Dan Mccafferty, Nazareth Lead Vocalist, Dies At 76

Nazareth frontman Dan McCafferty, whose voice was heard on such classics as “Love Hurts” and “Hair of the Dog,” passed away on Tuesday, November 8 from unnamed causes. He was 76.

Pete Agnew, bassist for Nazareth, shared the sad news of McCafferty’s passing on Instagram. It’s the worst news I’ve ever had to deliver,” Agnew wrote. I’ve lost my dearest buddy, and the world has lost one of the greatest singers of all time; Maryann and the family have lost a wonderful, loving husband and father. I’m too sad to say anything else right now.”

Like Agnew, guitarist Manny Charlton, and drummer Darrell Sweet, McCafferty helped found Nazareth in 1968 in Dunfermline, Scotland. Following the success of their third album, Razamanaz, which was released in 1973 to widespread acclaim in the United Kingdom, the band issued Loud and Proud the following year. Nazareth’s “Love Hurts,” from their 1975 album Hair of the Dog, reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, despite the fact that the albums themselves are relatively unknown in the United States.

The Everly Brothers initially recorded “Love Hurts” in 1960, but the new cover updated the song for the modern generation and made it a staple of such series as King of the Hill and That ’70s Show as well as a moment in the 1993 film Dazed and Confused.

Both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones impacted the band’s sound. McCafferty, who has been battling COPD for some time, called it quits on the road in 2013 owing to health issues. In 2019, he completed his final studio album, The Last Testament.