Sonny Curtis, the Rock Hall-inducted singer-songwriter also performed Mary Tyler Moore Show‘s hit theme song “Love Is All Around,” has died. He was 88.
Her daughter commented on his passing in a Facebook post. The post has been liked more than one thousand times.
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“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,” she wrote to his official page. “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.”
The post attracted hundreds of comments. One user spoke on his influence and kindness after getting to meet him in person once. “He was a songwriting hero of mine. I only met him once, and only briefly, about 20 years ago, but he — amazingly — stopped to talk to me as he was on his way to the stage to perform with the Crickets, backstage at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame’s tribute to Roy Orbison in Cleveland, where an audience of about 2,000 people was waiting for him,” the commenter wrote. “ I asked him if I could interview him sometime and he gave me his card and took a minute to talk to me. Then he smiled and pointed to the stage and said, “I’ve got to go out there.” I don’t think many other artists would have even stopped, in that situation, let alone been so polite about it.”
Born in Texas, Curtis joined the Crickets in 1958, just months before Holly’s death in February 1959. He remained with the Crickets as lead guitarist in the years after Holly’s death, and soon assumed the role of lead singer as well in the band.
During the span of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Curtis recorded and released several versions of the song. Other artists like Joan Jett and Husker Du also performed renditions of the hit theme songs.
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