Red Dirt country singer-songwriter Jake Flint has unexpectedly died, less than one day after marrying his new wife. He was 37.

“We should be going through wedding photos but instead I have to pick out clothes to bury my husband in,” Flint’s wife, Brenda Flint, wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook post on Tuesday (November 29). “People aren't meant to feel this much pain. My heart is gone and I just really need him to come back. I can't take much more. I need him here.”

Flint’s longtime publicist, Clif Doyal, confirmed to The Oklahoman that the local singer unexpectedly died in his sleep after his wedding on Saturday (November 26). His cause of death has not yet been determined as of publication time. Doyal told the news outlet that Flint “a dear friend and just a super nice guy. …he was loved by everybody.”

Flint’s manager, Brenda Cline, confirmed the heartbreaking news in an emotional post on her Facebook page, along with a photo she took with the late country artist. She remembered him as “the funniest, most hilarious, hardest working, dedicated artist I have ever worked with in my career.”

“With a broken heart and in deep grief I must announce that Jake Flint has tragically passed away,” she wrote in her post on Monday (November 28). “I’ve tried several times today to make a post, but you can’t comment on what you can’t process. The photo below is when Jake and I excitedly signed our artist management contract. That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship and partnership. Jake was even more than that to me, I loved him much like a son. The funniest, most hilarious, hardest working, dedicated artist I have ever worked with in my career.

“We were just about to embark on some business together after he and Brenda got married- which was yesterday. Yes-yesterday,” Cline continued. :Jake has a million friends and I’m not sure how everyone will cope with this tragic loss. We need prayers- it’s all so surreal. Please please pray for his new wife Brenda, Jake’s precious mother, his sister and the rest of his family and friends. This is going to be incredibly difficult for so many. We love you Jake and in our hearts forever.”

Cline shared another photo of Flint at the Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame inductions, and shared her heartbreak for Flint’s wife, sister, mother and his sister’s children. Cline remembered that Flint was “like family” to her, and said a “very bright light in our lives has been extinguished but the memories and his music will remain with us forever.”

Flint was born in 1985, and was raised in Southeastern Oklahoma. His first introduction to playing music happened after his father was diagnosed with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and was not able to physically play sports or interact with his son. That’s when Flint’s father enlisted friends to help teach his son to play the guitar, and Flint discovered his love of bluegrass music, according to his bio on his website. Before long, he began writing his own music and advanced his pursuits as a singer-songwriter. Flint lived in rural Mounds, Oklahoma.

Denise Plante