Allen Toussaint dies of heart attack
Legendary New Orleans musician Allen Toussaint, who racked up hits as a behind-the-scenes songwriter and producer before he gained new fame as a performer, died Tuesday, not long after a performance in Spain. He was 77.
Rescue workers were called to Toussaint’s hotel in Madrid early Tuesday morning after he suffered a heart attack.
They revived him, but Toussaint stopped breathing during the ambulance ride to a hospital and did not recover.
“He was a legend in the music world,” said Quint Davis, who produces the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Born in New Orleans’ working class Gert Town neighbourhood, Toussaint went on to become one of the city’s most legendary and celebrated performers and personalities.
In the beginning Toussaint was known mostly as an R&B songwriter and producer. He worked with such luminaries as Lee Dorsey, Art and Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, the Meters, Joe Cocker and Ernie KDoe.
In 1973, with fellow songwriter Marshall Sehorn, he established his own recording studio, Sea-Saint Studio.
There, he worked with a succession of musicians including Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, Patti LaBelle, Cocker and Elvis Costello.
Toussaint had numerous hits to his name. He penned the 1966 Lee Dorsey classic “Working in the Coal Mine” and produced Dr. John’s 1973 hit “Right Place, Wrong Time” and 1975’s “Lady Marmalade” by the vocal trio Labelle.
He eventually began performing more and producing his own albums in the 1970s.
In recent years he appeared on the HBO series Treme.
Toussaint is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. In 2013 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by U.S. President Barack Obama.