Jay Black, lead singer of pop group The Americans, dies at 82

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Jay Black, lead singer of the rock group Jay and the Americans, pictured circa 1965, has died at age 82.





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Together Jay and the Americans recorded major hits including «Come a Little Bit Closer,» «Only in America,» «Cara Mia,» all featuring Black’s honeyed vibrato. Beyond his signature voice, Black was often known as much for his sense of humor on and off-stage. «The first clubs we played,» Black told The New York Times in 1994, «if you were good, they let you live. But I had this special talent. I could make people laugh.»

After the group disbanded in 1973, Black would go on to pursue a solo career, and continued to perform until 2017. He had to give up performing under the Jay and the Americans band name when he was taken to bankruptcy court in 2006, leaving the group free to reform with a new singer, but he was free to perform under the name Jay Black. «That’s my legacy,» he said in 2006. «It’s what I leave behind when I’m gone.»