LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Jim Pike, co-founder and lead singer of popular 1960s vocal trio, The Lettermen, has passed away at the age of 82.
The singer passed away from complications associated with Parkinson’s disease at his Arizona home on June 9, reports The Associated Press.
Pike co-founded the group alongside college friend Bob Engemann in Los Angeles in 1961 and completed the line-up with fellow vocalist Tony Butala.
The Lettermen scored their first hit a few months later with a cover of “The Way You Look Tonight,” which earned them a Grammy Award nomination for Best Performance by a Vocal Group. They went on to earn a handful of additional Grammy nods and place 19 other songs on various Billboard charts over the next 10 years including, “When I Fall in Love,” “A Song For Young Love,” “Everything is Good About You,” and “Goin’ Out of My Head/Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.”
Pike eventually left the group in 1973 following complications with his voice, however, he later reteamed with Engemann, who had resigned in 1967, to form a new duo, called The Reunion. Engemann died in 2013.
Pike is survived by his brothers Donny and Gary, sister, Candace Doyle, his wife Sue and his daughter, Kelly Pike.
