Gospel singer Edwin Hawkins, best known for his 1969 twist on the 18th century hymn “Oh Happy Day,” died Monday at his home in California. He was 74.
His publicist said Hawkins had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
Hawkins grew up in California in a musical family – his father played the Hawaiian steel guitar, his mother played piano – and started singing in churches when he was a teenager.
In 1967, the Edwin Hawkins Singers recorded an arrangement of “Oh Happy Day” in the Ephesian Church of God in Christ in Berkeley. Two years later, it became a crossover hit and earned a Grammy for Best Soul Gospel Performance.
Ex-Beatle George Harrison once said Hawkins’ version of the song inspired his hit “My Sweet Lord.”
Hawkins would go on to win three more Grammys during his career. He also became a preacher.
The singer’s brother Walter, who won a Grammy in 1981, died of pancreatic cancer in 2010.