{"id":480360,"date":"2018-12-31T19:05:08","date_gmt":"2019-01-01T02:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=773938"},"modified":"2018-12-31T19:05:08","modified_gmt":"2019-01-01T02:05:08","slug":"dr-hooks-ray-sawyer-cover-of-rolling-stone-singer-dead-at-81","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/dr-hooks-ray-sawyer-cover-of-rolling-stone-singer-dead-at-81\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Hook\u2019s Ray Sawyer, \u2018Cover of Rolling Stone\u2019 Singer, Dead at 81"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ray Sawyer, the Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show member who sang the 1973 Shel Silverstein-penned hit \u201cThe Cover of \u2018Rolling Stone,’\u201d has died at the age of 81.<\/p>\n

Page Six<\/a> first reported Friday that Sawyer died in Daytona Beach, Florida following a brief illness; a representative for the band confirmed the singer\u2019s death to Rolling Stone<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Alabama-born Sawyer \u2013 who founded the group with Dennis Locorriere,\u00a0Billy Francis and George Cummings \u2013 was a member of Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show from 1969 to 1981. A few years before the band\u2019s formation, Sawyer lost his right eye in a car accident; Sawyer wore an eyepatch that made him resemble the Peter Pan<\/em> villain Captain Hook, which served as the inspiration for the Dr. Hook moniker.<\/p>\n

In 1970, Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show\u2019s demo tapes wound up in the hands of author and songwriter Shel Silverstein, who recruited the band to become a vessel for his music: The group would turn Silverstein-written tracks like \u201cSylvia\u2019s Mother\u201d and \u201cThe Cover of \u2018Rolling Stone’\u201d into hits and released two albums of Silverstein-penned songs, 1971\u2019s Dr. Hook<\/em> and 1972\u2019s Sloppy Seconds<\/em>.<\/p>\n