Glenn Yarbrough, American folk singer, Died at 86

  Music

Glenn Robertson Yarbrough was born on January 12, 1930, and died on August 11, 2016.

He was an American folk singer.

Glenn was the lead singer with The Limeliters between 1959 and 1963, and had a prolific solo career, recording on various labels.

While he was in the Korean War he served in the U.S. Army as a codebreaker before joining the entertainment corps.

As of the mid-1950s, he began performing in clubs in Chicago, where he met club owner Albert Grossman and performers including Odetta and Shel Silverstein.

He was one of Elektra Records’ first artists, he was one of the first singers to record the traditional “The House of the Rising Sun.”

He relocated to Aspen, Colorado, and ran a club, the Limelite, and formed a folk group with Alex Hassilev and Lou Gottlieb.

Their first album was released, Limeliters, on Holzman’s Elektra label in 1960.

Glen left the Limeliters for a solo career in the mid-1960s.

“Baby the Rain Must Fall” was his most popular single, and the one for which he is most well-known today is(the theme tune from the film of the same name), which entered the Cashbox chart on March 27, 1965 and reached #12 pop and #2 easy listening.

Glenn unique style of singing is referenced in an episode of the animated series South Park titled “The Death Camp of Tolerance”.

He lost his ability to sing due to complications from throat surgery at the age of 80.

During his last year or so of his life, Glenn suffered from dementia and was cared for by his daughter Holly in Nashville, Tennessee.

Glenn Yarbrough passed away at 86 years old.