Kenny Rankin Dies Of Lung Cancer

Kenny Rankin, the singer-songwriter behind
"Peaceful"(for Helen Reddy), died Sunday of
lung cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in
L.A., he was 69.

More than five decades of glorious career, he
played part of Bob Dylan's back up band
responsible for the 1965 "Bringing It All Back Home"
album. Kenny Rankin's recording years peaked
in the mid-'70s, when LPs "Inside," "Silver Morning,"
and "The Kenny Rankin Album" was released.

His covers of the Beatles hits pleased Paul McCartney
that he ask Rankin to do a medley of them during
McCartney's Songwriters Hall of Fame induction in
1987.

Kenny Rankin was born Feb.10, 1940, he grew up
in New York City. As a teenager he released a few
singles under Decca Records. He later joined Columbia
Records.