David Clayton-Thomas, lead singer for Blood, Sweat & Tears, dies aged 84

Summary

The Canadian musician, who achieved major hits such as Spinning Wheel and You’ve Made Me So Very Happy, died peacefully at a Toronto hospital David Clayton-Thomas, lead singer of 60s and 70s group Blood, Sweat & Tears has died at 84. According to his publicist, the Canadian singer died peacefully at a hospital in Toronto with no cause of death given. Clayton-Thomas wrote the group’s most well-known song Spinning Wheel which reached number two in the US and was nominated for three Grammy awards, winning one. He was born in England before his family settled in Toronto after the second world war. By the time he was 14, he was homeless and spent a great deal of his teenage years in trouble with the law and living in and out of a number of jails. In the 1960s, he started to find success as a musician and fronted a band called David Clayton-Thomas and The Fabulous Shays, later moving to New York. He joined recently broken up band Blood, Sweat & Tears who then reformed and sparked the attention of legendary music executive Clive Davis who later described Clayton-Thomas as a “staggering” musician. “Blood, Sweat & Tears was such an unusual mix of people,” Clayton-Thomas said in an interview . “We had guys in that band whose background was totally Juilliard. We had other guys who were right out of Berkeley – hard-core be-bop jazzers – and then we had another faction like me who were basically saloon-trained rock and roll R&B Telecaster players.” His first album with the band was a smash hit, selling 10m copies worldwide, charting for 109 weeks in the US, also winning five Grammy awards. Hit singles also included And When I Die and You’ve Made Me So Very Happy. It was revealed that the tour was arranged so that Clayton-Thomas could receive a green card to live and work in the US.