Singer had high alcohol level at time of suicide

Stuart Adamson, the lead singer and guitarist for the Scottish rock band Big Country, had a high blood-alcohol level in his system when he committed suicide in a Honolulu hotel last month, according to city coroners.

The Honolulu medical examiner’s office determined Adamson, 43, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.279% when he was found dead on December 16 in his hotel room near the Honolulu International Airport. The legal limit to drive in Hawaii is 0.08%.

A postmortem determined that Adamson’s cause of death was asphyxia due to hanging, according the office.

Adamson’s estranged wife, Melanie Shelley, reported the singer missing from his Nashville home on November 26. Nashville police suspected marital troubles prompted his disappearance.

Adamson, from Dunfermline, had played with the Skids before he formed Big Country in 1981.

They had a minor hit in Britain with Harvest Home before making their names with the international hits Fields of Fire and In a Big Country both from the album The Crossing in 1983.

Adamson relocated to Nashville around 1997 and remained active, including a collaboration with Nashville singer-songwriter Marcus Hummon.