Jimi Jamison, lead singer of Survivor, died on Sunday night from a heart attack. He was 63.
TMZ broke the news on Monday evening. Neither the official Jamison or Survivor sites or Facebook pages have posted the news.
Although born in Mississippi, he and his mother moved to Memphis the day after he was born and he considered that city his home. He learned how to sing and play guitar and piano at a young age and was already in a band in middle school.
Starting in the late 70’s, he fronted a number of bands including Target and Cobra along with doing studio work as a background vocalist for the likes of ZZ Top and Joe Walsh.
In 1984, after the breakup of Cobra, he joined Survivor who were already international stars based on their hit Eye of the Tiger. The lead singer for that hit, Dave Bickler, had suffered from vocal problems and was forced to leave the band, opening up the position for Jamison.
Survivor had a number of hits with Jamison in front including I Can’t Hold Back (1984 / #13), High On You (1985 / #8), The Search is Over (1985 / #4), Burning Heart (1985 / #2) and Is This Love (1986 / #9).
Late in the 80’s, the band’s success started to fade leading to the members going on an indefinite hiatus. Jamison began recording solo, including the 1991 album When Love Comes Down. It was that album, which didn’t chart, that kept him from accepting an offer to become the lead singer of Deep Purple when Ian Gillan was let go from the band. The record company forced him to pass on the offer to promote the new record.
Jamison would later write and sing I’m Always Here, the theme from the TV show Baywatch, and release another album under the name Jimi Jamison’s Survivor, Empires.
Survior reformed in 1993 but with Dave Bickler back on lead. When he was fired from the band in 2000, Jamison returned and stayed with the group for the next six years. After once again leaving in 2006, he rejoined in 2011 and, in 2013, Survivor became a two-lead band with the return of Bickler.
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