LOS ANGELES, (MILLAT/APP/AFP) – Al Jarreau, the affable jazz
singing great who reached new audiences by seamlessly merging styles and through television, died Sunday days after announcing his retirement.He was 76.
The seven-time Grammy winner — a rare artist to win in jazz, pop and
R&B categories — died in a Los Angeles hospital where he had been treated for fatigue, his manager said.
Jarreau, who grew up in Milwaukee, where he heard his parents play music in church, is best known for the singles “We’re in This Love Together” and “After All.”
Many also heard his voice, even if they did not know it, in the theme to “Moonlighting,” the hit 1980s television series that brought Bruce Willis to prominence.
Jarreau’s other notable appearances included a prominent role on “We Are the World,” the 1985 song by a mega-cast of music A-listers to raise money for famine-ravaged Ethiopia.
In a tribute, his manager Joe Gordon described Jarreau as the ultimate gentleman who never stopped appreciating his listeners or the myriad people who worked for him directly or indirectly.