At a Glance
- John Forté, Grammy-nominated recording artist, died on January 12 at his Martha’s Vineyard home
- He is survived by wife Lara Fuller and two young children, Wren, 7, and Haile, 4
- No official cause of death released; a prior seizure had left him with a serious health setback
- Why it matters: A celebrated musician who left city life to raise his family on the island he loved leaves behind an intimate legacy of family photos and basement concerts
John Forté, the Grammy-nominated rapper and producer, died suddenly on January 12 in his kitchen on Martha’s Vineyard, leaving behind a wife and two small children. He was 45.
Marriage to Lara Fuller
Forté met photographer Lara Fuller during the summer of 2015 on Martha’s Vineyard. They wed on the island on March 3, 2017, and never left.
Fuller studied photojournalism at Boston University before launching a freelance career that centered on couples, children and family portraits taken in natural light. She often turned her lens on her husband and their children, creating a public archive of their life together.
Children
The couple’s first child, daughter Wren Zazie, arrived on June 8, 2017, weighing 7 lbs 2 oz. Forté announced her birth on Instagram with the words, “Mom and baby are thriving. So much love, gratitude and deep appreciation for this moment.”
Their second child, son Haile Thayer, was born on June 16, 2020. Forté posted a photo of the newborn asleep with the caption, “He and his mom are fine and well. WE are well. Wren Zazie is eager to meet her little brother. The sun is shining. Oh, yeah, I cried… like a baby.”
Family Life on Martha’s Vineyard
- Moved to Martha’s Vineyard in 2015 after falling in love with the island in 1998
- Built a recording studio in a neighbor’s basement
- Performed with local musicians as well as Carly Simon and her son, Ben Taylor
- Shared frequent beach days, birthdays and vacations on social media
Final Days
Chilmark Police Chief Sean Slavin said Forté had suffered a “serious health setback” following a seizure about a year ago. A neighbor discovered him unresponsive in his kitchen. No official cause of death has been released.
Forté’s final Instagram posts included birthday wishes for both children and a December 2024 photo of the siblings smiling together. He often noted how rare it was to capture all four family members in a single frame.
Legacy
Born and raised in New York City, Forté gave up urban life for the quiet of an island that measures only 88 square miles. He spent his last decade recording, performing locally and documenting every milestone of fatherhood.
“Immediately after Haile Thayer entered the world, my brother @bsatz reached out. He asked me how I felt. ‘My cup runneth over,’ I said,” Forté wrote on his first Father’s Day as a dad of two.
He celebrated Fuller’s parenting just as publicly. On Mother’s Day 2020 he posted a photo of her reading to Wren while pregnant with Haile and wrote, “Happy Mother’s Day to my friend, my partner and my wife @laratf. I love her… It’s like heaven on earth look at her face.”
Key Takeaways:
- John Forté died at 45, survived by his wife of nearly nine years and two young children
- The family made Martha’s Vineyard their permanent home after meeting there in 2015
- No cause of death has been announced; Forté had experienced a serious health setback after a prior seizure
- His social media accounts serve as a public diary of beach outings, birthdays and quiet family moments
