Sad news as James Woolley, ex-Nine Inch Nails keyboardist, has passed away due to unknown causes. His ex-wife Kate Van Buren made the announcement via her Facebook page (Source).
Woolley was an early contributor to the industrial music group Die Warzau, which featured Chris Vrenna (ex-Nine Inch Nails, Tweaker), and he joined Nine Inch Nails in 1991 to join the group for Lollapalooza’s first year. He remained with the group through 1994, when the band was touring in support of The Downward Spiral.
Van Buren writes, “James worked hard and played hard with NIN. He brought coolness to playing keyboards, which isn’t as easy to do as playing guitar or drums. Those years were truly magical and quite an adventure.”
As much as she recognizes how important those years were to Woolley, she also makes it clear that his love for family was his priority. “Though our marriage ended, James always stayed close to his children. He loved being a father. Because of significant neck and spine injuries, he wasn’t capable of doing a lot of physical activities with them, but he loved sitting down to paint, or teach piano, or just look at nature. He passed his amazing musical and artistic talents to all three children.”
No cause of death is known as of now. We send our condolences to his friends and family in this difficult time.