Singer Robert John, the voice behind the number one hit ‘Sad Eyes,’ has died at 79
Robert John scored a number one hit with ‘Sad Eyes,’ in 1979 and had also worked in construction.
Although no cause of death has been given at the time of writing for singer Robert John’s passing, his son Michael Pedrick told Rolling Stone that his father was still recovering from a stroke that he had suffered several years earlier. Robert John was born Bobby Pedrick Jr., in Brooklyn New York and was only 12 years old when he released ‘White Bucks and Saddle Shoes,’ which reached No.74 on the Hot 100 in 1958.
In 1965, the then Bobby Pedrick Jr. decided to change his name to Robert John. Rolling Stone reported that “John recorded a few more songs for labels like Big Top and Verve, but after further success failed to materialize, he stepped away from music and spent the mid-Sixties working as a production manager for trade magazines (via The Billboard Book of Number One Hits). By 1968, however, John was back, linking up with the songwriter Michael Gately to produce a string of tunes, including “If You Don’t Want My Love,” which just cracked the Top 50, reaching Number 49.”
After securing publishing deals, both Robert John and Michael Gately worked for Blood, Sweat & Tears and Bobby Vinton. Robert John sang as a background vocalist on records by the likes of Al Kooper and Smokey Robinson, but it was thanks to his version of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ that his solo career suddenly took off in 1972.
Robert John’s version of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight,’ went to number three in the Hot 100 and it sold more than 1 million copies. Despite his initial success, his career faltered and he left music after initially working as a staff writer for Motown.
Robert John then worked in construction but in 1979 his song ‘Sad Eyes,’ reached number one. Deadline reported that “Written by John and sung in his signature high-register voice, “Sad Eyes” was a first-person tale of a man who had to break up with a temporary girlfriend because his unspecified partner was returning. The EMI America single topped the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1979, more than 20 years after he first hit the pop chart.”