Darrell “Dash” Crofts, one half of legendary soft-rock duo Seals & Crofts, has died at the age of 85.
A report from Rolling Stone confirmed that Crofts passed away this week following complications from heart surgery. The duo’s longtime producer, Louie Shelton, also confirmed the news in a Facebook post.
“Sad to hear our dear brother and partner in music has passed away today,” he wrote. “Sending love and prayers to all his family and many fans.”
In a statement, Crofts’ family celebrated “a man whose loving-kindness, remarkable compassion, beautiful and tender voice has uplifted so many hearts across the globe.”
The Texas duo went on to become synonymous with the soft-rock genre. While their signature song, 1972’s “Summer Breeze,” wasn’t an instant hit, its cultural impact has been immense, becoming a staple of the era. Other major hits included “Diamond Girl” and “We May Never Pass This Way (Again)”. Their 1975 Greatest Hits compilation sold over 2 million copies.
Born in Cisco, Texas, on August 14, 1940, Crofts met Seals in a local band before they both moved to California and joined the Champs. While neither played on the group’s 1958 instrumental hit “Tequila”, the sudden fame was a whirlwind.
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“The song took off and scared the shit out of all of us,” Crofts told Rolling Stone in 1971. “We were literally stars overnight.”
The duo officially formed Seals & Crofts in 1969. By then, Crofts had swapped his drum kit for a mandolin, a move that would become central to their unique sound. Their breakthrough came with their fourth album, Summer Breeze, which cemented their place as soft-rock royalty.
Both Crofts and Seals were devout followers of the Baháʼí faith, a religion that heavily influenced their lyrics and worldview, often centred on a message of global unity. That desire for unity, however, hit a wall in 1974 with the release of their highly controversial album, Unborn Child. The title track, reflecting their pro-life beliefs which stem from the Baháʼí tenet that life begins at conception, was written “to the mother and the baby, not to take this life so lightly,” according to Crofts in 1975.
The song was banned by numerous radio stations, and the album was slammed by critics, with Rolling Stone decrying its “dumb” lyrics. The backlash was severe and permanently stalled the duo’s commercial momentum.
Though they managed to bounce back with a final hit in 1976’s “Get Closer”, they never fully recovered from the controversy. After being dropped by Warner Bros. in 1980, the duo disbanded. They reunited briefly in 2004 for a final album, Traces. Seals passed away in 2022.
