Gary DeCarlo, who recorded the hit “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” with the band Steam, has died at the age of 75.
The Steam singer suffered from lung cancer and died in hospice care in Connecticut with his wife by his side, TMZ reported.
DeCarlo and former bandmates wrote the famous song, and DeCarlo and Paul Leka recorded it as “Kiss Him Goodbye” for Mercury Records as a B-side to the single “Sweet Laura Lee,” according to Rolling Stone.
The song became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 late in 1969, but the band dissolved soon afterward because DeCarlo didn’t like them using lip syncing and fake images of the band to promote the record, Rolling Stone reported.
After being a hit in its own time, the song has been widely used in movies and at sporting events. The song was even sung in Congress recently after the House Obamacare repeal was passed.
Bands including the Supremes, Bananarama, and the Nylons covered the song, with the song in all its forms selling 6.5 million copies.
Twitter users described DeCarlo as a “sweet guy” and offered condolences.
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