Musician Daryl Dragon, best known as the Captain from the group The Captain and Tennille, died Wednesday at the age of 76.
The Captain was revealed to have passed away due to renal failure at a hospice in Prescott, Arizona.
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“He was a brilliant musician with many friends who loved him greatly. I was at my most creative in my life, when I was with him,” Toni Tennille, Dragon’s longtime partner and ex-wife, said honoring the musician’s memory. Tennille was reportedly by his side when he died, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The outlet reports Dragon came from a musical family. His father, Carmen Dragon, was an Academy Award-winning composer and conductor and his mother, Eloise Dragon, was a singer working with Bing Crosby on his recording, along with many others.
Dragon played keyboard for The Beach Boys from 1967-1972, where he was first given the nickname “Captain” by lead singer Mike Love due to Dragon constantly wearing a captain’s hat onstage when performing.
He met Tennille in 1971, when she hired him to play piano for a musical called Mother Earth. Shortly after, Dragon suggested that Tennille join the Beach Boys on their next tour as an acoustic pianist.
On that tour, Dragon and Tennille began their romantic and musical relationship, performing in smaller venues together when not on tour with the beloved musical group.
Going by the stage name The Captain and Tennille, the couple quickly became a beloved music duo. Their single “The Way I Want to Touch You,” handed them a record deal with A&M Records in 1974.
Their hit song “Love Will Keep Us Together” climbed to No. 1 on Nov. 1974, where it remained for eight weeks. The Neil Sedaka-Howard Greenfield cover song scored the Grammy Award for record of the year the following year.
They followed with released of covers such as “Muskrat Love” and “Shop Around” and original songs, including Tennille’s “Do That to Me One More Time,” which hit No. 1 in 1980, according to ABC News 7. The couple also starred in their own short-lived television variety show.
Dragon and Tennille married in 1975 and were together until they finalized their divorce in 2014, though they remained close friends, according to the outlet.
The musician is survived by his older brother Doug and two nieces, Kelly Arbout and Renee Henn. According to the outlet, Dragon requested no services be planned following his death.
