NEED TO KNOW
Chuck Negron, a founding member of the band Three Dog Night and lead vocalist of several of the band’s hit songs including “Joy to the World” and “The Show Must Go On,” has died.
The musician died at the age of 83 at his home in Studio City, Calif. on Monday, Feb. 2 “surrounded by his loving family,” Negron’s publicist confirmed in a news release. The statement said that he was diagnosed with heart failure in his final months, which he battled in addition to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
“Negron was a testament to never giving up – persevering through everything life throws at you, everything you may throw at yourself, and striving on,” his publicist said in a statement.
The singer was born on June 8, 1942 to Charles Negron, a Puerto Rican nightclub performer, and Elizabeth Rooke, and grew up in the Bronx “playing basketball and singing in doo wop groups from an early age.”
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He went on to attend California State University to play basketball and while in Los Angeles, he continued to explore work in music. It was there that he, Danny Hutton and the late Cory Wells formed Three Dog Night — a band that “focused on out-of-the-box harmonies” and “cutting-edge production” — in 1967.
Negron was notably a lead vocalist on many of the band’s top hits including “Joy to the World (Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog),” “One (Is the Loneliest Number),” “Old Fashioned Love Song,” “The Show Must Go On” and “Easy to Be Hard.”
The band expanded to include guitarist Michael Allsup, and the late musicians Jimmy Greenspoon, Joe Schermie, and Floyd Sneed. However, the band “fell apart at their peak,” in part due to heavy drug use and internal fractions, according to the release.
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Following their falling out, Negron and Hutton were estranged from each other for several decades, before they finally met last year “in a timely effort to exchange apologies and bury the hatchet,” Negron’s publicist said.
The musician, in particular, spent several years with his drug addiction before finally getting clean in 1991 and went on to pursue a solo career. He released seven albums between 1995 and 2017.
During this time he also penned a book, Three Dog Nightmare in 1999, which recounted his rise to fame, severe drug addiction, near-death experiences and his ultimate recovery and sobriety.
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The musician continued to tour in his later years despite his COPD diagnosis, which causes chronic coughing, wheezing and severe shortness of breath. Though, he was sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “as touring became impossibly unsafe with his condition.”
“Through his six decades of success, and all the ups-and-downs, his large, unconventional family was most important to him,” his publicist said in a statement.
Negron is survived by his wife Ami Albea Negron and his children Shaunti Negron Levick, Berry Oakley, Charles Negron III, Charlotte Negron and Annabelle Negron.
