Jackson Browne’s son Ethan Browne’s cause of death revealed
Actor and model Ethan Browne’s cause of death has been announced.
The The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed on Tuesday, January 13 Ethan, songwriter’s son Jackson Brownedied of the “effects of fentanyl, methamphetamine and lidocaine,” according to documents obtained by We weekly.
The medical examiner ruled the manner of death an accident. He was 52.
Jackson, 77, shared the news of his son’s death in November 2025.
“It is with deep sorrow that we announce that on the morning of November 25, 2025, Ethan Browne, the son of Jackson Browne and Phyllis Majorwas found unconscious in his home and has passed away,” said a statement shared via Jackson’s Facebook on November 26, 2025. “We ask for privacy and respect for the family during this difficult time. No further details are known at this time.”
Jackson and Major welcomed Ethan in 1973, three years before Major committed suicide at the age of 30. Jackson later tied the knot with Lynee Sweeney in 1981 and welcomed son Ryan the following year before their divorce in 1983.
Ethan grew up and followed in his father’s footsteps by pursuing a career in Hollywood. He was only 1 year old when he was on the cover of Rolling stone in 1974 alongside Jackson, where the songwriter held his son in his arms while nuzzling his face. The 1995 film Hackers would later serve as Ethan’s feature film debut. In 2002, he appeared on the 2002 TV show Birds of prey before it was released in 2004 Raising Helen alongside Kate Hudson.
According to Mark Ronson’s Memoirs from 2025 Night People: How to Become a DJ in 90s New YorkEthan was also a working actor, appearing in campaigns for designers such as Isaac Mizrahi before his death. Ronson recalled meeting Ethan in his book and described him as “the real deal,” who has his late mother’s “sharp cheekbones” and “an angular face and soulful gaze that seemed to reveal his deepest truths, even from a glossy page.”
Ethan was also a father himself and welcomed a daughter before his death.
“Ethan is a great father. He’s a great son, a great man. I love seeing him with his kids,” Jackson said of his son in May 2022. Trurock revival. “When I see him in his films, as a model, with his daughter, and as such a great father, I feel very proud. It makes me feel like I have done something very good in my life.”
Jackson has been candid about how his own “main focus” became fatherhood after Major’s death.
“I only had two things that I hoped would fit together: being a songwriter and a father. And I looked at it this way: If all I have to do is be a father, I hope I’ll know it, and just do it,” the “These Days” songwriter said in an interview with Route magazine in June 2021. “But life isn’t like that and you don’t get a message in the mail telling you you’re messing up as a parent. You think you have the advice and help you need, and sometimes you don’t, or you don’t listen to it.”
He continued, “The mistakes I made as a parent are still with me. I think about them quite often. It’s not that you didn’t try all the time. It’s not that I didn’t try then. You just get distracted by other things and some things don’t occur to you. Or maybe you ignore advice you should have taken because you’re too confident.”
