Rockabilly revivalist Robert Gordon dead at 75

NEW YORK CITY — Robert Gordon, a pioneer of the rockabilly revivalist movement of the 1970s and 1980s, died Tuesday in New York City at the age of 75.

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Gordon’s record label, Cleopatra Records, confirmed the musician’s death to Variety without providing a cause of death.

“Cleopatra Records would like to offer our deepest condolences to his family and friends. We liked working with Robert and will miss his powerful baritone vocal as well as his focused dedication to his music,” label VP Matt Green told the entertainment news outlet.

Meanwhile, Gordon’s friend and colleague Sam Grosso confirmed to Billboard that he died at Don Greene Hospice of acute myeloid leukemia.

As per Variety: “With his swept-up D.A. haircut and predilection for 1950s clothing, it would have been easy in the 1970s to consider Gordon a ‘Happy Days’-style throwback. But with a deeply resonant and romantic voice, curatorial precision and excellent taste in guitarist collaborators such as (Chris) Spedding, Link Wray and Danny Gatton, Gordon was unique among neo-rockabilly revivalists. His work pre-dated that of Brian Setzer’s Stray Cats, who took the sound he embraced to the top of the charts in the early 1980s.”

Gordon’s final album, “Hellafied,” featuring Spedding, is slated for release on Nov. 25.

“Heartbreaking news about Robert Gordon passing away,” wrote Lou Molinaro, owner of the Hamilton, Ontario, venue This Ain’t Hollywood, on Facebook.

“He was like family at This Ain’t Hollywood. I will miss his ‘check one one. Uh huh’ during soundchecks. Gordie and I LOVED those moments. Wish I had one last chance to bring him back to Hamilton. Goodbye Robert,” Molinaro added.

Born March 29, 1947, in Bethesda, Maryland, Gordon cut his first record at 17 with The Confidentials, but he soon relocated to New York City, where he became a permanent fixture on the early punk scene. He released his first solo album in 1977 and would go on to record more than 20 others, as well as dabble in acting opposite Willem Dafoe in 1982 outlaw biker flick “The Loveless,” according to Billboard.

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Robert Gordon through the years (MANDATORY CREDIT Ebet Roberts/Getty Images) UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 10: Photo of Robert GORDON; Portrait of Robert Gordon in a New York diner (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns) (Ebet Roberts/Redferns via Getty Images)

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