Lennie Baker of Sha Na Na dies at 69
The death toll of music-world notables in 2016 continued Friday, with the announcement of the death of Lennie Baker, a longtime member of the rock-and-doo-wop band Sha Na Na. He was 69.
His nephew, David Baker, confirmed Leonard J. "Lennie" Baker died Wednesday at a Weymouth, Mass, hospital, in an online obituary and condolence page by a local funeral home, and on his Boston Marathon fundraising page.
"It is with great sorrow and a tear in my eye that I inform you that I am now running the 2016 Boston Marathon in memory of Uncle Lennie. He developed a serious infection this week and passed away peacefully at South Shore Hospital late yesterday afternoon," David Baker wrote.
Lennie Baker's church, Whitman First Congregationalist Church in Whitman, Mass., also confirmed the news in a tweet Friday.
The specific cause of death was not disclosed. In 2002 Lennie Baker underwent a kidney transplant, receiving a kidney donated by his nephew.
Lennie Baker was a vocalist and saxophone player for Sha Na Na, a band with a 1950s-era look and sensibility that was popular starting in the late 1960s. Baker joined the group in 1970 and toured the world with them until he retired in 2000.
He also appeared on the Sha Na Na variety TV show (1977-1981), and in the movie Grease, singing lead on the song Blue Moon, the Rogers and Hart standard that was a chart hit from the 1978 movie. Baker, who often said it was his favorite song, performed it at Carnegie Hall during his Sha Na Na career.
During his retirement years Baker took up residence on Martha's Vineyard and continued to play the sax and sing with a local band, The Spellbinders.
Another former Sha Na Na member, co-founder Dennis Greene, who later became a movie-studio executive and then a law professor, died in September at age 66.
Recent deaths of major music stars include: Natalie Cole, David Bowie, Glenn Frey of the Eagles, country star Sonny James, Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire, and Denise "Vanity" Matthews.
Contributing: The Associated Press