Bobby Caldwell dead at 71: What You Won't Do for Love singer dies after battle with illness left him unable to walk | The Sun
SINGER Bobby Caldwell, who composed the double-platinum record What You Won't Do for Love, has died at age 71.
Caldwell died in his sleep at his home in New Jersey on Tuesday evening after battling an illness for several years, a representative for the songwriter told TMZ.
Caldwell's wife, Mary, issued a statement on his passing via the singer's Twitter account: "Bobby passed away here at home. I held him tight in my arms as he left us.
"I am forever heartbroken. Thanks to all of you for your many prayers over the years. He had been 'FLOXED,' it took his health over the last 6 years and 2 months. Rest with God, my Love. -Mary Caldwell."
Floxed means your body has suffered from "mitochondrial damage and oxidative stress due to an adverse effect from a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, according to Regenerative Medicine LA.
"The term floxed in many can feel like a bomb going off in their body with new symptoms appearing daily for the first 90 days," the treatment center added.
Caldwell had been unable to walk for the past five years as he struggled with neuropathy and a ruptured tendon in his ankle, according to TMZ.
His team revealed last year that the singer had a bad reaction to a prescribed antibiotic in 2017 that caused his Achilles tendon to rupture, eventually leading to the neuropathy diagnosis.
Known for his soulful and versatile vocals, the singer was born Robert Hunter Caldwell in New York City and grew up in Miami listening to jazz icons Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.
Bouncing around from Las Vegas and Los Angeles with aspirations to make it big, Caldwell got his first career break as a rhythm guitarist for Little Richard in the early 1970s.
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He and his band, Katmandu, left Little Richard in the mid-1970s, and that's when Caldwell went solo.
By 1978, he signed his first deal with TK Records after spending six years playing at local bars in the Los Angeles area.
His global hit, What You Won't Do for Love, was released on his self-titled debut album and reached the top 10 on Billboard.
The song has been covered, remade and sampled by several artists over the years, including Boys II Men, Tupac Shakur, Go West, Phyllis Hyman, and Snoh Aalegra, among others.
American Idol contestant Elliott Yamin covered the song during the show's fifth season in 2006.
His track My Flame, featured in his debut album, was sampled by rapper The Notorious BIG in the song Sky's the Limit, featuring R&B group 112.
In the mid-1990s, Caldwell turned from R&B to composing music for other artists, including Neil Diamond, Al Jarreau, Roberta Flack, and Boz Scaggs.
He also composed the 1986 song The Next Time I Fall for Amy Grant and Peter Cetera, which topped the charts at number one during a 21-ween run on the Billboard Hot 100.
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