Blood, Sweat & Tears Singer Is Dead at 84

David Clayton-Thomas, the voice that drove Blood, Sweat & Tears to the top of the charts in the late 1960s, has died in Toronto at 84, reports Rolling Stone. The Canadian singer, born David Henry Thomsett in wartime England, powered the band's horn-heavy sound on hits like "Spinning Wheel," "You've Made Me So Very Happy," and "And When I Die," all of which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. The group's self-titled 1968 album spent seven weeks at No. 1 and won two Grammys, helping cement a style that bridged rock, soul, and jazz, per Variety.

Clayton-Thomas' path to fame ran through reform schools, where he first picked up a guitar, and Toronto's Yonge Street scene, where he was mentored by Ronnie Hawkins. Recruited to Blood, Sweat & Tears after Judy Collins spotted him in New York, he later became part of a controversial 1970 State Department-backed tour behind the Iron Curtain. He left and rejoined the band over the years, released nearly a dozen solo albums, was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and devoted time to work with at-risk youth. A memorial concert at a still-to-be-announced date will benefit Peacebuilders Canada.