Jim Seals of the soft-rock duo Seals and Crofts has died at the age of 80.
The singer, who was behind the laid-back 1970s classics "Diamond Girl" and "Summer Breeze," died Monday at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, after battling an unspecified "chronic ongoing illness," his wife Ruby Jean Seals confirmed to BBC.
"This is a hard one on so many levels as this is a musical era passing for me," said Seals' friend and fellow musician John Ford Coley on Facebook. "And it will never pass this way again, as his song said. He belonged to a group that was one of a kind. I am very sad over this, but I have some of the best memories of all of us together. Rest In Peace Jimmy."
Seals and his musical partner Darrell George "Dash" Crofts knew each other since they were teenagers in Texas. They started their musical career performing in the band The Champs, which they joined in 1958. Several years later they formed their own band featuring Seals playing guitar, saxophone, and fiddle, and Crofts on drums, mandolin, keyboards, and guitar, BBC noted.
They went on to release five gold albums from 1972 to 1976. Their greatest hits collection, which included songs like "Humming Bird," "Castles In The Sand," "We May Never Pass This Way (Again)," and "Summer Breeze," went double platinum.
At the height of their career however, the band — adherents to the Baha'i faith — drew controversy after releasing "Unborn Child," a 1974 anti-abortion song that came on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe vs Wade decision on abortion rights.
The song, which followed the Baha'i belief that life begins at the moment of conception, was banned from several radio stations and essentially halted the band's career. By 1980, the band was dropped by its record label and, after brief reunions in 1991 and 2004, the band officially retired.
Seals, who later moved to Nashville, toured with his brother, Dan, as Seals and Seals, but his level of success was eclipsed by the success Seals and Crofts enjoyed. He stopped playing in 2017 after suffering a stroke.
The musician is survived by his wife, Ruby, their children Joshua, Juliette, and Sutherland, his sister Renee Staley, and a half brother, Eddie Ray Seals. His brother Dan died in 2009.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.