Eric Carmen, Raspberries Frontman, Dies At 74

Eric Carmen, the frontman of the pop rock band Raspberries, died over the weekend, confirmed his wife Amy Carmen. He was 74. The singer's wife posted the tragic news on the singer's official website and revealed that he passed away in his sleep. She requested the family's privacy as they mourned his death.

Amy Carmen issues statement on Eric Carmen's death

The statement read, "It is with tremendous sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of Eric Carmen,” Amy Carmen wrote. “Our sweet, loving and talented Eric passed away in his sleep, over the weekend. It brought him great joy to know, that for decades, his music touched so many and will be his lasting legacy. Please respect the family’s privacy as we mourn our enormous loss.”

Who is Eric Carmen?

From a family of Russian Jewish immigrants, Carmen was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States and grew up in Lyndhurst, Ohio. He has been involved with music since early childhood.

He started off his music career with Raspberries at the end of the 1960s and gave many hit tracks to the music industry - Go All the Way, I Wanna Be With You, Tonight and Let’s Pretend, to name a few. However, in 1975, he parted ways from the band and started his solo career, de-emphasizing harder rock elements in favour of soft rock and power ballads. His solo album became a major hit in the music world - Never Gonna Fall in Love Again, She Did It, Hungry Eyes, Make Me Lose Control and All By Myself, to name a few.

Carmen married three times; first to Marcy Hill (October 31, 1978 - August 3, 1979, divorced.) He shared two children, Kathryn and Clayton with his second wife Susan Brown (May 22, 1993 - 2009, divorced.) He was survived by his third wife, Amy Carmen, whom he married in 2016.