Tributes Pouring In For Chuck Negron, Founding Member of Three Dog Night

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Chuck Negron, a founding singer of the rock group Three Dog Night, died Monday at his home in Studio City, California. He was 83.

According to a statement released by his family, Negron died surrounded by loved ones. A cause of death was not specified. The statement noted that Negron had lived with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for several decades and had recently battled heart failure.

Three Dog Night, formed in Los Angeles in 1967, is best known for hit singles including "Mama Told Me Not to Come," "Joy to the World" and "Black and White." The group featured a three-singer lineup of Negron, Danny Hutton and Cory Wells.

Negron was born June 8, 1942, in the Bronx, New York, and began singing in doo-wop groups as a child. He performed lead vocals on several of Three Dog Night's biggest hits, including "Joy to the World," "One," "Old Fashioned Love Song" and "The Show Must Go On."

Danny Hutton, the band's only remaining touring original member, wrote on Facebook: "I received the news today that my former bandmate from Three Dog Night, Chuck Negron, passed away peacefully at his home." Wells died in 2015.

Negron was dismissed from the band in 1985 after a long struggle with substance abuse, which at one point left him homeless. He overcame his addictions in the early 1990s, a journey detailed in his 1999 memoir, "Three Dog Nightmare."

After leaving the group, Negron launched a solo career, releasing seven albums, most recently "Negron Generations" in 2017. He stopped touring during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he described as "impossibly unsafe" due to his lung condition.

In his tribute, Hutton added, "We rarely spoke and lost touch for much of that time. Five months ago, his wife Ami called to tell me he was very sick, and I decided I should go see him. When I arrived at his house, we hugged, cried, reminisced and shared many stories. In that moment, we realized how much time had been lost by not being in each other's lives. It was a beautiful and deeply meaningful reunion. I will always be grateful for the music we made together."