Sonny Curtis, a one-time member of Buddy Holly’s backing band the Crickets who later penned and performed the hit theme song to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, has died at the age of 88.
Curtis’ daughter Sarah confirmed her father’s death Saturday on social media. “I’m heartbroken to tell you that my dad Sonny passed away yesterday after a sudden illness. I’m so grateful that I was with him at the end, along with my mom. It was peaceful and he didn’t suffer,” Sarah Curtis wrote.
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“He was 88 and he lived a more exceptional life than anyone I’d ever met. He made a mark on this world, and he made a mark on the hearts of all who knew him. It’s a sad day, but what a life. May we look at his life with joy rather than sadness. He would have wanted that.”
The Meadow, Texas-born Curtis first played alongside Holly in the mid-1950s before that singer formed the Crickets in 1957; Curtis joined the Crickets — now its own entity in addition to backing Holly — in 1958, just months before Holly’s death in February 1959. Curtis remained with the Crickets as lead guitarist in the years after Holly’s death, and soon assumed the role of lead singer as well in the band.
It was with the Crickets that Curtis penned perhaps his most enduring rock song: “I Fought the Law,” which the Crickets first released in 1960. The song was later popularized by the Bobby Fuller Four — who transformed the track into a Top 10 hit — and eventually immortalized by the Clash, who recorded their punk rock take in 1979. “I Fought the Law” was later named to Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Curtis would also pen hit singles for the Everly Brothers (“Walk Right Back”), Leo Sayer (“More Than I Can Say”), Keith Whitley (“I’m No Stranger to the Rain”), and Glen Campbell (“The Straight Life”), but he reserved his biggest song for himself when he recorded “Love Is All Around” in 1970. The track would eventually serve as the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show for seven seasons.
“Who can turn the world on with her smile? / Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?” Curtis sang on the track. “Well it’s you girl, and you should know it / With each glance and every little movement you show it.”
During the span of the sitcom, Curtis recorded and released several versions of the track, while artists like Joan Jett and Husker Du also performed renditions of the hit theme songs.
In 2012, Curtis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside other members of the Crickets. A Nashville resident for the latter half of his life, Curtis was also inducted into the city’s Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991 and Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007.
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