Wes Freed Cause of Death Tragic: Musician, Genius Behind 'Drive-By Trucker' Album Art Dead At 58

Wes Freed, a musician, and The Drive-By Trucker's illustrator, has passed away at 58 due to cancer, confirmed by the band's publicist to Rolling Stone.

Earlier this year, a GoFundMe campaign was launched to help him pay for his medical expenses. He was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in January.

Although his music was not as well known as his art, he pursued a music career with several local bands. He played alongside the Shiners, Mud Helmet, and Dirt Ball.

Music and Art

Freed began forming an interest in art before music. In an interview in 2010, he was asked which came first, he replied "I would say I started drawing long before I played music, but I don't think the two can be separated in my mind."

He was able to connect both by illustrating album cover art, and he was best known for illustrating the cover art for the Drive-By Truckers' albums.

Freed first encountered the Southern rock band at the annual roots music festival Bubbapalooza in 1997 at the Star Community Bar in Atlanta, reports say.

He recounted that they only met by chance, but it left a lasting friendship and work relationship. The Drive-By Truckers slept over at Freed and his then-wife's home before they asked him to collaborate with them for the album cover art of "Southern Rock Opera."

Patterson Hood's sister and graphic designer Lilia worked with Freed for the album package, "She vowed early on to be true to his work and never alter it, which cemented his trust [...] We've been working with him ever since," recalled Hood in an interview with No Depression.

Since then, Freed has reportedly worked on 10 Drive-By Trucker albums, with the most recently released in June of 2022, "Welcome 2 Club XIII."

Heartbreaking News

Upon Freed's death, the Drive-By Truckers' frontman posted on the band's social media accounts, "I know [the] word is out. I'll be posting something when I can. Just too damned sad right now to articulate anything."

Jason Isbell, who is now pursuing a solo career after working with the Drive-By Truckers for several years, also paid his respects to Freed, dedicating "Decoration Day" to the deceased musician and artist.

"He was one of the first people I met on the road on tour with the Drive-By Truckers, many many years ago, more than 20 years ago," he recalled.

"I loved him. He was a great man and a great artist and he painted the covers of all the Drive-By Truckers records. This is a song for him," he continued.

True Calling

Freed was originally from Shenandoah Valley, but moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1983 to attend the Virginia Commonwealth University to study art.

While he played music with the local band, he designed posters for their shows. He revealed that it was then that he formed his signature "outsider" style.

He noted that he was supposed to move to New York to pursue his career there, but decided on Richmond, Virginia instead. "I think initially, when I was in high school, I always wanted to go to New York and be an artist and do all that and came to Richmond and I was like 'Richmond might seem like it may be big enough.' Then I went to New York and was like 'Richmond is definitely big enough,'" he jokingly said.

"Some of my professors were like 'Well, you seem to have found what you want to do and I guess that's good. It might not be good, but if you can make it work, then it's good.'"