Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night dies at 83

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Chuck Negron, a lead singer for the popular band Three Dog Night, passed away Monday at his home in Studio City. He was 83 years old.

Zach Farnum, a representative, announced that Negron had passed away peacefully at home with his family. Negron had lived with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for many years, though the specific cause of death wasn’t disclosed.

Founded in 1967 by Negron and fellow vocalists Cory Wells and Danny Hutton, Three Dog Night played catchy, polished soft rock — “slick as Wesson oil,” Robert Christgau once wrote — with lush three-part harmonies and tons of melodic hooks. The musicians wrote some of their songs but were better known for interpreting tunes by other songwriters, including Harry Nilsson (“One”), Laura Nyro (“Eli’s Coming”), Randy Newman (“Mama Told Me Not to Come”), Hoyt Axton (“Joy to the World”) and Paul Williams (“An Old Fashioned Love Song”). Negron sang lead on “One” and “Joy to the World,” among other tunes.

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Between 1969 and 1975, the band Three Dog Night had an impressive 21 songs reach the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Three of these – “Mama Told Me Not to Come” (a song about a naive young man’s experience at a wild Hollywood party), “Joy to the World,” and “Black & White” – actually hit number one. “Black & White” was written by David I. Arkin and Earl Robinson.

Opinions on the band Three Dog Night were divided. Their name reportedly came from an Australian Aboriginal custom of sharing body heat with dogs while sleeping. While Robert Hilburn, a former music critic for The Times, described them as simply a reliable hit-making group, a New York Times reviewer in 1975 praised them for bringing back the joyful, lighthearted spirit of early rock and roll.

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Born in the Bronx on June 8, 1942, Chuck Negron came from a musical family – his father, Charles, was a Puerto Rican nightclub singer. Chuck himself started singing in doo-wop groups as a child and later moved to Los Angeles to play basketball at California State University. He went on to become a member of the band Three Dog Night, which released its first album in 1968 with members like Michael Allsup, Jimmy Greenspoon, Joe Schermie, and Floyd Sneed. Though the band initially disbanded in the mid-1970s, they have since reunited several times.

Negron was honest about his past struggles with drug addiction, and according to a statement from Farnum, he once lived on the streets of Skid Row in Los Angeles before successfully getting sober in 1991. He started a solo music career a few years later, and his latest album, released in 2017, featured a collaboration with two of his daughters.

According to Farnum, Negron and Hutton repaired their relationship last year after not speaking for many years. Negron is survived by his wife, Ami Albea Negron, his children Shaunti Negron Levick, Berry Oakley, Charles Negron III, Charlotte Negron, and Annabelle Negron, as well as nine grandchildren.

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2026-02-03 20:31