Linda Lewis, the English singer-songwriter with a stunning five-octave vocal range, has died. She was 72, according to the BBC.
Lewis died Wednesday at her home, her sister Dee Lewis Clay confirmed on Instagram. No cause of death was given. The vocalist recorded popular songs such as “Rock-a-Doodle-Doo” and sang backup for artists such as Rod Stewart and David Bowie.
According to the BBC, Lewis started out as an actor who attended theater school and appeared in movies such as “A Taste of Honey” (1961) and the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964).
After playing the inaugural Glastonbury Festival in 1970, the self-taught guitarist and keyboardist’s music repeatedly climbed the charts. Her greatest hits also include “It’s In His Kiss” — a disco rendition of “The Shoop Song.”
In addition to collaborating with Bowie on his sixth studio album,“Aladdin Sane,” Lewis also collaborated with Stewart, Jamiroquai, Joan Armatrading and Yusuf/Cat Stevens.
“I’m so sorry to hear of Linda Lewis passing,” Stevens tweeted on Thursday. “She was a good soul-friend and fine artist. Her flat on Hampstead Way was a regular home for artist and musicians in the 70’s. Linda became my personal support act during the ‘Bamboozle Tour’ of 1974, and travelled with our troupe all over the world, up to Japan.
“What a voice! … Linda was like an amazing bird that kindly visited the window sill of our earthly house for a few days, then flew away back to her garden. And I am so glad to know she entered Islam a couple of years ago at Peter Sanders’ house, at the hand of a beautiful spiritual Shaikh from Gambia, Muhammad Al Jilani. God grant her eternal love and peace in the ever blossoming garden, where her heart belongs.”
