Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jackson Browne is grieving the loss of his son, Ethan Browne, who has died at the age of 52.
The 77-year-old musician, known for his hit “Running on Empty,” made the heartbreaking announcement of his son’s passing through a Facebook post on Wednesday. Ethan was both a model and an actor.
“We regret to inform you that on the morning of November 25, 2025, Ethan Browne, child of Jackson Browne and Phyllis Major, was discovered unresponsive at his residence and has since deceased,” the statement declared. “We request that our privacy be respected during this challenging period. Currently, no additional information is available.”
Phyllis Major, Browne’s first wife and Ethan’s mother, tragically took her own life in 1976 when she was 30 and Ethan was just a young child. Jackson Browne also has another son, Ryan, aged 43, from his former marriage to Lynn Sweeney.
Ethan first gained media attention as an infant, featuring on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine with his father in 1974. His career included acting in the 2004 movie Raising Helen and modeling work over the years.
In a 2021 interview with Route Magazine, Jackson reflected on how his son’s upbringing became his priority following Major’s death.
“I had two main goals: to merge my life as a songwriter with being a father,” he shared. “And I saw it that if I had to choose, being a father would take precedence, hoping I would recognize that choice clearly and just embrace it.”
“However, life doesn’t explicitly alert you when you’re failing as a parent. You assume you have the necessary advice and support, but sometimes it’s lacking, or you don’t follow it,” he added. “The errors I’ve made in parenting still haunt me. I often reflect on them. It’s not that I wasn’t constantly trying. It’s just that sometimes you get sidetracked by other things, some aspects don’t come to mind, or perhaps you disregard advice that you should have followed, due to overconfidence.”
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