Fans are mourning the death of Frank MacKay, a beloved Nova Scotia musician and frontman of the legendary 1960s dance band The Lincolns.
The Halifax Chronicle Herald reports the New Glasgow-born singer died Wednesday following surgery.
MacKay joined The Lincolns during the golden age of rock and roll.
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The Truro-based band toured the region in the 1960s, drawing large crowds to dance halls across the Maritimes.
The band played a popular repertoire of soul classics, including “I Feel Good” by James Brown, Percy Sledge’s “When A Man Loves A Woman” and “Hold On, I’m comin”‘ by Sam and Dave.
After the band broke up in 1969, MacKay attracted national attention as a member of the hard rock group Soma in the early 1970s.
Toronto Star music writer Peter Goddard said MacKay’s road-seasoned voice was “so powerful it could cut through a platinum slab.”
MacKay eventually became a solo artist, writing his own songs and maintaining the interpretive skills he’d honed with The Lincolns.
He also made the leap to acting, most notably with the musical stage show “Rock and Roll.”
The 1985 CBC-TV production of the play – retitled “The King of Friday Night” – earned MacKay an ACTRA Award nomination.
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MacKay went on to appear on stages across the country, becoming a familiar presence at the Neptune Theatre in Halifax and festivals across the Maritimes.
Meanwhile, The Lincolns staged a number of reunion concerts in recent years.
Nearly half a century after its heyday, hundreds of fans flocked to the band’s favourite stage in the auditorium of the Truro Royal Canadian Legion last September.
(Halifax Chronicle Herald)