'Trailblazer' Cree country artist Shane Yellowbird dead at 42

Cree country singer and songwriter Shane Yellowbird died unexpectedly on Monday, family members have confirmed to CBC News. 

The 42-year-old from Maskwacis, about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton, became an award-winning artist after a stuttering condition led him into music. 

A statement from family members said Yellowbird was residing in Calgary when he died.

"Our brother was a talented artist who loved his children, music and sports," it reads. "We are all deeply struck by the tragedy and ask for the respect and privacy of this time to mourn the loss of our loved one."

Close friends say he had a history of health problems including epilepsy. 

"Several years ago he started to share that he wasn't doing as many shows because he was suffering from seizures," Yellowbird's friend and fellow musician Crystal Shawanda told CBC News. 

"He made a public statement about it. He was starting to share that and be more open about it with people."

Accolades and tributes have been pouring in on social media since word of Yellowbird's death became public on Tuesday morning. 

Shawanda said she was shocked when she heard the news. 

"I just can't quite believe it," she said. "This kind of came out of nowhere."

In 2007, Yellowbird received the rising star award at the Canadian Country Music Awards, along with three awards handed out the same year at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. 

His song, Pickup Truck, became his first top five song on the Canadian Country singles chart in the summer of 2007.  

"What he accomplished is huge," Shawanda said. "No male Indigenous country music artist has yet to do what he has done. That kind of shows the magnitude of what he accomplished. He was the first one to get through that door."

She thinks Yellowbird will continue to serve as an inspiration to other aspiring male Indigenous country artists.