Chuck Negron, singer and co-founder of the rock band Three Dog Night, has died at the age of 83, according to a statement from his publicist. The statement reads that, “He died peacefully at his home in Studio City, California on Monday, February 2 surrounded by his loving family.”
Negron was born June 8, 1942 and grew up in the Bronx. In 1967, he joined Danny Hutton and the late Cory Wells to form Three Dog Night.
Together, the group penned iconic tracks like “Joy To The World (Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog),” “One (Is The Loneliest Number),” “Easy To Be Hard,” “Old Fashioned Love Song,” “The Show Must Go On,” and more.
Negron always knew he had a good singing voice, which he spoke about in a 2022 interview with Forbes. “When I was eight years old, my twin sister and I were put into an orphanage. My mom couldn’t take care of us. They had a choir there. My sister got in, but, for some reason, I couldn’t. I remember thinking, ‘I’m better than that guy,’” he explained.
“When the doo-wop groups would sing on the corner, I’d join in from a distance. Finally, they asked me to come over and sing with them. So I knew others liked what I did. Then I realized I could do things a lot of people couldn’t. Plus it was fun. In a weird way, I knew I could sing before I knew I could sing [laughs].”
Negron translated that talent into a successful singing career with Three Dog Night, but the band was derailed at its peak, a period of Negron’s life he was extremely honest about. Things turned around eventually for Negron, and he went on to have a successful solo career, releasing seven albums on his own between 1995 and 2017. His 1999 book, Three Dog Nightmare, detailed the highs and lows of his life and career.
