Big Country Singer Found Dead

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The body of Stuart Adamson, lead singer of the Scottish rock band Big Country, was found Sunday in a Honolulu hotel room, dead of an apparent suicide, Nashville police said.

Adamson, 43, has been missing from his Nashville home since last month.

Wilson Sullivan, medical examiner investigator of the Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner, confirmed that a body was found about 1 p.m. Sunday in the Plaza Hotel.

Detective Clinton Vogel with the Nashville police said Monday morning that he faxed a copy of Adamson's fingerprints to Honolulu authorities and received positive identification that the body was the singer.

An autopsy is expected to be done Monday in Honolulu.

Vogel suspects Adamson, a native of Manchester, England, has been in Hawaii since Dec. 4.

The detective said he was unaware of a suicide note. He declined to identify how Adamson killed himself.

Honolulu police were not immediately available for comment Monday.

Adamson's estranged wife, Melanie Shelley, reported the singer missing from his Nashville home Nov. 26. Shelley told police she had last seen Adamson on Nov. 18. The couple has been estranged about six weeks, Vogel said.

Adamson's dark green 1999 Jeep Cherokee was also missing from the family's home.

Adamson's credit card was used Dec. 3 at the Best Western motel near Music Row, Vogel said it wasn't clear whether Adamson was the one who used the credit card.

Vogel, who has been in contact with Adamson's manager and his ex-wife in Great Britain, suspects that Adamson's marital troubles prompted his disappearance. He has found no evidence of foul play.

"I don't see any business problems, financial problems or legal problems that would make him want to run and hide," Vogel said.

Big Country's 1980s hits included "In a Big Country" and "Fields of Fire."