Trini López, the singer and guitarist who in the 1960s had hits with the songs "If I Had a Hammer" and "Lemon Tree" and appeared in the classic war movie The Dirty Dozen, has died. He was 83. (Rolling Stone - Billboard)
López died Tuesday of complications from COVID-19 in a hospital in Palm Springs, songwriting and business partner Joe Chavira told The Hollywood Reporter.
The news was confirmed to THR via Lopez’s songwriting and business partner Joe Chavira. The pair had recently finished a song called “If By Now,” which was intended to benefit food banks during the pandemic. “And here he is dying of something he was trying to fight,” Chavira told the Associated Press.
Born Trinidad Lopez III in Dallas, Texas to parents who were from Mexico, Lopez began his music career at the age of 15, when he formed his first band. One of his groups, The Big Beats, signed to Columbia, before he struck out on his own as a solo artist and he signed to King Records in the late Fifties. After releasing several singles that failed to chart, he left the label and soon after began a residency at Los Angeles club PJ’s. Frank Sinatra caught Lopez performing during his residency and in 1963, Sinatra signed Lopez to Reprise Records.
His rendition of "Lemon Tree," written by Will Holt, reached No. 20 in 1965, and his other popular tunes included "Kansas City," "Michael," "I'm Comin' Home, Cindy," "Sally Was a Good Old Girl" and a traditional Mexican version of "La Bamba."
At age 15, López formed his first band out of Wichita Falls, Texas. He and the Big Beats then landed a contract with Columbia Records.
