Daryl Dragon

Best known as one half of the 1970s pop duo The Captain and Tennille, musician Daryl Dragon was born in Los Angeles in 1942. His mother was a singer and his father was an arranger and soundtrack composer, leading the young Dragon and his brothers to take a keen interest in music early on, forming the instrumental jazz group The Dragons in the early '60s and even releasing the single "Elephant Stomp"/"Troll" on Capitol Records in 1964. Dragon's greatest strength was on the piano, and by 1967 he was playing as a touring keyboardist with the Beach Boys-where he earned the nickname Captain Keyboard from frontman Mike Love. Eventually, he auditioned to play piano for an ecology-themed musical titled "Mother Earth," where he met a talented singer named Toni Tennille. The two formed both a romantic and creative bond, and began playing in the Los Angeles area under the name Captain and Tennille. In 1973, A&M Records signed the pair and released their first single, "The Way I Want to Touch You." They married two years later, just in time for the release of their hit debut album, Love Will Keep Us Together. The record was a massive hit, and they followed it with 1976's Song of Joy, which proved to be another success. Next came 1977's Come in from the Rain, 1978's Dream, and 1980's Keeping Our Love Warm. By the 1980s, Captain and Tennille's popularity waned, and the pair scaled back their musical endeavors, with Tennille focusing on solo projects and Dragon occasionally contributing keyboards or synthesizers to works from bands like The Carpenters and Size 14. Dragon and Tennille's marriage ended in divorce in 2014, but the two remained close friends. Tennille was present when Dragon died in 2019 of renal failure. He was 76 years old.