Jill Janus, Frontwoman Of Heavy Metal Band Huntress, Dies By Suicide At 43

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.

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It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to one of our peers. Jill Janus, has died today. Jill was very open about her struggles with mental health and addiction. Now, more than ever, spanning across Every age group, the suicide rate is extremely high. I’d like to take a moment to state again how important it is to talk about mental health, and remind all of you out there battling demons that you are not alone. I have to navigate my own dark labyrinth and I turn to music and writing for my lifeline. I want to encourage you to keep searching for Your lifeline, something that makes You happy. It doesn’t matter if no one gets it but you…that’s ok! We need to Stop trying to live up to expectations that society places in front of us to make us feel Unworthy of love, beauty and success. We need to stop comparing ourselves to others. We need to stop trying to be “normal”. And we need to stop being quiet about our mental wellbeing. Asking for help doesn’t mean your broken. And if you don’t know how to ask for help that’s ok too, those of us who have a shoulder will let you lean on it! We are All in this life together. For those of you with the ability to lend a hand or and ear. DO IT! We have a responsibility to help each other, cuz everything we say, do and touch affects the whole race. We are all connected. And I’d also like to address how careful We need to be with prescription medications that doctors and people that we trust give us to try to fix us. Some side effects of these meds rewire your brain, to where even if you wouldn’t normally have suicidal thoughts, your brain actually starts thinking that it is logical…all due to meds. Please be careful my loves! To Jill, My sister of scream, I hope wherever you are you have found the peace that you couldn’t here. My deepest sympathy’s go out to Jill’s Family and her band Huntress during this time.

A post shared by LZZY HALE (@officiallzzyhale) on Aug 16, 2018 at 3:00pm PDT