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Jerry Lee Lewis, piano-bashing rock n’ roll founding father, swaggering country shouter and the last surviving member of the inaugural (1986) class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died. His death was announced on Friday (Oct. 28).
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Lewis is known for recording such rock standards as “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Breathless” and “High School Confidential.” Both “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On” and “Great Balls of Fire” have been named to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Sometime collaborator Kris Kristofferson told USA Today that Jerry Lee Lewis is “one of the best American voices ever.” A 2022 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Lewis is one of just 16 people to have been inducted into both the Country and Rock and Roll Halls.
Lewis was born on Sept. 19, 1935, in East Louisiana to indigent parents Elmo and Mamie Lewis. He was brought up Christian and raised on a family farm in Ferriday that “produced more famous people per square mile than any other American small town.” The young Lewis taught himself to play piano at the age of 8 and sang gospel music in church. His two cousins, Mickey Gilley, who became a successful country singer, and Jimmy Swaggart, eventually a renowned TV evangelist, shared similar musical interests. Lewis’ formative influences included listening to the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcasts, which featured the likes of Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams and Moon Mullican.
Lewis moved to Memphis in 1956 to audition for Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records and the man who first recorded Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. Phillips wasn’t there when Lewis arrived, so producer Jack Clement recorded Lewis’ debut single, a rockabilly version of Ray Price’s “Crazy Arms.” Lewis went on to work at the studio as a session musician, playing piano on numerous recordings including records by Cash, Billy Lee Riley (“Flyin’ Saucers Rock ‘n’ Roll)” and Perkins (“You Can Do No Wrong” and “Your True Love”), among others. The Million Dollar Quartet sessions, recorded by Phillips, was the result of a spontaneous jam session at Sun involving Presley, Cash, Perkins and Lewis. He was also part of the legendary Class of ’55 album with Cash, Perkins, Elvis and Roy Orbison.
As a piano player, Jerry Lee had a very unique style, blending rockabilly, gospel, blues and country while feverishly banging away on the keys, his long blond hair flying around, as he jumped on the bench, a veritable whirling dervish, and unabashed rock star. “No one wanted to follow Jerry Lee onstage,” said Cash. “Not even Elvis.”
Jerry Lee Lewis was nicknamed “The Killer,” and his “wild” man performances were kinetic, filled with flamboyant flair as he pounded the higher keys with his right hand, kicking and standing on top of the piano, knocking over the bench and anything left standing on the stage. He even lit his piano on fire, making it impossible for anyone to upstage him, a forerunner of the likes of The Who and Jimi Hendrix.
Lewis’ rockabilly version of “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On,” first recorded by Big Maybelle, hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s country and R&B charts, as well as No. 3 on the (pre-Hot 100) pop chart in ’57. It was the first song played on the national edition of American Bandstand on Aug. 5, 1957. Said Lewis: “I knew it was a hit when I cut it, but Sam Phillips thought it was too risqué.” Wrote Memphis critic Robert Gordon: “Jerry Lee began to show that in this new emerging genre called rock ‘n’ roll, not everybody was going to stand there with a guitar.”
The follow-up, “Great Balls of Fire,” was an even bigger hit, reaching No. 2 on Billboard‘s pop chart. From this point until 1961, the billing on Lewis’ singles was “Jerry Lee Lewis and His Pumping Piano.” “Breathless” followed, reaching No. 7. Hollywood took notice: Lewis appeared in the 1957 film Jamboree! In 1958, Lewis sang the title song in the film High School Confidential, starring Russ Tamblyn. The result was another hit (No. 21 on the pop chart).
Lewis’ career stumbled in 1958 with a media backlash, led by British journalist Ray Berry, who revealed that Lewis secretly married his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown, who became his third wife. Lewis was 22 at the time and was quickly blacklisted by the music industry. Radio stations boycotted Lewis’ music. Dick Clark himself canceled Lewis’ appearances on American Bandstand. Before his marriage, venues paid him nearly $10,000 a night; the scandal lowered his asking price to a rock-bottom $250 an engagement.
He was still under contract to Sun Records, though, and a subsequent recording of Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say” reached No. 30 on the Hot 100 in 1961. His contract with Sun ended in ’63 and he went on to release other songs with Smash Records, but nothing hit the crossover peaks of those first releases, even if he did continue to experience success on the country charts. His Live at the Star Club, Hamburg album in 1964 is considered one of the most spectacular live concert discs ever released.
In ’68 he transitioned into country, recording the top 10 hit “Another Place Another Time,” which reached No. 4 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Singles chart, as it was then called. Four subsequent singles reached No. 1 on that chart: “To Make Love Sweeter for You,” “There Must Be More to Love Than This,” “Would You Take Another Chance on Me” and a cover version of The Big Bopper’s 1958 smash “Chantilly Lace.” (The latter song brought Lewis his first Grammy nomination, for best country performance, male.) In 1981, he released “Thirty Nine and Holding” on Elektra Records and then briefly signed to MCA Records.
In February 1987, Lewis won his only competitive Grammy — best spoken word or non-musical recording as one of the narrators of Interviews From the Class of ’55 Recording Sessions. His co-winners were Johnny Cash, Chips Moman, Rick Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Sam Phillips. Lewis received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2005.
Winona Ryder, Dennis Quaid and Alec Baldwin starred in the 1989 biopic of Lewis life, Great Balls of Fire!, which brought Lewis’ career back into the limelight. The movie was based on Myra Lewis’ book detailing his life and controversy. Jerry Lee recorded the songs for the soundtrack.
In 2006, Lewis’ aptly titled Last Man Standing album reached No. 26 on the Billboard 200, his highest-charting title on that chart. Raw concert footage was put together in the companion DVD, Last Man Standing Live, featuring duets with Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart and Jimmy Page, among others. He teamed up in 2010 with Eric Clapton and Merle Haggard, along with Jimmy Page and others, on Mean Old Man, which reached No. 30 on the Billboard 200.
In April 2013, he opened Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk on Beale Street in Memphis. He also released Rock & Roll Time and was the subject of Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, a biography written by Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Bragg. Lewis’ version of the title track, originally co-written and recorded by Kris Kristofferson, features guitarists Doyle Bramhall, Jon Brion and Kenny Lovelace, along with vocalists Vonda Shepard and Bernard Fowler. “This is a rock ‘n’ roll record,” he told Rolling Stone. “That’s just the way it came out.” The rest of the album is cast with many artists he inspired, including Keith Richards and Ron Wood, Neil Young, Robbie Robertson, Nils Lofgren and Shelby Lynne, among others. The album included covers of Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul Rodgers and old pal Johnny Cash (“Folsom Prison Blues”), one of two songs on which he played guitar.
Lewis had six children by seven wives, and his personal life was marred by several tragedies. He married Dorothy Barton in ’52 when he was just 17 years old. They divorced in ’53, one month before he married Jane Mitchum, with whom he had two children, Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. and Ronnie Guy Lewis. Jerry Lee Jr. died at 19 in 1973 in a car accident when his Jeep overturned. Lewis married Myra Gale Brown, his teenage cousin, and had two children, Steve Allen Lewis and Phoebe Allen Lewis. Steve drowned when he was 3 years old in 1962. His fourth wife, Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pete, gave birth to their daughter Lori Lee Lewis before dying in a friend’s swimming pool before their divorce was final. He married Shawn Stephens in ’83 before her untimely death — just three months after they were married. His sixth marriage, to Kerrie McCarver, lasted 20 years, from 1984 to 2004, producing one son, Jerry Lee Lewis III. He married his seventh wife, Judith Brown, in 2012 with whom he spent his final days on their Nesbit, Mississippi, ranch. Jerry Lee Lewis is survived by his wife, sons Ronnie and Jerry Lee Lewis III, and daughters Phoebe and Lori Lee.
Matthew Ward, best known as house/disco producer DJ Mighty Mouse, died suddenly in his sleep at his home in Spain Oct. 20 at 48. According to a statement from his label, Defected Records, Ward’s passing was unexpected.
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“We are devastated to confirm that Matthew Ward aka Mighty Mouse, died suddenly last Thursday at his home in Spain,” read the statement. “Matthew died in his sleep from an aortic aneurysm. We are all lost without his enormous presence and talent. Our thoughts are with his partner, Ellen, and his Mum, Judy, as well as his wider family and many, many friends and fans.”
Though active for more than a decade as a DJ/producer and beloved for his Disco Circus remix series, Ward’s 2019 song “The Spirit” was his breakout anthem, released on Defected’s Glitterbox imprint and named Hottest Record in the World by BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac’s show. His edit of ABBA’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!,” “Midnight Mouse (Revised),” also reached cult status after French DJ Folamour played it during his set at the FLY Open Air Festival in 2019.
Earlier this month, Ward released a remix of Ridney & Inaya Day’s “Like You,” saying in his final Instagram post that the track had “loads of support and it goes down really well in the club.”
Ward was slated to DJ a Halloween party at The Lofts in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on Saturday (Oct. 29).
See Defected’s statement, and some tributes from fellow DJs and British singer Rowetta, below.
Robert Louis Gordy, Sr., younger brother of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and chief executive for many years of the company’s successful music publishing division, died Oct. 21 at age 91. He passed away from natural causes, according to his family, at his home in Marina del Rey, Calif.
The youngest of eight siblings, Gordy enjoyed a little-noticed music career as a recording engineer and songwriter before taking command of Motown’s Jobete Music in 1965.
“His ability to succeed at whatever he attempted or that I threw his way amazed me over the years,” said Berry Gordy in a statement, noting that he was “deeply saddened” by his brother’s death. “He was absolutely the best lil’ brother anyone could ever hope for.” Gordy added, “I will miss his love, his support, and his loyalty.”
Born July 15, 1931 in Detroit, Robert Gordy followed his elder brother into boxing, then moved into music circles such as the city’s Flame Show Bar. Sister Gwen held the popular club’s photo concession, where he operated the darkroom. In his autobiography, Berry Gordy recalled visiting the Flame with Robert to see Billie Holiday perform; 20 years later, the younger Gordy played a character in Lady Sings The Blues, Motown’s production of the Holiday biopic.
In 1958, Gordy co-wrote and recorded “Everyone Was There” under the name of Bob Kayli. Leased to Carlton Records, the lightweight pop song referencing recent hits such as “Peggy Sue” and “Yakety Yak” became a minor chart success.
After his brother started Motown Records, Gordy left a post office job to join the venture, initially working for in-house engineer Mike McLean. “At that time, he was building the first eight-track machine in the east,” Gordy later explained. “I put together the electronics, learned how to read the schematics, helped with the writing and so on.”
He went on to become the company’s first stereo engineer, before working for the Quality Control department.
Reflecting its founder’s songwriting roots, Motown operated its own music publishing arm from the start. When Jobete manager, Loucye Wakefield, died prematurely in 1965, Robert Gordy sought the job. “When Loucye died, in fact, Berry first rejected my offer to go into Jobete,” he recalled in 1980. “‘What do you know?’ was his reaction, but I said, ‘Believe me, I’ll learn.’ ”
Motown’s explosive success from 1964 onwards with the Supremes and other acts made Jobete a substantial revenue source, capitalizing on the talents of writers Smokey Robinson, Holland/Dozier/Holland, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, among others. Jobete opened its own professional department in 1966, securing covers and expanding the catalogue’s reach. Among its most popular titles to this day: “My Girl,” “Dancing In The Street,” “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” “The Tears Of A Clown,” “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life,” “What’s Going On” and “For Once In My Life.” Earnings continued to grow as stars such as Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye evolved into self-sufficient, influential songwriters.
By 1971, with Robert Gordy promoted to vice president/general manager, the division had 5,000 copyrights under its roof and 100 writers under contract. He joined the board of the National Music Publishers’ Association, and actively participated in industry seminars and conferences. He retired from the post in 1985.
“One of the main values of our catalog,” Gordy once said, “is that it has stood the test of time.” When Britain’s EMI Group acquired half of Jobete in 1997, the sale price of $132 million proved that to be true (EMI bought the balance seven years later for $187 million).
In his 1994 memoir, To Be Loved, Berry Gordy wrote, “So Robert, I’d like to thank you for moving Jobete from a holding company for our copyrights into a highly profitable, competitive international publishing company, keeping us No. 1 for many years. And also for being my little brother.”
Christine Farnon, the Recording Academy’s first full-time employee and one of its longest-serving, died on Monday Oct. 24 in the Los Angeles area of natural causes. She was 97.
Farnon started as an unpaid volunteer in May 1957 – when the Academy was just in its formative stages — and rose to become executive vice president. From 1957 through 1987, she worked alongside a succession of 18 elected, volunteer presidents. These men — and yes, they were all men — served their terms and moved on. Farnon provided continuity and stability. In early 1988, Michael Greene became the Academy’s first paid, permanent president. Farnon stayed on through 1992, to ensure a smooth transition.
Farnon received a trustees award from the Academy upon her retirement. An appreciation in that year’s Grammy program book was fittingly titled “The Recording Academy’s Guiding Light.”
In announcing the honor for Farnon earlier in 1992, Greene said, “The Recording Academy owes much of what it is today to the selfless, conscientious dedication that Christine has exhibited in her years of contributions to the Recording Academy. Chris is a vital member of our [Academy] family and is most deserving of the trustees award.”
The late musicologist George T. Simon, who wrote the aforementioned appreciation, noted, “Chris has always been an integral part of the organization – a seemingly impossible combination of guiding light and steady anchor. Deeply involved from the start in all the Academy’s activities, this warm, intelligent, soft-spoken, sensitive lady has helped tremendously, often leading the way, in chartering and steering the course of [the Academy].”
Simon’s piece quoted Farnon as saying “This has been a rare opportunity, to have one of the most challenging and rewarding careers anyone could wish for, and to work with and for some of the finest people in the recording field.”
Billboard included Farnon in a gallery of groundbreaking female executives that appeared in the Feb. 26, 2022 issue, noting “Decades before Deborah Dugan became the Recording Academy’s first female president/CEO in 2019, Farnon was the top executive at the organization — and while she never held the big title, there was no question of who was in charge.”
Farnon’s responsibilities at the Academy included maintaining contact with disc jockeys and radio personnel and development of annual mailers and special albums designed for radio stations highlighting Grammy nominees. Farnon was a talent coordinator for most of the seven Grammy-branded Best on Record TV shows that aired on NBC. From 1971, when the Grammy Awards became a live telecast, until 1992, when Farnon retired, she was an integral part of the Academy’s TV committee, which oversaw format development, contract negotiations and TV scripts. She eventually received on-screen credit in the crawl at the end of the telecast.
Folklorist and author Bill Ivey, the only person in Academy history to serve two, non-consecutive stints as chairman of the board of trustees (1981-83 and 1989-91), gave Farnon a great deal of credit in an interview with this writer a decade ago for a Grammy.com piece on the Academy’s early days.
“Chris Farnon was central to the Academy’s success,” he said. “She was quite ferocious in protecting the integrity of Grammy and the telecast. …In large part because she was so conservative and protective, Chris handed future leaders an asset of tremendous potential value that converted to earning power as sponsorships and TV revenues really took off in the ’90s.”
In an interview for that same piece, Farnon said that she was “gratified and delighted” to have played a role in the Academy’s growth, though, characteristically, she shared the credit. “The Academy’s present achievements are something that everyone, past and present, can be very proud of,” she said.
“The original vision of what the Academy was meant to be and do hasn’t changed,” Farnon added. “Many of its significant programs had their roots in the Academy’s original goals, although they operate on a much wider and grander scale today.”
Farnon was still able to tick off the Academy’s early goals. “In the early years its goals included the annual Grammy Awards on live TV, scholarships, university courses on the recording arts and sciences, open membership meetings where leading recording individuals explored developments in the recording field, and magazines and/or newsletters to members. Unfortunately, some years most of these programs didn’t come off because there wasn’t enough money or support staff to produce them.”
The Academy was able to realize more of its goals after it struck a better deal with CBS, the long-time network of the Grammy Awards. “By the time I ended my 35-year career at the Recording Academy, the increasing income made it possible for the Academy to be taken to another level,” Farnon said.
Farnon held various positions with the Recording Academy. In the early 1960’s she was named executive director of the Los Angeles chapter. In 1971, she was promoted to national executive director, and in 1986 was appointed executive vice president, a position she held until her retirement.
Farnon also belonged to the local chapter of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE); the California Copyright Conference; and was a co-founder of the first Toastmistress Chapter in Hollywood – the very name of the latter organization is a sign of the times in which Farnon came up.
Farnon died three years after her ex-husband, Dennis Farnon, who had been the last surviving founder of the Recording Academy. Dennis Farnon died in May 2019 at age 95. Christine Farnon and Dennis Farnon were divorced in 1960.
Dennis Farnon co-founded the Academy in 1957 with Sonny Burke, who died in 1980; Lloyd W. Dunn, who died in 1991; Paul Weston, who died in 1996; and Jesse Kaye, whose date of death is unknown. All five founders were top executives at leading record companies of the period. Farnon was from RCA; Burke, from Decca; Dunn, from Capitol; Weston, from Columbia; and Kaye, from MGM.
Following her retirement, Farnon spent more than 20 years studying painting and was given three commissions of her paintings, plus recognition by the Chatsworth (Calif.) Fine Arts Council for her work.
Farnon is survived by one daughter, Joanna, as well as nieces, nephews and cousins.
A gathering of family and friends will be held at a future date. Condolences to her family may be sent to P.O. Box 150, Ripton VT 05766.
Janet Thurlow, the jazz singer and widow of famed trombonist Jimmy Cleveland who performed with Lionel Hampton’s orchestra and helped give Quincy Jones an early career boost, has died. She was 96.
Thurlow died Oct. 4 congestive heart failure at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California, her family announced.
Thurlow first met Cleveland in 1951 when she joined Hampton’s band and he was playing with the vibes legend. They married two years later and performed together often until his death in 2008 at age 82.
The first of five children, Janet Lorraine Thurlow was born in Seattle on May 21, 1926. She received violin, piano and voice lessons as a youngster and played violin on a radio talent show hosted by Major Edward Bowes.
She began as a song stylist with Robert “Bumps” Blackwell’s Seattle-based band in 1949 before she was recruited by Hampton. She then pushed the bandleader to hire Jones, a trumpeter and friend from Seattle.
In August 1951, Thurlow and Jones were prominently featured as “Two Seattleites” on the bill of a Hampton show at the city’s popular Trianon Ballroom.
She later recorded “I Can’t Believe You’re in Love With Me” with Hampton for the Decca label, making her perhaps the first white singer to front an all-Black big band.
The skilled Cleveland fronted several albums of his own and recorded with the likes of Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Sarah Vaughan, James Brown, Miles Davis, Teddy Edwards and Diana Washington.
He and his wife moved from New York to Lynwood in 1967 when he began playing in the band on The Merv Griffin Show.
Survivors include her sister, Carolyn, nieces Carol and Julie and nephew Martin. A memorial service will be held at noon Saturday at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in South Gate, California.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
Leslie Jordan, the Emmy winning actor and comedian best known for his role as Beverley Leslie in Will & Grace, died on Monday (Oct. 24). He was 67 years old.
Jordan was driving a BMW when crashed into the side of a building at Cahuenga Boulevard and Romaine Street in Hollywood on Monday morning, according to the Los Angeles Times. He was declared dead at the scene. At the time of publication, it is unclear what caused the crash, or if his death was caused by the accident itself or a medical emergency beforehand that led him to lose control of the vehicle.
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“The world is definitely a much darker place today without the love and light of Leslie Jordan,” Jordan’s talent agent shared in a statement. “Not only was he a mega talent and joy to work with, but he provided an emotional sanctuary to the nation at one of it”s most difficult times. What he lacked in height he made up for in generosity and greatness as a son, brother, artist, comedian, partner and human being. Knowing that he has left the world at the height of both his professional and personal life is the only solace one can have today.”
The 4-foot-11 Memphis, Tenn., native first appeared as Beverley during the third season of NBC’s Will & Grace and returned for the show’s reboot in 2017.
Jordan also played gay baker Phil on the Fox sitcom Call Me Kat, which premiered its third season just last month. Throughout his illustrious career, the late actor appeared in Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story series, the Fox sitcom The Cool Kids and narrated the Discovery+ series The Book of Queer. He took on the role of newspaper editor Mr. Blackly in The Help (2011), directed by Tate Taylor, and recently finished production on the Tracy Pellegrino film, Strangers in a Strange Land.
In 2021, Jordan turned his love for traditional hymns into Company’s Comin’, a collection of classic and original gospel hymns. He was joined by some mighty impressive company, including Dolly Parton, Eddie Vedder, Tanya Tucker, Brandi Carlile, Chris and Morgane Stapleton, TJ Osborne and Ashley McBryde, as well as Howard and fellow songwriter Danny Myrick. The album peaked at No. 13 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart dated April 17, 2021.
America’s Got Talent singer Zuri Craig has died. The vocalist and member of the Craig Lewis Band passed away at age 44 on Friday according to a note from his family, who did not provide a cause of death.
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“It is with profound sadness that we announce the transition of our beloved son, brother and friend, Zuri Craig. We thank you in advance for your prayers. Please honor our privacy at this unimaginable time of mourning,” they wrote in a tribute; the family said more information on Craig’s funeral is forthcoming.
Craig appeared on AGT during season 10, performing with Jeffrey Lewis as part of the Craig Lewis Band, which made it to the finals in 2015 thanks to killer covers of James Brown (“This is a Man’s World”) and Mary J. Blige (“I’m Goin’ Down”); the group finished fifth that year. The singer was also a regular in films from Tyler Perry, appearing in Medea’s Big Happy Family and A Medea Christmas in 2011 and singing in 2013’s Medea Gets a Job.
According to The Wrap, Craig was discovered after he posted a cover of The Brady Bunch theme song on YouTube in 2008, catching the ear of Perry, who then invited Craig and Lewis to appear in his stage show, Medea’s Big Happy Family. They then took the stage at AGT — earning a Golden Buzzer from guest panelist Michael Bublé — and released their 12-track full-length Must Be Love album in 2016.
Craig continued to appear on stage after his AGT run, including in The Perfect Pastor, The Truth About Black Men and The House That Misery Built. His production company, ZoReMi Entertainment, recently announced an upcoming live stage production of the beloved 1997 romantic drama Soul Food. At press time AGT had not reacted to Craig’s death.
Check out the announcement of Craig’s death and watch his Golden Buzzer moment below.
Joanna Simon, an acclaimed mezzo-soprano, Emmy-winning TV correspondent and one of the three singing Simon sisters who include pop star Carly Simon, has died at age 85.
Simon, the eldest of four, died Wednesday (Oct. 19), just a day before her sister Lucy died, according to Lucy’s daughter, Julie Simon. Their brother Peter, a photographer, died in 2018 at 71. All three had cancer.
“In the last 2 days, I’ve been by the side of both my mother and my aunt, Joanna, and watched them pass into the next world. I can’t truly comprehend this,” Julie wrote on Facebook.
Joanna Simon, who died of thyroid cancer, rose to fame in the opera world and as a concert performer in the 1960s. She was a frequent guest on TV talk shows. After her retirement from singing, she became an arts correspondent for PBS’s MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour, where she won an Emmy in 1991 for a report on mental illness and creativity.
“I am filled with sorrow to speak about the passing of Joanna and Lucy Simon. Their loss will be long and haunting. As sad as this day is, it’s impossible to mourn them without celebrating their incredible lives that they lived,” Carly Simon said in a statement Saturday.
She added: “We were three sisters who not only took turns blazing trails and marking courses for one another. We were each other’s secret shares. The co-keepers of each other’s memories.”
Joanna Simon was married to novelist and journalist Gerald Walker from 1976 until his death in 2004. She was the companion of Walter Cronkite from 2005 until his death in 2009.
On stage, she made her professional debut in 1962 as Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at New York City Opera. That year, she won the Marian Anderson Award for promising young singers. Simon took on a range of material. As a concert performer, she leaned into classic and contemporary songs of her time.
The siblings were born to publishing giant Richard Simon and his wife, Andrea. Carly and Lucy once performed as the Simon Sisters, opening for other acts in Greenwich Village folk clubs.
“I have no words to explain the feeling of suddenly being the only remaining direct offspring of Richard and Andrea Simon,” Carly Simon said. “They touched everyone they knew and those of us they’ve left behind will be lucky and honored to carry their memories forward.”
Lucy Simon, the composer who received a Tony nomination in 1991 for her work on the long-running Broadway musical The Secret Garden, has died. She was 82.
Simon, sister of pop superstar Carly Simon, died Thursday at her home in Piedmont, New York, a family spokesperson said. Simon had breast cancer.
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The Secret Garden, with a book by Marsha Norman, opened in New York in 1991. Reviews were mixed, but it won a Tony for best book of a musical and went on to play for almost two years. A slightly revised version opened in London’s West End, and a pared-down-from-Broadway version went on tour.
The musical — adapted from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 children’s novel — focuses on Mary, a young English girl forced to move to England from colonial India when her parents die of cholera. She moves in with her Uncle Archibald, a hunchback who is mourning his late wife, Lily, and blaming his bedridden son for her death.
While living in her uncle’s home, Mary discovers a hidden and neglected garden that once belonged to Lily, and she and a young gardener bring it back to life. At the same time, she brings new life to her uncle and cousin. The songs include “The Girl I Mean to Be” and “How Could I Ever Know.”
Steven Pasquale and Sierra Boggess were among the Broadway stars mourning Simon’s passing. “Her music is her gift to the world. In one of her last messages to me she said ‘I was going to ask you to carry my voice onward’ and I sat and wept,” Boggess wrote on Instagram.
Simon was born in New York on May 5, 1940, to publishing giant Richard Simon and his wife, Andrea. She was the second oldest of four children Joanna, Lucy, Carly and Peter.
Carly and Lucy once performed as The Simon Sisters, opening for other acts in Greenwich Village folk clubs. Their recording of “Winkin’, Blinkin’ and Nod” hit No. 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964.
While Carly Simon would find huge success with such hits as “Anticipation,” “Haven’t Got Time for the Pain” and “You’re So Vain,” Lucy went to nursing school.
After marrying and having children, Lucy Simon recorded two solo albums, Lucy Simon (1975) and Stolen Time (1977), for RCA. Lucy and her husband, David Levine, produced two Grammy-winning children’s albums, In Harmony (1981) and In Harmony 2 (1983).
Her return to Broadway with Doctor Zhivago in 2015 was less successful. The tale of five intertwined lovers set during final days of czarist Russia lasted less than two months after blistering reviews.
She is survived by her husband; her children, Julie Simon and James Levine; and four grandchildren Sophie, Ben, Charlie and Evie.
RIP, Lucy Simon. So sad to hear this news.A great woman and writer.That Secret Garden score goes right in the pantheon.💔💔💔— steven pasquale (@StevePasquale) October 21, 2022