Benjamin Curtis, who played guitar in School of Seven Bells and Secret Machines, died on Sunday following a battle with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. He was 35.

Benjamin Curtis Dies

Curtis announced his cancer diagnosis in February 2013. The rare cancer, which attacks the immune system, required him to receive expensive treatments for which he had no health insurance to cover. Curtis’ friends, members of The Strokes and Interpol, played a benefit concern in New York City in August to raise money. His Seven Bells bandmate Alley Deheza started a website for donations as well.

“Last night, Dec. 29th 2013, we lost our friend and brother Benjamin Curtis to his fight against cancer,” a post on the School of Seven Bells Facebook page read. “We can’t thank all of you who supported him and his music through the years enough.… You made it possible for all of us, and for him, to see how truly loved he was and how many lives he had touched through his music by your gestures. We will all miss this incredibly talented and rare person every day, but we are fortunate enough that he shared with us his music, and that is something that we can keep forever.”

Curtis left the Secret Machines in 2007, with whom he toured with both Kings of Leon and the Foo Fighters. Joining up with twin sisters Alley and Claudia Deheza for the School of Seven Bells, he continued playing his otherworldly guitar rifts. School of Seven Bells released three acclaimed albums, made dozens of festival appearances and opened for Bat for Lashes.

– Chelsea Regan

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