Eric Carmen: All By Myself and Hungry Eyes singer dies aged 74

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Singer-songwriter Eric Carmen, who was known for hits “Hungry Eyes” and “All By Myself”, has died aged 74, his wife has announced.

To many, Carmen was best known for penning the 1975 power ballad “All By Myself”, which reached its peak of popularity when covered by Celine Dion in 1996.

The American musician’s death was announced by his wife Amy with a post on Carmen’s official website.

“It is with tremendous sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of Eric Carmen,” the statement begins.

“Our sweet, loving and talented Eric passed away in his sleep, over the weekend.

“It brought him great joy to know, that for decades, his music touched so many and will be his lasting legacy.”

The message concluded with a quote from his 1977 solo album Boats Against The Current: “Love is all that matters… faithful and forever”.

The statement, released early on Tuesday (12 March), does not indicate a cause of death, nor a specific date.

Carmen was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1949 and showed an interest in music in early childhood. After taking violin lessons from his aunt aged six, he became classically trained in piano by age 15 and dreamt of writing his own songs.

He began teaching himself to play the guitar aged 15, and spent four months buried in a Beatles chord book to learn.

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Later, as a student at John Carroll University, Carmen began considering a career as a musician.

After a spell with the band Cyrus Erie and the Choir ended in the late Sixties, Carmen rose to fame after founding the power pop group the Raspberries in the early 1970s. He was joined by bandmates Jim Bonfanti and Wally Bryson, and then later by Dave Smalley after the departure of John Aleksic.

They released their debut album Raspberries in 1972, with tracks reaching chart success including “Go All The Way”, which was later banned by the BBC in the UK for sexually suggestive lyrics, but was included on the Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 1 soundtrack in 2014.

After four albums together, the band broke up in 1975 and Carmen embarked on a solo career, achieving success in the emerging soft rock movement.

One of his hit tracks included the song “Hungry Eyes”, which featured in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze.

As a songwriter, Carmen also wrote “Almost Paradise” from the Footloose soundtrack, as well as the tracks “Never Gonna Fall In Love Again” and “Make Me Lose Control”.

Eric Carmen is survived by his third wife of eight years, Amy, and his adult children from his second marriage, Kathryn and Clayton.