brother, Brit Turner, has moved on from this life,” the message reads.
“If you had the privilege of knowing Brit on any level, you know he was the most caring, empathetic, driven, and endearing person one could ever hope to meet.”
While describing Turner as Blackberry Smoke’s True North, the band revealed he had been battling glioblastoma since the fall of 2022. He had fought every day since then.
“We ask for prayers for his family and band brothers. More information on arrangements will be forthcoming. Thank you to everyone who has supported and been there for Brit and his family through this fight.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, glioblastoma is a type of cancer that starts in the astrocytes, which support the nerve cells. This type of cancer can form in the brain or spinal cord.
Symptoms include headaches that keep getting worse, nausea and vomiting, blurred or double vision, and seizures. “Glioblastoma can happen at any age. But it tends to occur more often in older adults and more often in men.”
There is currently no cure for glioblastoma. Treatments are used to slow cancer growth as well as reduce symptoms.
Brit Turner co-founded the band alongside Charlie Starr, Paul Jackson, Brandon Still, and his brother, Richard Turner in 2000. The group released their first album Bad Luck Ain’t No Crime in 2003.
Despite his treatments and his nearly two-year battle with glioblastoma, Turner remained loyal to the band.
Brit Turner’s Daughter Was Previously Diagnosed With Cancer
During an interview with James Calemine in early 2022, Brit Turner opened up about his daughter Lana Turner being diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma.
“It was absolutely heartbreaking,” Turner explained. “When we were in the hospital with my daughter we saw so much s— it was overwhelming. It was so heavy. You hear that expression there’s always someone who has it worse than you–it’s really so true.”
The experience led to the band wanting to raise money to fight children’s cancer. “If your kid gets sick, you’ll fucking rob banks. With children’s hospitals, there’s so many people there ready to help. We saw so many people that just a gas card meant so much to them. This whole experience was terrifying. We literally watched children die.”
Speaking about the initial symptoms his daughter experienced, Brit Turner said, “How it happened was she said her leg was hurting and she was two years old so she couldn’t really articulate what’s going on, but she was holding her thigh.”
“We go get an X-ray and they say oh she just twisted her knee. I said she’s not holding her knee! I was being an overprotective parent that I’m happy to be. They sent us on our way with an Ace bandage.”
Days later, he noticed that his daughter was not wanting to walk at all. He decided to take her to the doctor once again, where they did blood tests. “They got the blood test and basically said you have to go to Scottish Rite right now. The doctors said there’s something very wrong with her blood.”
“She just turned 3 at that point. They said she’s definitely got cancer. We just don’t know what it is yet. So, we had 5 shows left. We were scheduled to play 25 shows in a row without a single night off.”
After years of battling the disease, Brit Turner’s family received the amazing news that Lana’s cancer went into remission.