Charles Negron (born June 8, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter, best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the rock band Three Dog Night, which he helped to form in 1968.
Biography
Charles Negron was born on June 8, 1942 in Manhattan, New York to Carlos Negron (a native of Corozal, Puerto Rico) and a British mother. At 5 years old, his father, a nightclub singer, and his mother divorced. Negron and his twin sister, Nancy, were placed in an orphanage by their mother. Two years later she took them back.
Negron grew up in The Bronx, where he sang in local doo-wop groups and played basketball both in schoolyard pick-up games and at William Howard Taft High School. The latter talent led to his being recruited to play basketball at Allan Hancock College, a small community college in Santa Maria, California; later, he played at California State University, Los Angeles.
Career
Music
In 1967, singer Danny Hutton, invited Negron to join him and Cory Wells; they founded the band Three Dog Night. The group became one of the most successful bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s, having sold approximately 60 million records and earned gold records for such songs as "One", "Easy to be Hard", and "Joy to the World".
The rock and roll lifestyle took its toll on Negron, and by the time Three Dog Night disbanded in 1976, Negron had a serious heroin addiction which began in the early 1970s. In July 1975, the British music magazine, NME, reported that Negron had been arrested for cocaine possession in Kentucky. He overcame his addiction in September 1991 and embarked on a solo career, recording the albums:
- Am I Still In Your Heart? (1995)
- Joy to the World (1996), a Christmas CD
- Long Road Back (1999)
- Chuck Negron â€" Live In Concert (2001), a double CD set, recorded at Southern Methodist University (Dallas) and released on Sindrome Records, with sidemen Richard Campbell on bass guitar, Danny Mishkit on guitar, keyboards and saxophone, Frank Reina on drums and Terence Elliott on lead guitar
- Live and In Concert (2005)
- The Chuck Negron Story (2005)
Book
He also wrote his autobiography, Three Dog Nightmare (1999). In the book, Negron attributes his recovery from heroin addiction to his turning to God in desperation, after dropping out from more than 30 drug treatment facilities.
Personal life
In 2006, Negron was featured in an episode of the A&E reality show, Intervention, about his son Chuckie and grandson Noah Bryan Negron.
Negron has been married three times.He was married to Paula Louise Ann Goetten from 1970-73. In 1976, Negron married Patricia Julia Brose Densmore, the former wife of The Doors drummer John Densmore. They divorced in 1985 having had one child. In 1993, Negron married his current wife, Robin Silna. Negron has a stepson, Berry Oakley, Jr., and three daughters: Annabelle Negron, with actress Kate Vernon; and Shaunti Ann Negron and Charlotte Rose Negron. Taylor Negron (an actor, comedian, painter, and playwright) was Negron's cousin.
References
Sources
- Negron, Chuck; Chris Blatchford (2000). Three Dog Nightmare: The Chuck Negron Story. Renaissance Books. 158063155X.Â
External links
- Official website
- Chuck Negron at AllMusic
- Chuck Negron discography at Discogs
