Leon Redbone Passed Away!

Leon Redbone passed away in Pennsylvania.

Famed musician passed away at the age of 69.

As NPR puts it, Leon Redbone was an unusual singer from a bygone era.

He passed away with his family by his side in a Pennsylvania hospice. The singer best known to me was the theme song for Mr. Belvedere. He also made an appearance as Leon the Snowman in the 2003 holiday comedy Elf.

Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian) specialized the guitar. He would make sounds straight out of Tin Pan Alley. He was the guy who wore a Panama hat, dark sunglasses and a black tie.

His musical career launched in the early 1970s in a Toronto night scene.

He would perform songs that reflexes on comedy, ragtime, jazz, blues and vaudeville. He also did voice acting and occasional acting.

He was born on the island of Cyprus. He often kept his origins out of the spotlight. According to the Toronto Star, he came to Canada from Cyprus in the mid-1960s and changed his name through the Ontario Change of Name Act. The only known confirmation is his birth name and his family's Armenian heritage. 

His parents lived in Jerusalem but moved to Nicosia, Cyprus where Redbone was born. In 1961, the family moved to London and then to Toronto.

Redbone met an icon of pop culture while living in Toronto.  He met Bob Dylan at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1972. Dylan was so impressed with Redbone's performance he told the Rolling Stone, Redbone was "so authentic you can hear the surface noise [of an 78 rpm].

Redbone had retired from the music in 2015. He released over 16 albums during his career.

He leaves behind a legacy of entertainment.