Jill Janus, the lead singer of heavy metal rock band Huntress, died at age 43 on Tuesday after committing suicide.
Huntress — which formed in 2009 — announced Janus’s death on their Facebook page Thursday. The band said their front woman died “outside of Portland, Oregon,” and the she had been suffering from mental health problems for a long time. They did not say exactly how she took her own life.
“Janus spoke publicly about these challenges in hopes of guiding others to address and overcome their mental illness,” Huntress wrote in the post, in which they also added the phone number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
The group praised Janus for her skill and also lauded her collaborations with other female-fronted rock bands like Chelsea Girls and The Starbreakers. Huntress also said Janus was the “composer and co-creator of an upcoming rock opera with Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s Angus Clark and had a decade-long career as NYC DJ Penelope Tuesdae.”
Among the people who paid tribute to Janus and mourned her loss on social media were bandmate Casey Wood and Lizzy Hale of the band Halestorm.
