One of the band’s three lead vocalists, Negron sang „One“ and „Joy to the World,“ among other hits.<\/b>
\nChuck Negron, one of three lead singers in the original lineup of the hit-making Los Angeles band Three Dog Night, died Monday at his home in Studio City. He was 83.
His death was announced by a representative, Zach Farnum, who didn\u2019t specify a cause but said that Negron died peacefully surrounded by his family. For decades, he suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Founded in 1967 by Negron and fellow vocalists Cory Wells and Danny Hutton, Three Dog Night played catchy, polished soft rock \u2014 \u201cslick as Wesson oil,\u201d Robert Christgau once wrote \u2014 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 (\u201cOne\u201d), Laura Nyro (\u201cEli\u2019s Coming\u201d), Randy Newman (\u201cMama Told Me Not to Come\u201d), Hoyt Axton (\u201cJoy to the World\u201d) and Paul Williams (\u201cAn Old Fashioned Love Song\u201d). Negron sang lead on \u201cOne\u201d and \u201cJoy to the World,\u201d among other tunes.
Between 1969 and 1975, Three Dog Night put 21 songs inside the Top 40 of Billboard\u2019s Hot 100; three of those went to No. 1: \u201cMama Told Me Not to Come\u201d \u2014 about a sheltered young guy having his mind blown at a Hollywood party \u2014 \u201cJoy to the World\u201d and \u201cBlack & White,\u201d the last written by David I. Arkin and Earl Robinson.
Tastemakers were split on the group, whose name was said to refer to the practice among Indigenous Australians of sleeping with dogs for warmth. Robert Hilburn, The Times\u2019 former pop music critic, called Three Dog Night \u201ca fairly pedestrian hit machine.\u201d But a reviewer from the New York Times was warmer, writing in 1975 that the band is \u201csucceeding in recreating the days when rock and roll was fun music, before relevance and heaviness descended on it all.\u201d
Negron was born June 8, 1942 and grew up in the Bronx. His father, Charles Negron, was a nightclub performer from Puerto Rico; Chuck Negron sang in doo-wop groups as a kid and later moved to L.A. to play basketball at California State University. Three Dog Night released its first album in 1968 \u2014 among the other members were Michael Allsup, Jimmy Greenspoon, Joe Schermie and Floyd Sneed \u2014 but by the mid-\u201970s the band had broken up. Various reunions followed.
Negron was open about his struggles with drug addiction; according to Farnum\u2019s statement, he lived for a period on L.A.\u2019s Skid Row before getting clean in 1991. Negron launched a solo career a few years later; his most recent solo album, a collaboration with two of his daughters, came out in 2017.
Farnum said that Negron and Hutton reconciled last year after decades of estrangement. Negron\u2019s survivors include his wife, Ami Albea Negron; his children Shaunti Negron Levick, Berry Oakley, Charles Negron III, Charlotte Negron and Annabelle Negron; and nine grandchildren.<\/p>\n