Dan Peek, founding member of America dead at 60

Dan Peek, a founding member of the chart-topping '70s soft-rock act America, died of unknown causes July 24. He was 60.
A post on Peek's official Web site acknowledged his passing, but offered no details.

Born in Panama City, FL, Peek co-founded America in 1970 with Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell; the three musicians met at the U.S. Air Force base in West Ruislip, London, where their fathers were all stationed.


The trio favored the close-harmony vocal style that had launched Crosby, Stills & Nash as the top pop act of the day. Signed to Warner Bros. in the U.K., the act's debut LP went nowhere until a new track, "A Horse With No Name" became a No. 1 international hit in 1972. America's self-titled album also reached the apex of the chart and was quickly certified platinum in the U.S. In 1973, the group received the Grammy Award as best new artist.

Peek was a member of America through 1977, appearing on the group's first seven studio albums...

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Burned out after years of drug use, Peek left America after the release of "Harbor" in early 1977 and turned to Christianity. In 1979 he recorded the single "All Things Are Possible" for Pat Boone's Lamb & Lion Records; it topped the contemporary Christian chart and rose to No. 78 on the pop chart.

Peek's contemporary Christian recordings -- which included a 1986 rewrite of "Lonely People" -- remained popular through the late '80s. Though he never reunited with America, which continued as a duo after his exit, Gerry Beckley contributed background vocals to Peek's 1984 single "Doer of the Word." He released his last album, "All American Boy," digitally in 2007.

Peek published an autobiography, "An American Band," in 2004, and "Our Day in the Sun," a collaboration with wife Catherine, in 2011.