Former ‘X Factor’ USA star, GRL member Simone Battle dead at 25; suicide suspected

Super-sad news to report from the world of music today.

As first reported by TMZ, singer Simone Battle, known today as a member of the Robin Antin-created group GRL, was found dead on Friday morning at the age of 25. She was reportedly hanging on a rod in her closet, and the case itself appears to be rather open-and-shut.

TV fans here on CarterMatt may specifically remember Battle from the first season of “The X Factor” in America, where she made it all the way to the top 17 as a solo artist. She was not put through to the next round by judge Simon Cowell, and following that, her career eventually led to her joining GRL. “The X Factor” in America only lasted for two more seasons, and was eventually canceled after receiving low ratings and being the target of numerous critical thrashings.

This has been a very difficult year for losing people to suicide in the wake of Robin Williams’ death, and we even had a similar situation play out earlier this summer where a note on Facebook from “American Idol” alum Josh Gracin made it appear as though he was about to take his own life. Luckily, authorities were able to step in there, and eventually he was able to get some of the help that he needed in order to move forward.

We imagine that there will still be many details that come out about Battle’s situation in particular in the weeks ahead, and we will try to provide updates as they come out. For now, our thoughts and condolences are with all of her family through what has to be a very difficult time for them.

You can see Battle’s audition for “The X Factor” below, along with one of the latest music videos released by GRL.

Photo: Fox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crs5W1td5v0