On 26 November 2001, Adamson was reported missing by his wife Melanie. At the time, the couple had been estranged for several weeks, and Melanie filed for divorce on the day he had disappeared. He had been due to face drunk-driving[[DUI]] charges in March 2002, and had been ordered to attend [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] (AA). He had previously experienced problems related to [[alcoholism]], and had begun drinking again after having been sober for over a decade. On 16 December 2001 he was found dead in a room that he had booked into in the [[Best Western]] Plaza Hotel in [[Honolulu]] in [[Hawaii]]. According to a local police report he had died by hanging himself with an electrical cord from a pole in a wardrobe.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2001/Dec/18/ln/ln05a.html |title=Death of rocker Adamson likely suicide, official says |newspaper=The Honolulu Advertiser |date=18 December 2001 |access-date=2 January 2012}}</ref><ref>Jeevan Vasagar, [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/18/jeevanvasagar Big Country's Stuart Adamson dead in hotel], ''The Guardian'', 17 December 2001.</ref> A subsequent Coroner's Office report found that he had consumed a 'very strong' amount of alcohol around the time of his death.<ref>Mike Wade, [http://news.scotsman.com/stuartadamson/Autopsy-shows-star-was-drunk.2297294.jp Autopsy shows star was drunk at time of suicide], ''The Scotsman'', 26 January 2002.</ref> A legal dispute over his estate ensued between Adamson’s ex-wife Sandra and Melanie after his death.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Membery |first=York |date=2002-01-27 |title=Ex-wives feud over fortune of Big Country suicide star |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jan/27/theobserver.uknews2 |access-date=2023-07-12 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref>
His body was flown back to Scotland, where after a private funeral service at Dunfermline Crematorium in [[Fife]], he was cremated.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1734441.stm|title=Singer Adamson's funeral held|date=30 December 2001|website=News.bbc.co.uk|access-date=2020-07-02}}</ref> In the evening of 27 December 2001 a public memorial service was held to celebrate his life and career at Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline, attended by [[Richard Jobson (television presenter)|Richard Jobson]] and a crowd of several hundred mourners, including Adamson's family and friends, and former members of Big Country. Messages of condolence were publicly read out, including one from [[U2]]'s [[the Edge]], stating that Adamson with Big Country had written the songs that he wished U2 could write.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stuart-adamson.co.uk/adamson-remembered/01/2002/|title=ADAMSON REMEMBERED | Stuart Adamson|website=Stuart-adamson.co.uk|access-date=2020-07-02}}</ref>
