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Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experiments, a return to the Great American Songbook, and fusions of Caribbean sounds. Nilsson was one of the few major pop-rock recording artists to achieve significant commercial success without performing major public concerts or touring regularly. Born in Brooklyn, Nilsson moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to escape his family's poor financial situation. While working as a computer programmer at a bank, he grew interested in musical composition and close-harmony singing and was successful in having some of his songs recorded by various artists, such as the Monkees. In 1967, he debuted on RCA Victor with the LP Pandemonium Shadow Show, followed by a variety of releases that included a collaboration with Randy Newman (Nilsson Sings Newman, 1970) and the original children's story The Point! (1971). He created the first remix album, Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, in 1971, and recorded the first mashup song ("You Can't Do That”) in 1967. His most commercially successful album, Nilsson Schmilsson (1971), produced the international top 10 singles "Without You" and "Coconut". His other top 10 hit, "Everybody's Talkin'" (1968), was featured prominently in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. A version of Nilsson's "One", released by Three Dog Night in 1969, also reached the U.S. top 10. During a 1968 press conference, The Beatles were asked what their favorite American group was and answered "Nilsson". Sometimes called "the American Beatle", he soon formed close friendships with John Lennon and Ringo Starr, joining them in the Hollywood Vampires drinking club. He and Lennon produced one collaborative album, Pussy Cats (1974). After 1977, Nilsson left RCA, and his record output diminished. In response to Lennon's 1980 murder, he took a hiatus from the music industry to campaign for gun control. For the rest of his life, he recorded only sporadically. In 1994, Nilsson died of a heart attack while in the midst of recording what became his last album, Losst and Founnd (2019). The craft of Nilsson's songs and the defiant attitude he projected remain touchstones for later generations of indie rock musicians. Nilsson was voted No. 62 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time", where he was described as "a pioneer of the Los Angeles studio sound" and "a crucial bridge" between 1960s psychedelia and the 1970s singer-songwriter era. The RIAA certified Nilsson Schmilsson and Son of Schmilsson (1972) as gold records, indicating over 500,000 units sold each. He earned two Grammy Awards (for "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Without You"). Early life Nilsson was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, on June 15, 1941. His paternal great-grandfather, a Swede who later emigrated to and became naturalized in the United States, created an act known as an "aerial ballet" (which is the title of one of Nilsson's albums). His mother, Elizabeth (née Martin) Nilsson, was known as "Bette" to the family. She was born in 1920 in New York to Charles Augustus Martin and Florence Madeline (née Stotz) Martin. Bette had a brother, John, and a sister, Mary. Her parents were the cornerstones of her son's young life. While his maternal grandmother played piano, his maternal grandfather, Charlie Martin, supported the family in a tiny railroad apartment on Jefferson Avenue in Brooklyn. His father, Harry Edward Nilsson Jr., abandoned the family when Harry was three years old. An autobiographical reference to this is found in the opening to Nilsson's song "1941": Nilsson's "Daddy's Song" also refers to this period in Nilsson's childhood. He grew up with his mother and a younger half-sister. His younger brother, Drake Nilsson, was left with family or friends during their moves between Southern California and New York, sometimes living with a succession of relatives and his stepfather. His uncle, a mechanic in San Bernardino, California, helped Nilsson improve his vocal and musical abilities. In addition to his half-brother and a half-sister through his mother, he also had three half-sisters and one half-brother through his father. Due to his family's poor financial situation, Nilsson worked from an early age, including a job at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles. When the cinema closed in 1960, he applied for a job at a bank, falsely claiming he was a high school graduate on his application (he completed through ninth grade). He had an aptitude for computers, which were starting to be used at banks at the time. He later performed so well in his role, the bank retained him even after they discovered he had lied about his education. He worked on bank computers at night and, in the daytime, pursued his songwriting and singing careers. Career 1962–1966: Musicianship beginnings By 1958, Nilsson was intrigued by emerging forms of popular music, especially rhythm and blues artists like Ray Charles. He had made early attempts at performing while he was working at the Paramount, forming a vocal duo with his friend Jerry Smith and singing close harmonies in the style of the Everly Brothers. The manager of a hangout Nilsson frequented gave him a plastic ukulele, which he learned to play, and he later learned to play the guitar and piano. In the 2006 documentary Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?, Nilsson recalled that when he could not remember lyrics or parts of the melodies to popular songs, he created his own, which led to writing original songs. His uncle's singing lessons, along with Nilsson's natural talent, helped him when he got a job singing demos for songwriter Scott Turner in 1962. Turner paid Nilsson five dollars for each track they recorded. (When Nilsson became famous, Turner decided to release these early recordings, and contacted Nilsson to work out a fair payment. Nilsson replied that he had already been paid – five dollars a track.) In 1963, Nilsson began to have some early success as a songwriter, working with John Marascalco on a song for Little Richard. Upon hearing Nilsson sing, Little Richard reportedly remarked: "My! You sing good for a white boy!" Marascalco also financed some independent singles by Nilsson. One, "Baa Baa Blacksheep", was released under the pseudonym "Bo Pete" to some small local airplay. Another recording, "Donna, I Understand", convinced Mercury Records to offer Nilsson a contract, and release recordings by him under the name "Johnny Niles". By 1964, Nilsson worked with Phil Spector, writing three songs with him. He also established a relationship with songwriter and publisher Perry Botkin Jr., who began to find a market for Nilsson's songs. Botkin also gave Nilsson a key to his office, providing another place to write after hours. Through his association with Botkin, Nilsson met.... Discover the Harry Woods George Brown popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Harry Woods George Brown books.