Singer for psychedelic band Love dies at 61

08/05/2006
He died on Thursday at the Methodist University Hospital after a battle with leukaemia.

Arthur Lee, singer and songwriter for the 1960s psychedelic band Love, died on Thursday at the Methodist University Hospital after a battle with leukaemia. He was 61.

Lee formed Love in Los Angeles, and the group was signed to the newly formed Elektra label to release their self-titled debut album in 1966.

The band's most well known album, Forever Changes, released in 1968, is considered a classic of the '60s rock era.

Lee was born in Memphis and had moved back early this year after spending most of his life in Los Angeles. He was diagnosed with leukaemia in February and received a rare umbilical cord blood transplant in May. He had not left the hospital since the transplant, said Ruth Ann Hale, hospital spokeswoman.

"His death comes as a shock to me because Arthur had the uncanny ability to bounce back from everything, and leukaemia was no exception," said Mark Linn, Lee's manager.

Before his diagnosis, Lee was performing original Love songs in Europe and the United States, backed by the local L.A. group, Baby Lemonade.