British singer Lauren Bennett, who rose to international prominence as a featured vocalist on LMFAO’s 2011 global hit Party Rock Anthem and later performed with the girl group G.R.L., died by suicide, an inquest has concluded.
Bennett, 36, was found dead in a rural location in Kent on May 29. The Kent and Medway Coroners’ Court heard that her husband, Kenny Wormald, discovered her body using a device-tracking application after she failed to return from a morning walk.
Assistant coroner Jyoti Gill read statements during the hearing detailing Bennett’s acute psychological distress in the months preceding her death. Wormald told the court that his wife had been struggling with severe mental health issues, though he noted they spoke about everything and he had seen no immediate indication she intended to end her life. Her father, Richard Bennett, paid tribute to her career, noting that she had signed a record deal at age 17 and moved to the United States independently to pursue music.
Investigators recovered pages of farewell notes at her home. Toxicology reports showed no alcohol or illicit drugs in her system at the time of her death.
The court was told that Bennett had previously been diagnosed with Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder associated with anxiety, mood instability, and depression. In January prior to her death, she experienced a severe episode during which she went without sleep for multiple days, leading to a hospital admission under a mental health section. Gill noted that Bennett had experienced “substantial psychological suffering” from that period onward.
At the time of her death, Bennett was under the care of specialized mental health services. Evidence presented to the court indicated she had reacted poorly to prescribed medications and expressed a belief that her condition would not improve.
Beyond her contribution to Party Rock Anthem—which spent six weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and was later ranked by the publication as the fifth most successful song of all time, accompanied by a music video with over 2.5 billion views on YouTube—Bennett was a member of the girl pop group G.R.L., known for the single Ugly Heart. She also performed in the group Paradiso Girls alongside Aria Crescendo.
Following her passing, former bandmates in G.R.L. shared a tribute on Instagram in July, writing that their hearts were broken and expressing deep sorrow over her loss. Crescendo remembered her former bandmate as exceptionally talented, beautiful, and humorous.
