Trini Lopez, best known for his hit ‘If I Had a Hammer’, is dead. He was 83.
Lopez’s close friend and collaborator Joe Chavira confirmed the death to Fox News on Tuesday, declaring that he died of coronavirus complications.
According to Chavira, Lopez spent about two months “in and out” of the hospital and worked on a 30-minute local television special to raise money for food banks, which have been plagued by the pandemic’s economic fallout.
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The news was originally reported by Palm Springs Life magazine, covering the area where he had lived for a long time, via an Instagram post featuring a photo of Lopez holding a giant hammer like a guitar.
“Trini Lopez, who has lived in Palm Springs since the 1960s, died Aug. 11,” the announcement said. “One of the famous songs from his hit 1963 album was ‘If I Had A Hammer.'”
The post went through, explaining that a documentary about Lopez’s life was just “shooting and editing” ready, with Lopez recently seeing a cut of the film for his approval.
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According to Variety, Lopez was born Trinidad Lopez III in Dallas to parents from Mexico.
At just 15, he was already in bands. His band Big Beats would record with Buddy Holly and producer Norman Petty and lead them to be signed to Columbia Records in 1958.
A solo career with King Records followed before leaving the label, eventually taking a stay at a nightclub in Los Angeles, where he was discovered by Frank Sinatra and signed to Reprise Records in 1963.
His cover of “If I Had a Hammer” topped charts in several countries and reached no. 3 in the United States.
Lopez’s other successful songs included “If You Want to Be Happy”, “Lemon Tree” and “This Land is Your Land.”
The entertainer also occasionally appeared on screen, as in the movie “The Dirty Dozen”, in which he played a character named Pedro Jiminez. In addition to “The Dirty Dozen”, Lopez also appeared in the TV movie “The Reluctant Heroes” and two episodes of “Adam-12.”
He also starred as the title character in the 1973 movie “Antonio”, alongside “Dallas” star Larry Hagman.
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He had no wife or children, but is survived by family in Texas, including a brother and cousin.
