Teenage daughter of The Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd mysteriously disappears as band members plead for help finding the 16-year-old
The rock band The Flaming Lips is asking fans to help find drummer Steven Drozd’s missing teenage daughter.
Drozd’s daughter, 16-year-old Charlotte, also known as Bowie, disappeared around 11:30 a.m. in Seattle, Washington, near the Space Needle.
The teen was last seen on the monorail that runs close to the city monument, Seattle police said.
In a message to
16-year-old Charlotte, also known as Bowie, disappeared Saturday morning around 11:30 a.m. in Seattle, Washington, near the Space Needle, after riding the monorail
Charlotte is the teenage daughter of missing drummer Steven Drozd.
Charlotte has brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing khaki shorts and pink shoes at the time of her disappearance.
The Missing Persons Unit has appointed a detective to investigate her case.
She has now been classified as a ‘missing or runaway child’.
Drozd, 55, and the band’s frontman Wayne Coyne, 63, posted on their own social media accounts that Charlotte had not been seen since the weekend.
‘URGENT!!! Please help if you can!!! Steven’s daughter (she is 16 years old) is missing!!! She was last seen early Saturday near the Space Needle…I will post more information as soon as possible,” Coyne wrote.
Charlotte has brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing khaki shorts and pink shoes at the time of her disappearance
Charlotte “Bowie” Drozd is seen with her father Steven Drozd in a photo when she was 8
Drozd’s band made a stop in Seattle on Friday, a day before his daughter went missing
The Flaming Lips are currently opening for alternative rock group Weezer on the band’s North American Voyage to the Blue Planet tour.
The group made a stop in Seattle on Friday, a day before Drozd’s daughter went missing.
In 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported nearly 29,000 cases of missing children.
Of that number, approximately 25,300 have been resolved, while the remaining 3,500 are still active.
Charlotte’s disappearance comes as a young associate of The Flaming Lips, Nell Smith, died in a car accident at the age of 17
Raymonde shared five photos of Nell, one with her and brother Ike, another of her standing by a campfire with a guitar, another of her with Coyne in London, another with the vinyl of her song Where The Viaduct Looms’ and her with Warren Ellis
Charlotte’s disappearance comes as a young associate of The Flaming Lips, Nell Smith, died in a car accident at the age of 17.
Simon Raymonde, bassist/keyboardist of Cocteau Twins whose label Bella Union was preparing her debut album, confirmed her death on Instagram.
Lips singer Wayne Coyne announced her death during a show in Portland, Oregon.
“We are all shocked and devastated to learn of the sudden and tragic passing of our artist and dear friend Nell Smith over the weekend in British Columbia,” Raymonde began.
“Nell was only 17 and preparing to release her first solo record in early 2025 on Bella Union, made in Brighton with Jack and Lily Wolter of Penelope Isles,” he added.
“Her first release was an album of covers of Nick Cave songs recorded with fellow Bella Union artists The Flaming Lips in 2021, titled Where The Viaduct Looms,” he added.
“While we are all trying to come to terms with the terrible news, and out of respect for Nell’s grieving family, we cannot comment further at this time,” he concluded.
During The Flaming Lips show on Saturday, Coyne announced her death to the audience.
‘We have a Canadian friend, her name is Nell. Three years ago we recorded a great album with her, an album full of Nick Cave songs,” Coyne began.
“We have received very sad news today… that she died in a car accident last night,” he added, choking up.
“We are once again reminded of the power of music and how encouraging it can be to be around people you love,” he said.
Smith and her parents regularly took her to The Flaming Lips shows, where she always wore a parrot costume during the band’s shows in Calgary.
“Nell was only 17 and preparing to release her first solo record in early 2025 on Bella Union, made in Brighton with Jack and Lily Wolter of Penelope Isles,” he added.
During The Flaming Lips show on Saturday, Coyne announced her death to the audience
Coyne approached the teen and said he recognized her from previous shows and they managed to stay in touch during the COVID-19 pandemic
Coyne approached the teen and said he recognized her from previous shows and they managed to stay in touch during the COVID-19 pandemic.
They eventually took advantage of the lockdown to record an album full of Nick Cave covers called Where the Viaduct Looms, which was released in November 2021 when Smith was just 14.
She launched one Kickstarter to cover money for recording her first solo album last summer, which far exceeded its goal.
The last update in early August revealed that she was still working on a music video for her song Split in the Sky, while the album was still in pre-production.