Photo: Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Jay Black, the frontman for the 1960s group Jay and the Americans, has died. He was 82.
On Saturday, Black’s family announced in a statement that he died the night prior from complications due to pneumonia. The artist also suffered from dementia in recent years, the family said.
“Today, we mourn the passing of David Blatt a/k/a Jay Black and we acknowledge the great successes we had with him both as a partner and as a lead singer,” Jay and the Americans wrote in aFacebook post. “We shared both wonderful and very contentious times, and much like an ex-wife, we are so proud of the beautiful children we created.”
Jack Mitchell/Getty
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on Nov. 2, 1938, as David Blatt, Black joined Jay and the Americans later in life in 1962, where he took over for the group’s original singer, Jay Traynor.
The band released albums includingBlockbustersandSands of Time, and put out hit tracks among the likes of “Only In America,” “Come a Little Bit Closer,” “Cara Mia,” “This Magic Moment,” and “Walkin' In The Rain.”
Black and his fellow bandmates would go on to make various television appearances, including ones onThe Tonight Show with Johnny CarsonandThe Merv Griffin Show, while also going on to open for The Beatles during the British band’s first concert in the United States in 1964, perThe Holywood Reporter.
Amid Jay and the Americans' break up in 1973, Black, Deadline reported, also continued performing as a solo artist all the way through 2017. The musician also dabbled in acting throughout the years, appearing in films such as 1966’sWild Wild Winterand 1977’sContract on Cherry Street— which starredFrank Sinatra.
source: people.com
