Dan Peek, founder of rock band America, died Sunday; performance of Ventura Highway

Run time: 03:39 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I0d29s6GCc   Posted on YouTube: September 21, 2008 By YouTube Member: oldfriend57 Views on YouTube: 781996   Posted on DU: July 27, 2011 By DU Member: alp227 Views on DU: 809

 
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R.I.P. Dan Peek

Peek, who died on Sunday, founded the band in the late 1960s with bandmates Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell while they attended high school together in London, where their fathers were stationed with the United States Air Force.

America's self-titled debut album, which featured "A Horse with No Name," shot to the top of the charts in 1972. The group won a Grammy for best new artist that year, and enjoyed a string of other popular hits including "Ventura Highway" and "Lonely People."

"We created lasting music together and experienced a life that we could never have imagined," wrote America co-founder and bandmate Dewey Bunnell on the band's website. "This news brings me great sadness. My sincere condolences go out to his wife, Catherine, and the entire Peek family. May Dan rest in peace, and his memory be cherished forever."

Neil Portnow, chief executive of The Recording Academy which gives out music's highest awards, the Grammys, called Peek "a dynamic individual and great talent."http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/26/us-danpeek-idUSTRE76P7KZ20110726