The Walkmen singer Hamilton Leithauser has revealed that he was sent a stranger’s ashes in the post.
Leithauser’s appeal, which he began publicising online earlier this week, was to arrange for the ashes to be redirected to a relevant recipient – and it’s been a success.
The singer and guitarist wrote on Twitter on Tuesday (January 31) that he’d received ashes contained in a cardboard box for a deceased man he didn’t know named Walter.
“I just received package addressed to ‘current resident’,” wrote Leithauser. “Address was mine. Inside package are cremated remains of a man from Oct 2017. I do not know the man. I’ve lived here for 6 years.
“I got in touch with the funeral home, and the director is a FUCKING ASSHOLE, doesn’t give a shit about this poor guy, and refuses to take them back. Now I have this stranger’s ashes in my kitchen. What should I do with them?”
I just received package addressed to "current resident". Address was mine. Inside package are cremated remains of a man from Oct 2017. I do not know the man. I've lived here for 6 years. (1/2)
— Hamilton Leithauser (@HLeithauser) January 31, 2023
Leithauser continued: “This feels a little bit ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’. In case anybody wants to send hate mail, or wants to know where NOT to die, or send your loved ones, get in touch with Juan’s Funeral home at 509 Liberty Ave, Brooklyn.”
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The Walkmen singer, who also performs solo, then claimed that the funeral home owner, John, was rude to him. “John himself hung up on me,” Leithauser wrote.
He continued: “This is an actual snippet of my conversation w John: John: well I dunno…maybe he used to live there? Maybe he’s dead? Me: Of course he’s fucking dead you just mailed him to me!”
The following day (February 1), The New York Post spoke to Leithauser to ask more about the bizarre situation.
Leithauser told the outlet about his reaction to receiving the stranger’s ashes: “It’s just sort of shocking. I’m like, ‘What am I supposed to do with these?’ This was a person. You have to show a little respect,” he said.
He went on to explain that John was initially unwilling to help and had let slip that employees had tried to send the remains to someone named Robbie.
Leithauser said of his exchange with John: “He said something like, ‘It’s your problem now, and he actually hung up on me. He was a total asshole.”
“Not to get overly sentimental but my mother died last year and we have her ashes. Now I feel attached to old Walt,” Leithauser added. “Nobody came to claim the dude.”
According to the Post, the box was also marked with a registration number from the Rosehill Crematorium in Linden, New Jersey, where a representative told the newspaper that Walter’s remains had been picked up by the funeral home.
It’s the funeral home’s responsibility to ensure the remains get to a loved one or relative.
When contacted yesterday (February 1) by the Post, the funeral home owner (whose surname was revealed to be Neman) confirmed that the situation was being remedied.
“We’re gonna go pick them up,” Neman said, adding that he has “paperwork” with at least one relatives’ name included.
Asked why it took so long to send the ashes, Neman answered: “Nobody came to pick them up…that was the address I was given.”
Leithauser later texted the Post, “I guess you got their attention,” after claiming that a “very unfriendly woman from the funeral home just showed up at my door” to collect Walter’s ashes.
There was no New York City address listed for Walter’s full name nor was there an obituary printed in 2017.
Meanwhile, last month The Walkmen announced their return to the UK this year with some new London shows.
The band, who surprised fans late last year with news that they would be reuniting for the first time in decade, will play two headline shows at London’s KOKO this August.
You can buy tickets for the shows here.