Righteous Brother Hatfield Dies

Thursday, November 6, 2003

(08:01 GMT)

The BBC

"Those two tracks will be remembered well into this century," he said of You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling and Unchained Melody. "It's very rare that a person who is not a writer gets to perform in such a fashion and so memorably that his work is remembered for decades."

-- British DJ Paul Gambaccini in tribute to Hatfield.

BBC
Singer Bobby Hatfield, of the chart-topping duo the Righteous Brothers, died on Wednesday at the age of 63, his manager has said.

Hatfield was found dead at a hotel in Western Michigan, half an hour before he was due to perform at a concert with singing partner Bill Medley.

The US pair had their first British number one in 1965 with You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'.

They also topped the chart with Unchained Melody in 1990.

The group's manager David Cohen said: "It's a shock, a real shock."

He said Medley, who Hatfield had started the group with 42 years ago, was "broken up".

Hatfield's body was found at 2300 GMT.

* Body found

* Tributes to Bobby Hatfield

(More: More: BBC Online)

2003 © British Broadcasting Corporation.

Dan