Shit.
Alex Chilton, who had a worldwide number-one hit at the age of 16 singing "The Letter" with the Box Tops, died yesterday of an apparent heart attack. He was 59.
After the Box Tops split up, Chilton and Chris Bell formed Big Star, a band cursed with being infinitely influential and unappreciated.
When Big Star broke up, Chilton moved to New York, where he dabbled in punk and played with Chris Stamey (from the dBs) and Richard Lloyd (from Television). His solo career never quite took off and he never achieved the commercial success of the Box Tops (or the influence of Big Star). But he did inspire my favorite song by the Replacements.
I'm sorry I never got a chance to see him live... or tell him how much his music meant to me.
"Children by the millions wait for Alex Chilton to come around..."
Shel Talmy 1937--2024
6 hours ago
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3 comments:
Thanks, Alex. Like you, I never got to see him, but appreciate him.
This is spooky. How could Alex Chilton die? I mean, I know he lived hard, but surely a voice like that should be immune from death.
A sad day for rock and roll . . .
I'm sorry I never heard of the guy before he died. And frankly I wasn't sure why everyone else I knew was so upset. Your tribute is the first to give me a clear sense of what I missed out on.
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