Jackie Leven er død

Short death report in the print edition of 16.11.2011: the Scottish singer and songwriter died on Monday aged 61. He became known in 1979 as the frontman of Doll by Doll, disappeared for many years with personal problems and returned in 1994; since then he had released 24 albums, most of them of a high standard. Leven's relationship with Norway is highlighted: he was a great “friend of Norway”, played all over the country, often sang about places he visited, translated Rolf Jacobsen into English and recorded a record in the Bergen prison. On a flight to Tromsø he discovered that he was one of the favourite singers of Ian Rankin's fictional character John Rebus; from this the joint album Jackie Leven Said arose.

The report is brief (around a hundred words), but bundles the narrative strands about Leven that are common in Norway – prison concert, Rolf Jacobsen, the Rankin encounter – which are also found in later Norwegian tributes (Dagsavisen 2021).