Jim Seals, Seals and Crofts Member, Dead at 80

Jim Seals, half of the iconic 1970s soft rock duo Seals and Crofts, died Monday. He was 80. Seals and Dash Crofts were behind some of the biggest hits of the decade, including “Summer Breeze” and “Diamond Girl.” No cause of death was announced.

Seals’ death was announced by many of his friends and relatives. “I just learned that James ‘Jimmy’ Seals has passed,” Seals’ cousin, former Little Texas member Brady Seals, said Monday, reports Variety. “My heart just breaks for his wife Ruby and their children. Please keep them in your prayers. What an incredible legacy he leaves behind.”

“This is a hard one on so many levels as this is a musical era passing for me. And it will never pass this way again, as his song said,” John Ford Coley, who was a member of England Dan and John Ford Coley with Seals’ brother, the late Dan Seals. “You and Dan finally get reunited again,” Coley added. “Tell him and your sweet momma hi for me.”

Seals was born in 1942 and learned how to play saxophone as a teenager. He began working with Crofts in the late 1950s as a member of the Crew Cats. They later joined the Champs, which had a big hit with “Tequila.” Seals and Crofts moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s. Their manager, Marcia Day, introduced them to the Baha’i faith, which became central to their lives.

In 1969, Seals and Crofts turned away from their rock foundations for a more folk sound and released their self-titled debut album that year. Two more albums followed in 1970 and 1971, but they failed to catch on until Summer Breeze was released. The album featured the now-iconic title track and “Hummingbird.” Diamond Girl, which also included a smash hit title track and “We May Never Pass This Way (Again),” followed in 1973.

The one-two punch of Summer Breeze and Diamond Girl was tough to follow. They only had a handful of other hit singles, including “I’ll Play For You” in 1975, “Get Closer” with Carolyn Willis in 1976, and “You’re the Love” in 1978. The duo split in 1980 but reunited for the 2004 album Traces. Unlike many of their contemporaries, the two never reunited for nostalgia tours to cash in on their memorable hits.

After the group split in 1980, Seals moved to Costa Rica with his wife where they raised their three children and reportedly ran a coffee farm. Seals moved to Nashville during the last years of his life and reportedly suffered a stroke. He occasionally toured with Dan as Seals and Seals. Seals’ cousin, Troy Seals, is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

“I listened to him and I learned from him,” Coley wrote in his tribute to Seals on Facebook. “We didn’t always agree and it wasn’t always easy and it wasn’t always fun but it definitely was always entertaining for sure. Dan adored his older brother and it was because of Jimmy opening doors for us that we came to Los Angeles to record and meet the right people. … He belonged to a group that was one of a kind. I am very sad over this but I have some of the best memories of all of us together.”