Darrell 'Dash' Crofts, singer and mandolin player in the soft-rock duo Seals and Crofts, died on March 25 following complications from heart surgery. He was 85. Producer Louie Shelton confirmed the death on Facebook.
Darrell “Dash” Crofts, born August 14, 1940, in Cisco, Texas, alongside twin sister Dorothy, began his music career as a drummer. He met Jim Seals in the local band the Crew Cats and later joined the Champs, whose 1958 instrumental hit “Tequila” propelled them to fame, though Crofts did not play on the track. “The song took off and scared the shit out of all of us,” Crofts recalled in a 1971 Rolling Stone interview. “We were literally stars overnight. ... But God, it was a hard life. Hard in every way. We were constantly on the road in a bus.” The pair briefly joined the Dawnbreakers before forming Seals and Crofts in 1969, with Crofts switching to mandolin. Their manager Marsha Day introduced them to the Baháʼí faith in the mid-1960s, which influenced their music and public statements. “Unity. Unification of the planet. That’s the only goal I see in mind,” Crofts said in 1973. Early albums like their 1969 self-titled debut, 1970’s Down Home, and 1971’s Year of Sunday saw mild success. Breakthrough came with 1972’s Summer Breeze, whose title track peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Hits followed, including “Diamond Girl” and “We May Never Pass This Way (Again).” Their 1975 Greatest Hits sold over 2 million copies. The 1974 pro-life song “Unborn Child” drew controversy and radio bans. After 1980’s The Longest Road, Warner Bros dropped them. They reunited for 2004’s Traces. Seals suffered a stroke in 2017 and died in 2022. Shelton wrote, “Sad to hear our dear brother and partner in music has passed away today. Sending love and prayers to all his family and many fans.” A family statement read, “With sorrow and gratitude, we mourn a man whose loving-kindness, remarkable compassion, beautiful and tender voice has uplifted so many hearts across the globe.”
