Jackson Browne mourns son Ethan, 52, after sudden death

The Moment

Legendary singer songwriter Jackson Browne is facing another unthinkable loss. His son, actor and model Ethan Browne, has died at age 52 after being found unresponsive in his home on Tuesday, November 25, 2025.

In a public Facebook statement posted Wednesday, the 77 year old musician and his family wrote that Ethan, his son with the late model and actress Phyllis Major, had passed away and asked for privacy as they grieve. They added that no further details are available right now.

Ethan, who shared the screen with stars like Kate Hudson and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone as a baby with his famous dad, built a career in both acting and modeling before his sudden death.

The Take

Some celebrity stories are meant to be dissected. This is not one of them.

What struck me reading Jackson Browne’s statement is how much this loss sits on top of a life already marked by public grief. Fans of his 70s and 80s work remember: this is a man who has been writing about heartbreak, mortality, and time slipping through our fingers for decades. Now he is burying his son.

After Phyllis Major died by suicide in 1976, Jackson has said that raising Ethan became his main focus. In a 2021 interview, he explained that he only really cared about two roles in his life: songwriter and father, and that if he had to choose just one, he hoped he would know it and simply be a dad. That is not the kind of thing you say lightly.

So yes, Ethan was an actor in 90s cult favorite Hackers and later in the early 2000s film Raising Helen. Yes, he modeled for major designers and popped up on TV. But before all that, he was the baby on Jackson Browne’s shoulders at concerts, the six month old on a Rolling Stone cover, the child his father reorganized his entire life around after devastating loss.

There is something haunting about that arc. The Laurel Canyon generation that gave us those classic albums is now in its seventies. Their kids, the ones we saw in liner note photos and red carpet shots, are middle aged. And with middle age come all the harsh realities regular families deal with too: sudden illness, mental health battles, freak emergencies. Fame does not grant immunity; at best it adds a spotlight and a harsher echo.

This is what it feels like when rock history becomes real life aging in front of us. Less gossip, more gut punch.

Receipts

Confirmed

• Jackson Browne’s family posted a public statement on Facebook on November 26, 2025, saying that Ethan Browne was found unresponsive at home on the morning of November 25, 2025, and has died, and asking for privacy.
• The statement notes that no further details are available at this time.
• Ethan Browne was 52 years old and is the son of Jackson Browne and Phyllis Major, who welcomed him in 1973 and married in 1975.
• Phyllis Major died by suicide in 1976 at age 30; Jackson has spoken in interviews about focusing on raising Ethan after her death.
• Ethan appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1974 as a baby with his father.
• He acted in the 1995 film Hackers, in the 2004 movie Raising Helen, and in at least one episode of the early 2000s TV series Birds of Prey.
• He also worked as a model and was featured in fashion campaigns, including work referenced in producer Mark Ronson’s memoir Night People.

Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne has confirmed the death of his son, Ethan Browne. Ethan, 52, was found unresponsive in his home on Tuesday. Read on https://t.co/PgBHSnDhpd pic.twitter.com/UPpNYGsPu5

— Winnipeg Sun (@winnipegsun) November 27, 2025

Unverified / Not yet public

• Any specific medical cause or circumstances of Ethan’s death have not been shared by the family as of this writing.
• Funeral or memorial plans have not been publicly announced.
• Details about Ethan’s private life in recent years remain, appropriately, private.

Backstory (For Casual Readers)

If you know Jackson Browne mainly as that wistful voice behind 70s staples like Running on Empty and Doctor My Eyes, here is the short version. He emerged from the Los Angeles Laurel Canyon scene as one of the era’s great songwriters, pairing introspective lyrics with folk rock hooks. In the mid 70s he married model and actress Phyllis Major, and they had one son, Ethan. When Phyllis died by suicide in 1976, Jackson was suddenly a widowed young father at the height of his fame. Over the years he has said that parenting Ethan became the center of his life, even as his career continued. Fans have literally watched Ethan grow up in photos, from a baby on magazine covers to a familiar face on red carpets.

What’s Next

Right now, the Browne family has asked for what any grieving family needs: time and privacy. Given the wording of the statement, do not expect rapid fire updates.

Here is what seems likely in the near term:

• Tributes from peers and fans. Jackson is deeply respected in the music world. As more colleagues see the news, you can expect a wave of condolences and memories, including from people who knew Ethan personally.
• Possible public remembrance later on. Whether it is a concert dedication, a written tribute, or a quiet mention onstage, Jackson has a long history of folding his real life into his art. It would not be surprising if he chose to honor Ethan in that way when he is ready, though that is entirely his call.
• More context, carefully shared. At some point, the family may release an obituary or fuller remembrance that focuses on Ethan’s life and work rather than the manner of his death. Until then, anything beyond the basic facts is speculation and does not help anyone.

For fans who grew up with Jackson Browne’s music, this news hits like a late chapter you never wanted to read. We watched him navigate loss once; now we are watching him face it again, older, in a world that never really learned how to give famous people private space to grieve.

Sources: Public family statement posted to Jackson Browne’s official Facebook page on November 26, 2025; long form interview with Jackson Browne in Route Magazine (2021) discussing his life after the death of Phyllis Major; historical coverage and archives of Jackson Browne’s 1974 Rolling Stone cover with infant son Ethan; Mark Ronson’s memoir Night People, which references Ethan’s modeling work.

Your turn: When it comes to stories like this, do you want detailed reporting, or would you rather the public and press step back and let a famous family grieve in peace?