Canadian singer David Clayton-Thomas, who led Blood, Sweat & Tears to hits and Grammys, dead at 84

Listen to this article

Estimated 2 minutes

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.

David Clayton-Thomas, the powerhouse Canadian singer who lifted American band Blood, Sweat & Tears to the heights of pop music success, including Grammy awards and one of the biggest selling albums of its time, has died.

Clayton-Thomas, 84, died peacefully at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto on Wednesday, according to his publicist, Eric Alper. The cause of his death was not immediately clear.

Clayton-Thomas was just a few years on from time spent in correctional institutions as a youth and young adult when he began to make a name for himself in Toronto’s Yonge Street and Yorkville music scenes with bands the Shays and the Bossmen.

The singer’s fortunes changed rapidly, and forever, after a successful 1968 audition with Blood, Sweat & Tears, the New York City-based jazz-rock group with a four-piece horn section, who were looking for a new singer for their second album.

It proved a match made in musical heaven.

“Everything David sang sounded right — and even better, sounded like a hit,” said Steve Katz, the band’s guitarist, in a 2015 memoir.

The album Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in the waning days of 1968, sold millions, as singles You’ve Made Me So Very Happy, the Clayton-Thomas-penned Spinning Wheel and And When I Die each reached No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart.

More to come.