Beloved musician Sonny Curtis has died aged 88 on Friday September 19th, his daughter announced. The singer and guitarist, who played with Buddy Holly, was best known for fronting The Crickets and writing and performing Love Is All Around, the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show aired for seven seasons on CBS and was a groundbreaking series at the time.He died from a “sudden illness”, his daughter confirmed. She penned: “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.
“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.”
Curtis began collaborating with tragic singer Buddy Holly before forming the band The Crickets in 1957, and the pair later began opening shows for musicians such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.
He went on to become the lead vocalist and guitarist for the group in 1959 after Holly’s heartbreaking passing in a plane crash at the age of 22.
Curtis also wrote I Fought the Law” in 1958 and recorded it with The Crickets following the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. Richardson (“The Big Bopper”) and pilot Roger Peterson in a plane crash on February 3, 1959.
He took the song to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966, and it also was memorably covered by a number of well known acts, including The Clash, Roy Orbison, Hank Williams Jr and Green Day.
Curtis lived near Nashville was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991. Survivors include his wife of more than 50 years, Louise.
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