Sharon Kathleen Sheeley (April 4, 1940 – May 17, 2002) was an American songwriter who wrote songs for

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard "Ricky" Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician and actor. From age eight, he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he began a ...

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country and Christmas music, she achieved her first ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' hit aged 12 i ...

, and

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran ( ; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", " Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in ...

Biography

Sheeley attended Newport Harbor High School in

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

, and briefly worked as a teen model. She went to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

to meet the stars and write songs. Her first song, "

Poor Little Fool "Poor Little Fool" is a song written by Sharon Sheeley and first recorded by Ricky Nelson in 1958. Background Sheeley wrote the song when she was 15 years old. She had met Elvis Presley, and he encouraged her to write. It was based on her disap ...

", was recorded by

in 1958, and became Nelson's first US No. 1 and the ''Billboard'' Hot 100's first No. 1. At age 18, Sheeley was the youngest woman to write an American number-one hit.

Jerry Capehart Jerry Neil Capehart (August 22, 1928 – June 7, 1998) was an American songwriter and music manager. Capehart co-wrote the songs "Summertime Blues" and " C'mon Everybody" with Eddie Cochran, whom he also managed. One of his most-recorded so ...

, the manager and songwriting partner of

, then agreed to look after Sheeley's interests, and she and Cochran began a relationship. She wrote " Love Again" and "Cherished Memories" for Cochran and the 1959 hit " Somethin' Else" with Eddie's brother Bill Cochran. Her other songwriting credits included "Hurry Up", recorded by

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), better known by his stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens died i ...

. In April 1960, she traveled to United Kingdom to join Cochran and

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American rock and roll musician who pioneered the style of rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-a-Lula", is ...

, who were touring there. She and Cochran were reported as being "unofficially engaged". She recorded a song, "Homework", with producer Jack Good. On the night of April 16, 1960, Sheeley, Vincent and Cochran were traveling in a private hire taxi from a concert in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingd ...

when it slammed into a lamp post near

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

. All three were rushed to a hospital. Cochran, who had been thrown from the vehicle, suffered fatal brain injuries and died the next day, at the age of 21. Sheeley suffered a broken pelvis, and Vincent broke his ribs and collarbone and added further damage to his already weak leg. Following the accident she returned to the US, where she collaborated with musician-songwriter

Jackie DeShannon Jackie DeShannon (born Sharon Lee Myers; August 21, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and radio broadcaster who has had many hit song credits beginning in the 1960s, as both a singer and composer. She was one of the first female singer-son ...

on a string of hits, including

's "

Dum Dum Dum Dum is a city and a municipality in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Author ...

" and "

Heart in Hand The Heart in Hand or Heart-in-Hand is a symbol of a heart in an open palm, and is symbolic of charity, given from the heart. It is an easily recognizable symbol in the Northeastern United States and used by the Shakers as a pictorial reminder of ...

The Fleetwoods The Fleetwoods were an American vocal group from Olympia, Washington, whose members were Gary Troxel (born November 28, 1939), Gretchen Christopher (born February 29, 1940), and Barbara Ellis (born February 20, 1940). Early history The band ...

' " (He's) The Great Imposter" and

Irma Thomas Irma Thomas ( Lee; born February 18, 1941) is an American singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans". Thomas is a contemporary of Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but never experienced their level of commercial succ ...

's " Breakaway". She also co-wrote songs with Chris Curtis of

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War v ...

, including "Night Time" recorded by

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

and Barry Ryan. In 1961, Sheeley married Los Angeles radio personality Jimmy O'Neill. The two created the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

TV series ''

Shindig! ''Shindig!'' is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles,RPM Records released a collection of her songs that were recorded in the early 1960s by

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

s, including

Delaney Bramlett Delaine Alvin "Delaney" Bramlett (July 1, 1939 – December 27, 2008) was an American singer and guitarist. He was best known for his musical partnership with his wife Bonnie Bramlett in the band Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, which included a ...

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock a ...

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (born December 11, 1940) is a retired American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread (band), Bread, which reached the top of the musical ch ...

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

and

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, conductor, painter, sculptor and theatre producer, who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (sometimes called "Herb Alpe ...

Death

Five days after suffering a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

, Sheeley died on May 17, 2002, at Sherman Oaks Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 62. She has a

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

marker next to Eddie Cochran at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cypress, in Orange County, California.

Media

In 1988, Levi Strauss & Co. promoted their Levi's 501 range with a television commercial called "Eddie Cochran", directed by Syd Macartney. It told the story of how Sheeley (played by actress Sharon Devlin) attracted Cochran at a party by wearing said product. It was seemingly narrated by Sheeley and the background song, "

C'mon Everybody "C'mon Everybody" is a 1958 song by Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart, originally released as a B-side. Background When Cochran recorded his lead vocal for the song, he also created an alternate version of the song called "Let's Get Together". ...

", was released as a promotional single, followed by a compilation album of Cochran's hits. Sheeley was depicted by Rosanna Locke in the 1987 film '' La Bamba.''

Bibliography

References

External links

* *
Sharon Sheeley
at the

Rockabilly Hall of Fame The original Rockabilly Hall of Fame was an organization and website launched on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relating to the artists and personalities involved in rockabilly. Headquartered in Nashville ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheeley, Sharon 1940 births 2002 deaths American women singer-songwriters Singers from Los Angeles 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American women singers Newport Harbor High School alumni Singer-songwriters from California