Dennis Locorriere, voice of Dr. Hook, dead at 76

Dennis Locorriere, Dr. Hook singer, has died at 76

Dennis Locorriere, the voice behind some of Dr. Hook's most recognizable singles, has died at 76. According to Rolling Stone, Locorriere was a founding member of the New Jersey country rock band and served as the lead vocalist on a string of hit singles that defined the group's commercial peak.

Locorriere sang lead on Dr. Hook classics including "Sylvia's Mother," "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman," and "Sexy Eyes," tracks that placed the band firmly in the soft rock and country crossover lane they occupied through the 1970s and into the early 1980s.

A founding voice

Few bands of that era had a front man as immediately identifiable as Locorriere. His warm, lived-in tenor gave Dr. Hook a sonic personality that separated them from the harder acts of the period, and the New Jersey roots gave the songs a working-class emotional directness that held up across decades of oldies radio.

Locorriere had continued to perform and record as a solo artist well after the band's main run, maintaining a connection with long-time fans in the UK and Europe in particular. Details surrounding the circumstances of his death had not been fully disclosed at the time of publication.

His passing leaves a gap in the story of country rock and classic pop that will not be easy to fill.