Rock band ‘The Youngbloods’ singer Jesse Colin Young passes away at 83

WASHINGTON, DC : Jesse Colin Young, who sang one of the signature songs of the 1960s rock band The Youngbloods ‘Get Together’, passed away at the age of 83, reported Variety.

Jesse’s wife and manager, Connie Young, announced that her husband had died at home in Aiken, South Carolina on Sunday afternoon. No cause of death was given.

Young was a founding member of The Youngbloods, whose “Get Together” song reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969, when it was re-released two years after it appeared on the band’s debut album, reported Variety.

None of the group’s other songs made a significant chart impact, and after releasing five albums between 1967-72, they broke up.

According to Variety, the singer then recorded seven albums over the subsequent decade — five for Warner Bros. Records, two for Elektra — before moving on to independent labels.

Young did not write “Get Together,” but he had a hand in penning much of the Youngbloods’ other hit songs, like ‘Darkness Darkness’ (which was covered by Robert Plant, decades later, on his 2016 “Dreamland” album), ‘Sugar Babe’ and ‘Quicksand.’

He revisited some of those early songs when he recorded his final album, 2021’s ‘Highway Troubadour,’ which also included ‘Tripping on My Roots,’ a theme song for his podcast, reported Variety

In 2009, Young said he was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, for the better part of 20 years, after he’d “probably had it for 20 years before that. I had to take some time off and get better and it was a slow process.”, as per the outlet.

The health condition of the singer impacted his life and career until the mid-2010s when he found a treatment. It allowed him to become symptom-free, reported Variety.

The singer-songwriter toured actively, including an opening spot on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunion tour in stadiums in 1974. He continued to do dates through October 2023, when he made an appearance at L.A.’s Grammy Museum. (ANI)