Dash Seals, one half of the soft-rock duo Seals & Crofts behind classic tracks like “Summer Breeze,” “Diamond Girl,” and “Get Closer,” has passed away.
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Louie Shelton, who produced the duo’s biggest hits, confirmed the news on Facebook.
“Sad to hear our deal brother and partner in music has passed away today,” Shelton penned in the March 26 social media post. “Crofts died following complications from heart surgery,” Shelton added, citing a family member.
“Sending love and prayers to all his family and many fans. R.I.P., my brother.”
Born Darrell Crofts on August 14, 1940, in Cisco, Texas, he was already a seasoned musician when he formed Seals & Crofts with his longtime bandmate Jim Seals in 1969. The pair had first met in the 1950s while playing in local Texas bands.
They both relocated to Los Angeles to join the Champs in 1959, a group already renowned for their No. 1 instrumental hit, “Tequila.” Guitarist Glen Campbell also became a member of the band around the same period.
In the mid-’60s, Seals, Crofts, and Campbell left the Champs to form Glen Campbell and the GCs. After that band split, Seals and Crofts returned to Texas, where they formed a new group before moving back to L.A. in 1969. They then signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records, officially becoming Seals & Crofts.
Dash Crofts Scores His Signature Tracks as Part of Seals & Crofts
Seals & Crofts kept the momentum going the following year with Diamond Girl. The album’s title track also peaked at No. 6, and the LP itself reached No. 4, becoming their second consecutive Gold record. Following the pattern of their previous album, the second single, “We May Never Pass This Way Again,” peaked at No. 21.
Seals & Crofts’ pop single winning streak had ended by the mid-’70s. However, their 1975 Greatest Hits album reached No. 11 and was later certified platinum.
However, the duo had one more major hit left. The title track from their eighth studio album, Get Closer, also entered the Top 10, coincidentally peaking at No. 6. The gentle song features vocals by Carolyn Willis, who had scored a No. 1 single in 1971 with Honey Cone’s “Want Ads.”
Seals & Crofts released three more mid-charting albums before their 1980 LP, The Longest Road, failed to chart, prompting Warner Bros. to drop them. After an extended hiatus and a brief reunion in the early ’90s, the duo’s career totals included four Gold and two Platinum albums.
Seals passed away in 2022.
Meanwhile, the duo’s legacy is cemented in pop culture. Their songs have appeared in dozens of films and TV shows. “Summer Breeze” was featured in 1993’s Dazed and Confused, and a cover by Type O Negative played over the opening credits of 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer. More recently, “Diamond Girl” played in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Best Picture Oscar-nominated film Licorice Pizza.