Billy Cowsill, former lead singer of the Cowsills, the pop family band that scored several top-10 hits in the 1960s and inspired "The Partridge Family" television series, has died. He was 58.
Cowsill, who suffered from emphysema, osteoporosis and other ailments, died Saturday at his home in Calgary, Canada, said Steve Pineo, a member of Cowsill's most recent group, the Co-Dependents, a Calgary-based roots rock band.
The former teen star's death came less than two months after the body of his brother, Barry, was discovered on a wharf in New Orleans on Dec. 28. The 51-year-old, a New Orleans resident, had been missing since Hurricane Katrina hit Aug. 29.
At the time of Billy Cowsill's death, the Co-Dependents album "Live at the Mecca Cafe, Vol. 2," was the top-selling independent album in the Canadian province of Alberta.
"They were a blistering roots rock band, but any band Billy was in was a great band because Billy was a great performer," said Neil MacGonigill, owner of Indelible Music, which recorded and released two Co-Dependents albums and a solo Billy Cowsill album.
"He was such a fan of music and such a great singer that he chose to do cover tunes most of the time," MacGonigill told The Times on Monday. "He did everything from the Beatles to George Jones to Roy Orbison to Brenda Lee."
The native of Newport, R.I., once recalled that one of his earliest memories was harmonizing with his mother, Barbara, when he was 5.
"She was doing dishes, and I remember singing 'You Are My Sunshine,' " he told the Vancouver Sun in 1992.
He began playing the guitar when he was 7 and was soon harmonizing with his younger brother Bob on Everly Brothers songs.
He was a teenager in 1965 when he and Bob, who also played guitar, were joined by younger brothers Barry (on bass) and John (on drums) to form the Cowsills.
The band began by playing at school dances and church socials. Someone from the "Today Show" later booked them on the show. A recording contract with Mercury followed, but their three singles failed to generate much interest.
Still convinced that the wholesome group could be a commercial hit, Mercury producer Artie Kornfeld set up an independent recording date and talked Barbara Cowsill into contributing vocals on "The Rain, the Park and Other Things." Released by MGM in fall 1967, it rose to No. 2 nationally and sold more than 1 million copies.
