Singer Jim Seals, who was part of the duo ‘Seals and Crofts’, has died at age 80.

His death was announced by singer John Ford Coley, who wrote, “This is a hard one on so many levels as this is a musical era passing for me. And it will never pass this way again as his song said. He belonged to a group that was one of a kind.”

His cause of death was not known. 

Also Read: Who was Justin Hardy, the Washington University basketball player dead at 22?

Who was Jim Seals?

Born in 1942 in Texas to Wayland Seals and Cora Seals,  James “Jim” Seals was fascinated by music at an early age. His father, who was an oilman,  played guitar. When Jim was about 5 years old his father purchased him a fiddle and at 10, Jim won a fiddle competition. At 13, he moved onto the saxophone and joined a local band called the Crew Cats.

Also Read: ‘American Graffiti’ actor Bo Hopkins dies at 80, tributes pour in

While performing with the group, Jim met Darrel “Dash” Crofts, who invited him to play. The two performed with the group until 1965 before moving to Los Angeles where they played in various groups before forming ‘Seals and Crofts’ in the year 1969. They gave 1970s soft-rock hits as “Summer Breeze,” “Diamond Girl” and “We May Never Pass This Way Again.”

Also Read: Jeff Gladney, Arizona Cardinals defensive back, dies at 25 in car crash

The duo also released the controversial “Unborn Child,” an anti-abortion song that came out the year after the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision and was banned by some radio stations.

The duo broke up in 1980, but reunited briefly in the early 1990s and again in 2004, when they released the album “Traces.”

Also Read: Enjoying the silence: British musician Andy Fletcher dead at 60

They also performed on occasion with his brother Dan, who died in 2009.

Jim is survived by his wife, Ruby, and their three children.