Dan McCafferty, lead vocalist for Scottish band Nazareth who sang hit single Love Hurts, dies at 76

Dan McCafferty, the longtime lead singer of Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, has died aged 76.

McCafferty’s bandmate, bassist Pete Agnew, announced the singer’s death on Tuesday in a Facebook post shared on the group’s page the same day.

The musician, who co-wrote many of the group’s songs in the 1970s, is best known for his scorching vocals on Nazareth’s top 10 hit cover of the Everly Brothers’ song Love Hurts, which became a staple of power ballads.

Last song: Dan McCafferty, longtime lead singer of Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, passed away at age 76; seen in 2016 in Berlin

“Dan passed away today at 12:40 PM,” Agnew began, adding, “This is the saddest announcement I’ve ever had to make.

‘[McCafferty’s wife] Maryann and the family have lost a wonderful loving husband and father, I have lost my best friend and the world has lost one of the greatest singers that ever lived,” he continued, adding that he was “too upset to say anything more.” to say about this time.’

No cause of death was given. McCafferty had stopped touring with Nazareth in 2013 due to the effects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1946, McCafferty co-founded Nazareth in 1968 with Agnew, as well as Manny Charlton on guitar and Darrell Sweet on drums.

The group was inspired to take its name from a line in The Band’s classic song The Weight, which refers to the Pennsylvania city of Nazareth, rather than the Middle Eastern city.

Sad news: bassist Pete Agnew made the announcement later on Tuesday. He described the late singer as his best friend. He is survived by wife Maryann and his two children

Beginnings: McCafferty co-founded the group in 1968. Despite the group gaining fame by opening for Deep Purple and collaborating with that band’s bassist Roger Glover, the group failed to attract much commercial attention ; pictured in Montreal in 1976

The group’s debut LP of the same name was released in 1971 and the group boasted a muscular hard rock sound, although it often featured more pop-oriented covers.

Nazareth raised his profile in rock circles by touring with Deep Purple, and that band’s bassist, Roger Glover, later lent some of his group’s style to Nazareth’s 1973 third LP Razamanaz.

Several of the band’s early albums were minor hits in the UK, but they didn’t gain much traction in the United States until the release of their sixth album, 1975’s Hair Of The Dog.

The album was supported by the single Love Hurts, a reworked version of the Everly Brothers song, which was not released as a single.

It had been covered before, but Nazareth’s version, which had a harder edge thanks to Charlton’s guitars and McCafferty’s grainy yet powerful voice, reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US and immediately became the most recognizable song. from the group.

Finally: Nazareth’s LP Hair Of The Dog (1975) was the biggest hit in the US thanks to the Everly Brothers cover Love Hurts, which reached number 8 on the charts and has been used countless times in other media; McCafferty (right) seen in 1973 with Manny Charlton

It has since been used many times in film, television and commercials, although it is most often deployed for comedic or ironic effects.

The album did well, reaching number 17 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart thanks to other popular songs such as the title track, which McCafferty co-wrote.

McCafferty’s former bandmate Charlton passed away in July this year.

In addition to his albums with Nazareth, McCafferty recorded three solo albums that were released with mostly mediocre results.

In 2014 he spoke with Classic rock here and now about getting off the band because of his COPD diagnosis.

Bowing: McCafferty had to stop touring in 2013 after being diagnosed with COPD. “I can’t sing on tour like I used to,” he admitted in an interview in 2014; seen in 2008 in the Czech Republic

“I can’t sing on tour like I used to,” he said via USA today. “I think if you can’t do the job, you really shouldn’t be there… I’m sorry, but I just can’t sing a whole set live anymore.”

In the same interview, McCafferty reminisced about the mentality of the band in the early days of their existence.

“We weren’t trying to get famous or change the world or anything,” he recalls. “We lived in a small town, we loved music and all the guys in the band liked different things. It was everyone’s chemistry that we ended up with.”

McCafferty leaves behind his wife Maryann and his two children.