Chip Taylor Has Died

Friends and media outlets have confirmed the death of Chip Taylor. He died on Monday at age 86.

Taylor, brother of actor Jon Voight, is best known for his work as a singer-songwriter behind the iconic rock song “Wild Thing.” The Wild Ones first laid down the track, but The Troggs made it famous with their 1966 rendition. Grammy Hall of Fame inducted the popular version back in 2019.

Numerous other acts would record Taylor’s signature track, including Jimi Hendrix, The Runaways, Jeff Beck and X. X’s cover would go down in movie history after being used in Major League as the entrance music for pitcher Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn (Charlie Sheen). In recent years, professional wrestler Jon Moxley has used it as entrance music in All Elite Wrestling as an homage to Japanese performer Atsushi Onita, who also used the track.

Taylor’s other most notable song is “Angel of the Morning,” which Evie Sands, Merrilee Rush and Juice Newton all recording. Shaggy interpolated the song into his 2001 song “Angel.”

The music legend died of cancer, per his daughter Kelly’s communications with The New York Times. The family confirmed his death themselves in a Tuesday Facebook post that read: “Hi all – we are sad to tell you that Chip passed away last night. His last days were peaceful. Chip loved the amazing blessing it was to connect with people through music and truly appreciated this community. He considered you all friends. We will miss him greatly.”

Voight also spoke to media during a public outing, telling X17, “My brother was a great fella. … He’s watching over me now, so I’m protected.”

Singer-songwriter Billy Vera also addressed the passing, writing, “RIP: Chip Taylor, my friend and songwriting mentor, last night in hospice.”