Dennis
Locorriere
Dennis Michael Locorriere was the unmistakable voice of Dr. Hook, the country-rock band whose warm, wry, sometimes gravelly songs travelled out of every transistor radio in the 1970s and never really...
Dennis remembered.
Dennis Michael Locorriere was the unmistakable voice of Dr. Hook, the country-rock band whose warm, wry, sometimes gravelly songs travelled out of every transistor radio in the 1970s and never really stopped. Born in Union City, New Jersey on 13 June 1949, he grew up across the river from New York City, learning to love singers like Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole, and Dinah Washington from the records his mother played and the late-night radio he hid beneath his pillow.
In 1968 he began performing in earnest, and in 1971 he co-founded Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show with Ray Sawyer, Billy Francis, and George Cummings — a ramshackle, big-hearted group that quickly found its voice through Dennis's. The following year, Shel Silverstein's "Sylvia's Mother" climbed to number five on the Billboard Hot 100, his desperate telephone plea turning a small song into the band's first signature hit. "The Cover of the Rolling Stone" followed in 1973, and by the end of the decade he had given the world "Sharing the Night Together," "Only Sixteen," "Sexy Eyes," and "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" — songs that earned the band more than sixty gold and platinum singles and number-one status in over forty countries.
Behind the hits sat a quieter craftsman. Dennis's songs were recorded by Bob Dylan, Crystal Gayle, BJ Thomas, Helen Reddy, Willie Nelson, Olivia Newton-John, and Jerry Lee Lewis. After Dr. Hook's first chapter closed, he built a solo life across three studio albums — Out of the Dark (2000), One of the Lucky Ones (2005), and Post Cool (2010) — and a steady run of live recordings that kept his audience close. In 2018, his adopted hometown honoured him with a place on the Brighton Music Walk of Fame.
He spent his last twenty-four years in Sussex, England, married, settled, and still recording. On 16 May 2026, after a long and courageous battle with kidney disease, Dennis passed away peacefully surrounded by his loved ones. He was 76. He leaves behind a son, Jessejames, a body of work spanning nearly six decades and more than eighteen albums, and a voice that, for anyone who heard it, will keep coming back on the radio.
A life in moments.
Born in Union City, New Jersey
Dennis Michael Locorriere is born in Union City, New Jersey, just across the Hudson from New York City. His mother Ruth's record collection — Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Chet Baker — and a transistor radio hidden under his pillow shape his musical ear from the start.
Co-founds Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show
Dennis co-founds Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show with Ray Sawyer, Billy Francis, and George Cummings — friends he had first met in the bars of Union City and New York. The band's self-titled debut is released the same year, with Dennis on lead vocals, guitar, bass, and harmonica.
"Sylvia's Mother" becomes the band's first hit
Shel Silverstein's "Sylvia's Mother," sung in Dennis's aching, almost-cracking voice, climbs to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 — the band's first Top 10 hit and the song that introduces the world to Dennis as a storyteller in song.
"The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" hits the Top 10
"The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" reaches number six on the Billboard Hot 100 — and in the song's perfect punchline, Rolling Stone magazine actually puts the band on its cover. Dennis's gravelly delivery turns Silverstein's satire into one of the decade's defining rock jokes.
"When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" goes global
"When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" tops charts around the world — number one in the UK and across much of Europe, a Top 10 hit in the US. With "Sharing the Night Together," "Only Sixteen," and "Sexy Eyes," Dennis becomes one of the most recognisable voices on late-1970s radio.
Performs at Lincoln Center in Shel Silverstein's <em>The Devil and Billy Markham</em>
Dennis performs in Shel Silverstein's <em>The Devil and Billy Markham</em> at Lincoln Center, New York, directed by Gregory Mosher — a one-man theatrical poem that reunites him with the songwriter who first shaped his career.
Releases solo debut <em>Out of the Dark</em>
Decades after Dr. Hook, Dennis releases his first solo album, <em>Out of the Dark</em>, on Track Records — the first chapter of a quieter, more personal phase that includes <em>One of the Lucky Ones</em> (2005) and <em>Post Cool</em> (2010).
Makes Sussex, England his home
After years of touring there, Dennis settles in Sussex, England with his wife. He will spend the last 24 years of his life in the UK, recording, touring, and remaining a beloved figure to British audiences who never let Dr. Hook fade from the airwaves.
Dr. Hook's <em>Timeless</em> reaches the UK Top 20
A new compilation, <em>Timeless</em>, gathers 40 of the band's hits, love songs, and lesser-known gems and climbs to number 11 on the UK album chart — more than four decades after the debut, proof that Dennis's voice and the catalogue he built had quietly never gone away.
Inducted into the Brighton Music Walk of Fame
Dennis is inducted into the Brighton Music Walk of Fame, his adopted hometown's tribute to the artists who shaped its musical identity — a fitting recognition for a New Jersey kid who had become a part of the British seaside.
Passes away at age 76 in Sussex, England
After a long and courageous battle with kidney disease, Dennis passes away peacefully at the age of 76, surrounded by his loved ones. His management remembers him as someone who "faced his illness with remarkable strength, dignity, and resilience throughout, and remained deeply cherished by all who knew him."
The people they loved,
and the people who loved them.
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For the record.
- Born
- June 13, 1949 · Union City, New Jersey
- Died
- May 16, 2026 · Sussex, England
- Age at passing
- 76