- Born
- 30 December 1934, Coopersville, Michigan, United States
- First work
- 1961: Runaway
- Peak
- 1961 to 1965 (estimated)
- Last work
- 1981: Drop Down and Get Me
- Died
- 8 February 1990, Santa Clarita, United States; aged 55; other
Del Shannon
Music: singer, songwriter, guitarist, United States
Del Shannon was an American rock and roll singer-songwriter renowned for his driving rhythms, soaring falsetto, and dramatic melodic sensibility. He made an immediate international impact in 1961 with the chart-topping classic Runaway, which prominently featured the musitron synthesizer. Unlike many contemporaries, Shannon wrote his own material and maintained a string of influential hits across the early 1960s, including Hats Off to Larry and Keep Searchin'. He also championed early British rock, notably recording one of the first American covers of a Beatles song. Shannon continued to record and perform through later decades before his life ended in Santa Clarita, California, in 1990.
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Signature works
- Runaway song1961
- Hats Off to Larry song1961
- Little Town Flirt song1962
- Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun) song1964
- Stranger in Town song1965
- Drop Down and Get Me album1981
Honours
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, 1999