The cause of death has been revealed for rock icon Jackson Browne’s son Ethan two months after he died aged 52.
PEOPLE reports the actor and model died due to the effects of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and lidocaine, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said on Tuesday.
Ethan’s manner of death was ruled an accident.
His father, the 77-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter and political activist, shared a statement to Facebook on Nov. 26, confirming his eldest child died the day before.
“It is with deep sorrow that we share that on the morning of November 25, 2025, Ethan Browne, the son of Jackson Browne and Phyllis Major, was found unresponsive in his home and has passed away,” the statement read. “We ask for privacy and respect for the family during this difficult time. No further details are available at this moment.”
Ethan was just a toddler when his mother Phyllis Major, who married the “Somebody’s Baby” singer in 1975, died by suicide, the PEOPLE report notes.
Jackson Browne at the 1979 No Nukes concert in Battery Park, with son Ethan (Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty)
In 2021, Jackson reflected on Major’s death in an interview with Route Magazine, saying his son became his “main focus” afterward.
“I only had two things that I hoped I could fit together: being a songwriter and a father,” he said. “And I looked at it like this, if I have to only be a father, I hope I’ll know it, and just do that. “
Ethan grew up to make a career for himself as an actor and model.
He went on to star alongside Angelina Jolie in 1995’s Hackers. In 2004, he starred in the Kate Hudson film Raising Helen.
As a model, he appeared in campaigns for designers like Isaac Mizrahi, according to producer Mark Ronson’s memoir, Night People, per PEOPLE.
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