Songwriter Ellie Greenwich Passes Away

Influential songwriter Ellie Greenwich passed away today from a heart attack while being treated for pneumonia in a New York hospital. She was 68.

Greenwich’s song credits include many huge hits from the 1960s including “Chapel of Love,” “Leader of the Pack,” “Da Doo Ron Ron” and the holiday classic “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”

In 1968 Greenwich released her own album, Ellie Greenwich Composes, Produces and Sings, and in 1991 she was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. Greenwich was also influential in the early career of Neil Diamond and sang backup for Frank Sinatra. The Broadway musical Leader of the Pack, which debuted in 1985, was based on her life and featured many of the popular songs she helped to create.

Greenwich’s family has asked for any donations in her honor to be made to VH1’s Save the Music Foundation.

-Kristen Callihan
currently listening to "Golden Age" by TV on the Radio

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