American singer Scott McKenzie, singer of the 1967 Summer of Love anthem "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)," has died at the age of 73.
According to the BBC, McKenzie was found in his home on Sunday afternoon, and his death was confirmed by a neighbour. McKenzie was battling Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disease affecting the central nervous system.
McKenzie was best known as the singer of "San Francisco." That song was written by John Phillips, founder of the Mamas and the Papas and a former bandmate of McKenzie's. The pair previously met as teenagers, and performed as the Smoothies, and later the Journeymen. The song was recorded and released in May 1967 to promote the Monterey Pop Festival. By the summer of 1967, it hit the number four spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.
On the legacy of his music, McKenzie wrote in 2002: "Even at the end of the decade, when so many of us had lost hope, when the summer of love had turned into a winter of despair, our music helped keep us alive and carry us forward into a world we had hoped to change."
According to the BBC, McKenzie has dedicated every American performance of the song to Vietnam veterans over the course of his career. Through much of the 1990s, McKenzie toured with the Mamas and the Papas. The singer is also credited for co-writing the Beach Boys 1988 hit, "Kokomo," which grabbed the number one spot on Billboard's US Hot 100 chart that same year.
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