Jon Lind, who wrote hits for Madonna, Vanessa Williams and Earth, Wind & Fire, died Saturday after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 73.
Lind’s death was confirmed by his attorney, Jeremy Rosen, Variety reported.
Primary Wave acquired a majority of Lind’s music catalog last year, the website reported. It included such songs as “Crazy for You” in 1985 by Madonna (which he co-wrote with John Bettis) and “Save the Best for Last” in 1992 by Williams (co-written with Wendy Waldman and Phil Galdston), which both reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. “Save the Best for Last” was also named ASCAP’s Song of the Year in 1992, Variety reported.
Jon Lind, A&R Exec and Writer of Hits for Earth, Wind & Fire, Madonna and Others, Dies at 73 https://t.co/zJP72fwDt1
— Variety (@Variety) January 16, 2022
Williams also wrote “Boogie Wonderland” in 1979 and “Sun Goddess” in 1974, both of which were performed by Earth, Wind & Fire, according to the website.
Lind also co-wrote hits for Cher (”Skin Deep” and “Kiss to Kiss”), Aaron Neville, Atlantic Starr, Cheap Trick (”No Mercy”), the Emotions, Deniece Williams and Rick Astley.
Lind also headed the A&R division for Hollywood Records, where he worked with Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and Jesse McCartney, Variety reported.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Lind was a folksinger during the late 1960s, opening for artists such as Judy Collins, Tom Paxton and Harry Chapin when he was a teenager, according to the website.
Bob Cavallo, who managed Lind when he was with the Fifth Avenue Band, convinced the young performer during the 1970s to become a songwriter. Cavallo later managed Earth, Wind & Fire and Prince.
“I was in the waiting room in Bob Cavallo’s office, strumming my guitar, playing a new ‘fragment’ of music I’d written,” Lind told Songwriter Universe in 2012. “(Earth, Wind & Fire leader) Maurice White popped his head in and said, ‘What is that?’ He suggested I ‘lay it down’, and get it to him. I did so, and over the next three months and he turned it into ‘Sun Goddess.’”
The song was covered by Ramsey Lewis and later by Earth Wind & Fire, Variety reported.
Cavallo later hired Lind at Hollywood Records.
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