Sonny Curtis, the rock pioneer who wrote “I Fought the Law” and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Crickets in 2012, has died. He was 88.
Curtis died Friday after suddenly falling ill, his family confirmed Saturday on Facebook.
“I’m heartbroken to tell you that my dad Sonny passed away yesterday after a sudden illness. I’m so grateful that I was with him at the end, along with my mom. It was peaceful and he didn’t suffer,” wrote his son, also named Sonny.
“He was 88 and he lived a more exceptional life than anyone I’d ever met. He made a mark on this world, and he made a mark on the hearts of all who knew him. It’s a sad day, but what a life. May we look at his life with joy rather than sadness. He would have wanted that.”
Curtis penned hundreds of songs in his lifetime, including the theme for the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” and the Everly Brothers’ hit “Walk Right Back.”
He grew up with Buddy Holly in Texas, where the pair took up music and formed a rock group together. Curtis began writing songs early, and by age 20 had penned Holly’s “Rock Around With Ollie Vee.”
Curtis departed the Crickets before the band found major success, but came back to the band after Holly’s unexpected death in 1959.
“Buddy had black hair, but he had dyed it blonde, and it was growing out. And he reminded me of a black-and-tan coon hound. We sorta skipped all the niceties and got our guitars and started playing,” he told CBS News of his friend in 2022.
Of Holly’s death at 22, Curtis added, “Can you imagine the amount of music he pumped into the system in a short period of, like, 18 months? No telling how much he would’ve contributed had he been around.”
Curtis also said he wrote “I Fought the Law” in 20 minutes, though it took several years for he song to achieve major success, when The Clash covered the tune in 1966.
Four years later Curtis received a phone call from a friend who had heard about a new show being put together for Mary Tyler Moore. He penned the show’s now-iconic theme based on a four-page show synopsis.
His career also included solo releases and he enjoyed a top 20 country hit with 1981’s “Good Ol’ Girls.”
Sonny Curtis was born on May 9, 1937, in Meadow Texas. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in the 1970s with his family. Curtis was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991 with the Crickets and into Nashville’s Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007.
He is survived by his wife, Louise.
