Grammy-winning jazz legend Al Jarreau dead at 76

The sweet-voiced jazz crooner Al Jarreau, who won seven Grammys and sang the theme to “Moonlighting,” died Sunday morning. He was 76.

His death in a Los Angeles hospital came two days after he announced that he would be retiring from touring due to exhaustion.

A statement on Jarreau’s website Sunday said his first priority in life “was healing or comforting anyone in need.”

“Whether it was emotional pain, or physical discomfort, or any other cause of suffering, he needed to put our minds at ease and our hearts at rest,” the statement said.

Jarreau began his music career as a four-year-old child singing in a church choir with his five siblings in Milwaukee, Wis. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and his mother served as the congregation’s pianist.

He became a social worker while also singing on weekends. In 1967, he teamed up with acoustic guitarist Julio Martinez. Their success inspired Jarreau to become a full time musician.

Over his prolific career through the ’70s and ’80s he became the second vocalist to ever win a Grammy Award in three categories — including jazz, pop and R&B.

His big hits included “Mornin’,” “We’re in This Love Together,” and the theme song to the TV comedy “Moonlighting.”

Jarreau also spent three months on Broadway in 1996 in the role of Teen Angel in the musical “Grease.”

He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2001.

Despite his age, he performed 50 concerts last year, including one at the White House.

He is survived by his wife Susan, whom he married in 1977, and son, Ryan.

Source: NYdailyNews