Raspberries frontman and ‘All by Myself’ singer, Eric Carmen, dies aged 74

12 March, 2024

American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist Eric Carmen, former member of The Raspberries, is interviewed at The Holiday Inn Downtown on November 10, 1975 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

Eric Carmen, the frontman for Raspberries and singer of ‘All By Myself’ has died aged 74.

The singer became an icon of the early-’70s power pop scene with the group, before going on to establish a fruitful solo career – sharing hits including ‘All By Myself’ and ‘Hungry Eyes’.

News of his death was shared by his wife, Amy Carmen, who posted an update on his website. “It is with tremendous sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of Eric Carmen,” she wrote.

“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. Please respect the family’s privacy as we mourn our enormous loss. ‘Love Is All That Matters… Faithful and Forever.’”

The quote at the end is a nod to his solo song ‘Love Is All That Matters’, taken from his 1977 solo album ‘Boats Against the Current’. At time of writing no cause of death has been revealed.

Following the announcement, other tributes have flooded in from across social media. KISS frontman Paul Stanley wrote: “Awful news… Although known to many for writing radio hits like “All By Myself” and others, Eric was a true rocker at heart. His voice had elements of McCartney and Steve Marriott. The Raspberries did shows with us. A killer band live & I loved their records.”

SiriusXM host Eric Alper also took to X to share tribute, as did Eddie Trunk, with the latter writing: “Devastated to hear this news. Eric Carmen & The Raspberries were 1st rock music I ever heard. The power chords of Go All The Way literally introduced me to rock & set me on my path. I knew Eric & did much w/ him during bands reunion. RIP to a true great”.

In his time with the Raspberries, the group rose to fame for rebelling against the heavy, glam and prog genres that dominated the ‘70s; instead honing in on the early-Beatles-inspired pop that they grew up with.

They went on to share a number of hits including ‘Go All The Way’, ‘I Wanna Be With You’, ‘Don’t Want To Say Goodbye’ and ‘Let’s Pretend’, before breaking up in the mid-’70s and Carmen relaunching himself as a solo artist.

From the mid-’70s onwards, the singer released a number of successful tracks such as ‘All by Myself’, ‘Never Gonna Fall in Love Again’ and ‘Hey Deanie’ – the latter of which also became a hit for Shaun Cassidy. He continued into the ’80s with songs like ‘Hungry Eyes’, which famously appeared in Dirty Dancing.

‘All by Myself’ famously featured in the 1995 Nicole Kidman-starring film To Die For; before climbing the charts again two years later when Celine Dion shared her cover of it.

In 2000, he joined Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band on tour, performing songs from across his time as a solo artist and with Raspberries, and more recently, ‘Go All The Way’ experienced a resurgence after featuring on the first Guardians Of The Galaxy soundtrack.

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