Model, actor, DJ, and musician Ethan Browne passed away on Tuesday from an undisclosed cause at the age of 52. According to Variety, the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office cited it as “deferred.”His father and rock singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, 77, announced the death on social media on Wednesday. The statement, shared on Facebook and Instagram, read:“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.”It added, “We ask for privacy and respect for the family during this difficult time. No further details are available at this moment.”Ethan Browne’s mother, the late Phyllis Major, was a model and actress. She was also Jackson Browne’s first wife.Major died by suicide from a drug overdose in Los Angeles, California, in March 1976, when her son was only two years old. She was 30.Everything about Ethan Browne’s motherPhyllis Patricia Major was born in Tampa, Florida, in January 1946. Her parents were Stanley Burdett Major and Nancy Caroline Farnsworth. She met Jackson Browne at the Troubador Club in Hollywood in late 1972.Later, Browne wrote a song about their first encounter, titled "Ready or Not," which was included in the 1973 studio album For Everyman. The lyrics go as follows:“I met her in a crowded barroom/ One of those typical Hollywood scenes/ I was doing my very best Bogart/ But I was having trouble getting into her jeans/ I punched an unemployed actor/ Defending her dignity/ He stood up and knocked me through that barroom door/ And that girl came home with me.”At the time, Jackson Browne had just come out of his relationship with Canadian-American singer, songwriter, painter, and multi-instrumentalist Joni Mitchell.Major and Browne soon began dating and moved in together three weeks later. Another three months down the line, she was pregnant with their son, Ethan Browne, who was born in November 1973.The couple tied the knot in December 1975. However, the marriage ended in tragedy four months later when Phyllis Major was found dead from a barbiturate (sleeping pills) overdose at their home in Hollywood Hills, while her husband was on tour. She reportedly battled with postpartum depression and other mental health issues.Jackson Browne’s fourth album, The Pretender, was based on his loss. Other songs dedicated to Ethan Browne’s mother include Here Comes Those Tears Again, In the Shape of a Heart, and Sleep’s Dark and Silent Gate. About the album, Jackson told journalist Paul Nelson:“It was like looking at a photograph coming up in a solution. When I started to see these songs coming up and I began to see the image, it sort of scared me.”Phyllis Major briefly dated actor, director, producer, and writer Warren Beatty.It is noteworthy that Joni Mitchell, in her 1976 single Song For Sharon, accused Jackson Browne of being abusive and held him responsible for Phyllis Major’s suicide. Mitchell repeated the same accusation on her 1994 track Not to Blame, while also mentioning Ethan Browne.“His mother had the frailty you despise/ And the looks you love to drive to suicide/ Not one wet eye around lonely little grave/ Said ‘He was out of line girl/ You were not to blame,” Joni’s lyrics went.Jackson Browne later called the song “inexcusable” in a subsequent interview.Jackson and Ethan Browne At "Raising Helen" Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals - Source: GettyDuring his 2021 sit-down with Route Magazine, he mentioned struggling with single fatherhood after his first wife’s death, while balancing his career. The rocker also said that his song For a Dancer was originally written in the aftermath of a friend’s death, but later became about Phyllis Major.Reportedly, Joni Mitchell and Phyllis Major were acquaintances before Jackson Browne’s entry into their lives.Jackson Browne later married model Lynne Sweeney in 1981 and welcomed son Ryan Daniel Browne, 43, who is now an editor, story producer, video/ filmmaker, and musician. Sweeney and Browne’s marriage ended after two years.Jackson has also dated actress-director Daryl Hannah and environmental activist and visual artist Dianna Cohen.