Music Loses Another

Man, I can't believe this! I feel so bad for this family. Read this last night and just couldn't believe it. So, so sad. And just because the musicians are Canadian is no good reason why the American press should be so silent on this.

Billy Cowsill, lead singer of The Cowsills, dies on the eve of his brother's memorial
Sunday, February 19th, 2006

CALGARY (CP) - William (Billy) Cowsill, 58, lead singer of the 1960s family band The Cowsills, has died at his home in Calgary after a lengthy illness.

News of his death Friday night was confirmed by family members who had gathered in Rhode Island for a memorial service for Barry Cowsill, a brother who was also in the band, who drowned in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in September.

Billy Cowsill had moved to Canada 35 years ago and continued his music career with Blue Northern and later The Blue Shadows. But it was the Cowsills that led to his greatest success as lead singer with such hits as "Hair" and "Indian Lake."

The band was also the inspiration for the tv series The Partridge Family. The Cowsills also had their own television special, performed a headline act in Las Vegas and did milk commercials.

Family members gathered Saturday at the memorial service for Barry Cowsill say Billy had been ill for several years with emphysema, osteoporosis, Cushing syndrome and other ailments. But they did not have details on his cause of death.

Paul Cowsill, another brother in the band, told the Providence Journal that Billy had a history of problems with drugs and alcohol that "caught up with him."

"He'd be the first one to tell you he's paying the fiddler," he said.

The Cowsill family included parents Bud and Barbara, a daughter Susan and brothers William, Robert, Richard, Barry, Paul, and John.

Billy is survived by two sons, Travis and Del.

NEWPORT, R.I. The lead singer of the 1960s family band The Cowsills has died _ and his family learned it just after a memorial service for his brother.According to family members, William Cowsill died Friday in Canada. He had been suffering from emphysema, osteoporosis and other ailments. He was 58 years old.Cowsill was the frontman for the band bearing his family's name. The Newport group was discovered by an N-B-C producer in 1965. Soon after, they recorded three number-one hits including "Hair," "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" and "Indian Lake."News of his death came just after a memorial ceremony honoring William Cowsill's younger brother, Barry. Barry Cowsill drowned after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans.