Ray Sawyer of Dr Hook performs live in Amsterdam in October 1973. Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns

Ray Sawyer, American singer, vocalist and original member of, Dr Hook, has passed away at the age of 81, following a brief illness. 

Sawyer was primarily a backing vocalist and percussionist for the group but sang lead vocals on their most iconic song, "The Cover of Rolling Stone". His eyepatch and cowboy hat were no mere fashion statement - after he lost his eye in a car accident years earlier, he embraced the change in style. Crediting the life-altering experience to a renewed dedication to music, he created a unique and recognisable branding that undeniably fortified Dr Hook’s memorability.

"I must have played all the clubs from Houston to Charleston until I decided I was going insane from too much beans and music, and I gave it up. I saw a John Wayne movie and proceeded to Portland, Oregon, to be a logger complete with plaid shirt, caulk boots, and pike pole. On the way my car slipped on the road and the accident left me with the eye patch I now wear. When I recovered, I ran straight back to the beans and music and vowed, ‘here I'll stay'." – Ray Sawyer

Best known for singing lead vocals on 1972’s, “The Cover Of Rolling Stone”, Sawyer also enjoyed success other hit Dr Hook songs such as, “Only Sixteen”, “A Little Bit More” and “When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman”.

“Sylvia's Mother” was an early single for Dr Hook that earned them their first global hit, reaching #1 in Australia, US, Ireland, New Zealand in South Africa.

The band again cracked the top ten of the Australian music charts in 1975 with “The Millionaire” (#8), followed by “Walk Right” in 1977. 

Dr Hook frontman, Dennis Locorriere still tours and performs the group's hit songs, last playing in Australia in 2015. In a statement to Rolling Stone, Locorriere said, 

“Although I hadn’t been in contact with Ray for many, many years it does not erase the fact that we were once close friends and shared an important time in both our lives. Deep condolences go out to his family at what must be a difficult time.”