Mac Rebennack, the New Orleans pianist, singer-songwriter and producer better known as Dr. John , died Thursday at the age of The cause of death was a heart attack, according to his family. The family thanks all whom have shared his unique musical journey, and requests privacy at this time.

Letter: Dr John obituary
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By Chris Morris. Memorial arrangements will be announced in due course. After flashing his fantastical character on a quartet of early albums that garnered him an enthusiastic underground following, Dr. King, among others. He grew up in a musical environment, and began playing the family piano early.
June 6, 2019
Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. November 20, — June 6, , better known by his stage name Dr. John , was an American singer and songwriter. His music combined blues , pop , jazz , boogie-woogie , funk , and rock and roll. Active as a session musician from the late s until his death, he gained a following in the late s after the release of his album Gris-Gris and his appearance at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music. He typically performed a lively, theatrical stage show inspired by medicine shows , Mardi Gras costumes, and voodoo ceremonies. Rebennack recorded thirty studio albums and nine live albums, as well as contributing to thousands of other musicians' recordings.
Dr John , the New Orleans musician who blended black and white musical styles with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl, died Thursday, his family said. He was They did not say where he died or give other details. He had not been seen in public much since late , when he canceled several gigs. He had been resting at his New Orleans area home, publicist Karen Beninato said last year in an interview. Memorial arrangements were being planned. A white man who found a home among black New Orleans musicians, he first entered the music scene alongside his father, who ran a record shop and also fixed the PA systems at New Orleans bars. As a teenager in the s, he played guitar and keyboards in a string of bands and made the legendary studio of Cosimo Matassa his second home, Rebennack said in his memoir, Under a Hoodoo Moon. He got into music full-time after dropping out of high school, became acquainted with drugs and petty crime and lived a fast-paced life. His gigs ranged from strip clubs to auditoriums, roadhouses and chicken shacks.