MCKEESPORT, Pa. (AP) — The lead singer of the doo-wop group the Skyliners, who co-wrote the iconic ballad “Since I Don’t Have You,” has died. Jimmy Beaumont was 76.
Beaumont’s family says he died in his sleep Saturday at his home in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.
Joe Rock would eventually manage the Skyliners. He was helping promote Beaumont’s former group, the Crescents, when Rock wrote some lyrics lamenting his girlfriend’s impending departure for flight attendants’ school out of state. That was 1958, and Beaumont was 18.
Beaumont, of Pittsburgh, set the lyrics to music, and a hit was born.
The song has been covered by Barbra Streisand, Patti LaBelle, Art Garfunkel, Don McLean and even Guns N’ Roses.
The Jaycox-Jaworski Funeral Home in McKeesport is handling arrangements. Beaumont’s funeral is Friday at Corpus Christi Parish in McKeesport.