Singer Jack Ely famous for song Louie Louie passed away

Jack Ely, the lead singer of the Kingsmen who was best known for 1960s hit Louie Louie, died on 27 April 2015 due to a long battle with an illness. He was 71.

Jack Ely was an American guitarist and singer.

Ely was classically trained in piano and began playing guitar after seeing Elvis Presley on television. In 1959, he co-founded the Kingsmen and with them recorded Louie Louie in 1963.

Ely's incoherent singing on Louie Louie led the FBI to investigate the famous track on the grounds that it might be obscene. Louie Louie was recorded in 1957 by Richard Berry, who had written it two years earlier.

Despite hundreds of covers by artists including Otis Redding, the Beach Boys, and the Sonics, the Kingsmens' version of Louie Louie remains the definitive recording.

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