NASHVILLE, TN, June 7, 2022 (CelebrityAccess) – Jim Seals of the 1970’s soft rock duo Seals & Crofts has died at the age of 80. No details surrounding his death have been released.
Seals was born in Sidney, TX, in 1941. In the 1950s, he teamed up with fellow Texan Darrell “Dash” Crofts. They moved to California, where they wrote songs for other artists before striking gold with their music. They are best known for their Hot 100 #6 hits “Summer Breeze,” “Diamond Girl,” and “Get Closer.”
They first met when Crofts was a drummer for a local band. Later, Seals joined a band, Dean Beard and the Crew Cuts, where he played guitar. With Beard, they moved to Los Angeles to join The Champs, but the two did so only after the group’s “Tequila” reached #1 in 1958. Seals also spent time during 1959 in the touring band of Eddie Cochran.
After Seals joined the band, The Dawnbreakers, and had no success, he teamed back up with Crofts, and they decided to play as a duo with Seals on guitar, sax, and violin and Crofts on guitar and mandolin.
The pair signed a new contract with Warner Bros. Records in August 1971. Their first album with their new label did not break into the charts, but their second album, Summer Breeze, charted at #7 in 1972. It sold over a million copies. The duo disbanded in 1980.
Seals has long been a public advocate of the Bahá’í Faith. Seals is the brother of “England” Dan Seals, of England Dan & John Ford Coley.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Ruby Jean and three children, Joshua, Juliette, and Sutherland.
