Underground music icon Alex Chilton died of an apparent heart attack in New Orleans yesterday, at the age of 59. First achieving notoriety as the startlingly gruff-voiced teenage singer of The Box Tops—their biggest hit, “The Letter,” topped the charts in 1967—Chilton may now be best known for leading the wholly different sounding Big Star, one of the most influential pop/rock groups to enjoy practically no commercial success during their existence. Once ignored by everyone but critics, several songs from 1972′s #1 Record and 1974′s Radio City have become belated classics, including the oft-covered “September Gurls” and “In The Street”—better known as “That ’70s Song” thanks to its use as the theme to That 70′s Show.
Following the troubled recording of Big Star’s moody magnum opus, 3rd/Sister Lovers, Chilton spent years releasing obscure solo EPs and singles while young alternative rock bands covered his songs and sang his praises—sometimes literally, in the case of The Replacements‘ single “Alex Chilton.” Chilton reunited Big Star in the early ’90s, finally releasing another album under the name, In Space, in 2005 (Chilton regularly toured with a reconvened Box Tops as well). He is survived by his wife and son.
See clips of Chilton’s most famous songs after the jump.
