His website says that Eric Carmen, who used to be the lead singer of The Raspberries and sang “All by Myself,” has died.
IMDb says he was 74 years old.
A post on his website says, “It is with great sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of Eric Carmen’s death.” “Over the weekend, our kind, loving, and talented Eric died peacefully in his sleep.”
He was very happy to know that his music had touched so many people over many years. This will be his lasting legacy, the post said.
There was no word on what caused the death.
Carmen, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, became famous as the lead singer of the pop-rock band The Raspberries in the 1970s. Their neat haircuts and matching suits seemed to be a nod to The Beatles and other iconic British Invasion bands.
Carmen wrote in his website bio, “We became very popular by going against the grain in 1970.” “Prog rock was popular, and FM radio smothered it in its embrace.” It was awful. I liked The Who, The Beach Boys, The Stones, The Byrds, and the Small Faces a lot. I loved bands that could write music!”
From the point of view of a woman, “I Wanna Be with You” and the sexy “Go All the Way” were hits that the band made together. But it wasn’t long before the group started to fall apart.
Critics and girls liked us, but their 18-year-old brothers who bought albums said “no,” Carmen wrote. “We lost our cool and fell apart.”
Carmen’s solo career took off after the band broke up in 1975, with hits like “All by Myself” (later made famous by Celine Dion) and “Hungry Eyes,” which was the steamy background music for Johnny and Baby’s growing love in “Dirty Dancing.”
An even better Carmen song was written for a movie soundtrack. “Almost Paradise,” the love song from the movie “Footloose,” was written with him. Mike Reno and Ann Wilson sang it. The song got him his only Grammy nomination, which came from the soundtrack, which was up for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture.
There were three songs on the Billboard Hot 100 that spent more than four months in the top ten: “All by Myself,” “Make Me Lose Control,” and “Hungry Eyes.” She had 13 songs that made it to the top of the charts.
Carmen didn’t want to join The Raspberries when they got back together in 1999 to make the “Raspberries Refreshed” EP. But, according to Case Western Reserve’s Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, he did join them onstage at Cleveland’s House of Blues in 2004 and go on a short tour with them in 2005.
The last show the group did together was in December 2007 at Cleveland’s KeyBank State Theatre.
