PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., June 14 (UPI) -- Singer Carl Gardner has died under hospice care in Port St. Lucie, Fla., his wife said. He was 83.
The Los Angeles Times reported the Texas native and co-founder of the R&B group the Coasters was treated for cancer of the larynx in the 1990s, had a stroke in 2004 and most recently suffered from congestive heart failure and Alzheimer's disease. He died Sunday.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, the Coasters are best known for their hit songs "Down in Mexico," "Yakety Yak," "Charlie Brown," "Little Egypt" and "Poison Ivy."
"Singing was his passion," the Times quoted Gardner's wife of 24 years, Veta, who became the group's manager in the late '80s, as saying. "Even as a young kid, he had a beautiful voice. They used to call him the town crier because he used to walk and sing. Everybody could hear him sing."
Gardner is also survived by his daughter, Brenda; his sons, Carl Jr. and Ahilee; three stepsons, Ramon, Hanif and Wayne; his brother, Howard; his sister, Carol Bartlett; seven grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter, the newspaper said.
