Alan Merrill, co-writer of I Love Rock 'n' Roll, dies from coronavirus
Alan Merrill, co-writer and original singer of I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, dies from coronavirus at age 69
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Alan Merrill, who co-wrote and sang the original version of the classic track I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll, has died.
He passed away on Sunday at age 69 after contracting COVID-19, his daughter Laura Merrill announced on Facebook.
Joan Jett, who famously went on to record I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll which became her signature song, posted on Instagram: ‘My thoughts and love go to his family, friends and music community as a whole…… With deep gratitude and sadness, wishing him a safe journey to the other side.’
R.I.P.: Alan Merrill, who co-wrote and sang the original version of the classic track I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll, passed away on Sunday at age 69 after contracting COVID-19 (pictured 1975)
Jett had been in London when she saw the band The Arrows, fronted by Merrill, perform I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll on television.
She recalled that she was ‘blown away by the song that screamed hit to me.’
In 1982, as Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, she released her own cover version that went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and made her a star.
Glam rock: Merrill, left, along with fellow American and guitarist Jake Hooker and British drummer Paul Varley formed The Arrows in London in 1974 and the band had several UK chart hit singles including I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll in 1975
Covered track: Joan Jett had been in London when she saw The Arrows, fronted by Merrill, perform I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll on television. In 1982 (pictured), she released her version of the song which went to number one in the billboard Hot 100 and made her famous
‘Awful news’: Jett paid tribute to Merrill on Instagram and Twitter ‘with deep gratitude and sadness’
Merrill, who was born in The Bronx in 1951, had formed The Arrows with fellow American and guitarist Jake Hooker and British drummer Paul Varley after a successful pop career in Japan.
The Arrows had several hit singles in the UK in 1974 and 1975, including Touch Too Much and My Last Night With You and had their own weekly TV show.
Merrill continued to work as a professional musician, performing with Meat Loaf on multiple occasions and teaming up with Grammy Award-winning producer Rick Derringer for three albums.
‘Said my goodbyes’: Merrill, who was born in The Bronx in 1951, died in hospital on Sunday morning, his daughter Laura announced in a moving Facebook post
Daughter Laura shared on Facebook that the 69-year-old had been suffering from what he thought was ‘a cold’. But it was the coronavirus and he succumbed to it on Sunday morning.
‘I was given 2 minutes to say my goodbyes before I was rushed out,’ she wrote.
‘He seemed peaceful and as I left was still a glimmer of hope that he wouldn’t be a ticker on the right hand side of the CNN/Fox news screen. I walked 50 blocks home still with hope in my heart….. By the time I got in the doors to my apartment I received the news that he was gone.’
She said he had played a gig just a couple of weeks ago and she had taken a portrait photo for his new album.
She then issued a warning for people to take the pandemic seriously and abide by the social distancing guidelines.
‘People are dying. You don’t think It’ll happen to you or your strong family. It has. Stay home if not for you…for others. For my dad. This thing is real,’ Laura said.
‘We probably won’t be able to mourn him properly with a funeral. I just lost the greatest love of my life and won’t be able to hug anyone because I’ve been exposed and need to self quarantine for two weeks….alone.’
‘No one is immune to this’: Laura Merrill shared details of how she had lost her father to the coronavirus and implored others to abide by the guidelines to stay at home
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