Leon Redbone: The mysterious singer of the tunes of the time of Ragtime, died at the age of 69

by



[ad_1]

"He left our world with his guitar, his faithful companion Rover and a simple tip of his hat," reads his website, in which he joked that Redbone had "crossed the delta for this beautiful coast to the age of 12 years old ". (His family also confirmed his death through the intermediary of an NPR reporter.)

He was a prolific stage performer and has published more than 15 albums over a four-decade career.

With his singularly nasal baritone and singing singing over an acoustic guitar, he won a dedicated fan base and became a regular at Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show". More recently, he was the voice of "Leon the Snowman" in the film "Elf" by Will Ferrell, in 2003.

In concert and in interviews, Redbone remains elusive about his past. When asked for a biography for a music festival program, he wrote: "I was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1910, and my real name is James Hokum", which does not appear as such .

"Some people seem to believe that as soon as you play on stage, you lose your rights as a private citizen," he told Maclean's, a Canadian magazine, in 2001. "They want to know who I am am, what am I, where I was born, how old am I – all that total nonsense that belongs to a passport office. "
His wife and manager, Beryl Handler, confirmed to the Washington Post that he was born in 1949 in Cyprus. Redbone publicists announced his retirement in 2015, citing health issues.

The statement on his website announcing his death ended with an ironic farewell: "To his fans, his friends and his loving family who have already missed him, then in this realm, he says," Oh, act well. Thank you … and good evening Everyone. & # 39; "

[ad_2]

Source link