San Francisco singer Scott McKenzie dies aged 73

Published on 21/08/2012 00:57

LEGENDARY 1960s singer Scott McKenzie, best known for the 1967 Summer of Love hit San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair), has died at the age of 73.

A statement on McKenzie’s website says he died in Los Angeles on Saturday.

McKenzie suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disease which affects the nervous system, and had been in and out of hospital since 2010.

San Francisco was written by John Phillips, leader of the 1960s group The Mamas And The Papas, but McKenzie recorded it and it has stood as an anthem for the 1960s counterculture movement.

He ‘dropped out’ of mainstream living in the 1960s but had something of a resurgence in the 1980s, re-emerging as an entertainer.

McKenzie also co-wrote Kokomo, a number one hit for The Beach Boys in 1988, and toured with The Mamas And The Papas in the 1990s.