Randy Newman News

Gene Pitney memorably sang "Only Love Can Break a Heart," but word of his death is proving equally saddening.

The melodramatic crooner, who earned a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for writing and performing a string of chart hits through the 1960s, including collaborations with Ricky Nelson, Carole King, Burt Bacharach, Phil Spector and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, was found dead Wednesday in a hotel room in Wales. The cause of death is yet to be determined, but local authorities say the 65-year-old singer's death does not appear to be suspicious.

"We don't have a cause of death at the moment but it looks like it was a very peaceful passing," Pitney's tour manager, James Kelly, told the Associated Press. "He was found fully clothed, on his back, as if he had gone for a lie-down. It looks as if there was no pain whatsoever."

Pitney was in the midst of a 23-city tour of Britain. His Tuesday night concert in Cardiff ended with a standing ovation.

"I've never seen him so well," Kelly told Reuters. "He was absolutely buzzing and full of life."

Pitney was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on Feb. 17, 1941. Always a music lover, he fronted a band in high school and got his start in the business in the early 1960s as a Brill Building songwriter.

He scored his first solo Top 40 hit in 1961 with "(I Wanna) Love My Life Away." Pitney produced the track and played every instrument except bass. That same year, his composition "Hello Mary Lou" became a Top 10 hit for Ricky Nelson and was later covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

It was the first of several hits he penned for other artists, among them Bobby Vee's "Rubber Ball," George Jones' "Louisiana Man" and the Crystals' "He's a Rebel," which hit number one in 1962, keeping Pitney's own hit, "Only Love Can Break a Heart," at number two.

Pitney also recorded songs by other composers, including: "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance," written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the hit western starring John Wayne and James Stewart; "Just One Smile," by Randy Newman; and "That Girl Belongs to Yesterday," an early Jagger-Richards composition that charted in 1964--months ahead of the Rolling Stones first U.S. chart hit, "Tell Me."

Pitney's other classic cuts included "Town Without Pity," "It Hurts to Be in Love," "24 Hours from Tulsa" and "She's a Heartbreaker," which was released in 1968 and became the last of his 16 Top 40 hits in the U.S.

While he peaked commercially in America in the 1960s, he remained hugely popular in Europe. He recorded albums in Italian and Spanish and was voted Italy's top singer in 1964. He frequently toured Britain, often supported by hit acts like the Kinks, and was rewarded with 40 chart hits in the U.K. He had his first British number one in 1990 with his duet with Soft Cell's Marc Almond, "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart."

He also became one of the first rockers to embrace country, recording two hit albums with honky-tonkyer George Jones in the '60s. He was enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, in a class that included the Ramones, Talking Heads and Tom Petty.

Pitney is survived by his wife, Lynne, and three sons.