Died On This Date (October 6, 2015) Billy Joe Royal / Had Several Pop & Country Hits
themusicsover Billy Joe Royal
April 3, 1942 – October 6, 2015
Born and raised in Georgia, Billy Joe Royal was a pop and country singer who had a string of hits during the ’50s and ’60s and ’80s. His biggest hit came by way of 1965’s “Down In The Boondocks,” which reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and helped define the soft rock sound of its day. Hits like “I Knew You When,” “Hush,” and “Cherry Hill Park” followed. During the ’70s, Royal experienced a comeback of sorts when his “Heart’s Desire” found fandom along the UK Northern Soul circuit. During the ’80s, Royal became one of the first pop stars to successfully crossover to country. He had several Top 10 hits including “I’ll Pin A Note On Your Pillow” and “Tell It Like It Is.” Billy Joe Royal was 73 when he died in his sleep on October 6, 2015. Cause of death was not immediately released.
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Lynn Anderson was a very popular country singer who had several hits during the ’70s and ’80s. Her biggest hit was 1970’s “(I Never Promised You) A Rose Garden,” a 
Joan Sebastian was a Mexican singer-songwriter who counted at least 1000 compositions as his own. Over the years, his songs have been made into hits by the likes of Vicente Fernandez, Rocio Durcal and Pepe Aguilar. Sebastian was just a seven-year-old boy living in rural Guerrero when he first began writing songs. As a teen, his mother sent to live in a monastery where he strongly considered a life as a priest, but after enrolling in a seminary, he decided he wanted a career in music. During the late ’60s, Sebastian met actress and singer Angelica Maria who not only asked him to write songs for her, but encouraged him to write songs for himself to record. By 1974, he was living in Mexico City where he recorded his debut album, Pedro Parrandas to modest local acclaim. During the ’90s, Sebastian landed a role in the popular Mexican soap opera, Tu y Yo, but still worked hard to further his music career. In 2000, he released Secreto de Amor which became a smash in Mexico, the United States, and beyond. In the U.S. alone, it sold over 4 million copies and earned him multiple Grammys. He went on to become the most awarded Mexican performer in Grammy history. In 1999, Joan Sebastian was diagnosed with bone cancer. Although he battled it into remission a handful of times over the next several years, it ultimately took his live on July 13, 2015. He was 64.
Charanjit Singh was a multi instrumentalist from Mumbai, India, who, during the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, found his calling playing guitar and synthesizer on numerous Bollywood soundtracks. In 1982, he released Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat to little fanfare. But when it was reissued in 2010, it was embraced by the acid house community who acknowledged Singh as a pioneer of the genre. The sound he created clearly had an influence on the likes of Aphex Twin and Ceephax. Charanjit Singh was 75 when he died in his sleep on July 5, 2015.