Sufjan Stevens Dedicates Javelin to Late Partner

“He was an absolute gem of a person, full of life, love, laughter, curiosity, integrity, and joy.”

Sufjan Stevens is dedicating his new album Javelin, out October 6, to his late partner, Evans Richardson, who died in April. “He was an absolute gem of a person, full of life, love, laughter, curiosity, integrity, and joy,” Stevens wrote in a post on Instagram. “He was one of those rare and beautiful ones you find only once in a lifetime — precious, impeccable, and absolutely exceptional in every way.” Richardson was a curator who worked at the Studio Museum of Harlem and was the Chair of the American Alliance of Museums’ Accreditation Commission beginning in 2021. The news of this death comes soon after Stevens shared, on September 20, that he was diagnosed with Guillian-Barre Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that left him temporarily unable to walk. “Be kind, be strong, be patient, be forgiving, be vigorous, be wise, and be yourself,” Stevens added in his post. “Live every day as if it is your last, with fullness and grace, with reverence and love, with gratitude and joy. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”