{{Short description|American musician (1942–2022)}} {{Infobox person | image = Jim Seals 1975.JPG | caption = Seals in 1975 | birth_name = James Eugene Seals | birth_date = October 17, 1942 | birth_place = Sidney, Texas, US | death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|6|6|1942|10|17}} | death_place = Nashville, Tennessee, US | spouse = Ruby Jean Anderson (1970–) | children = 3 | relatives = England Dan (brother), Brady and Troy Seals (cousins) | module = {{Infobox musical artist|embed=yes | genre = Folk, rock and roll | instrument = Vocals, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, saxophone | years_active = 1957–2017 | past_member_of = The Champs, Seals and Crofts }} }}
'''James Eugene Seals'''<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Sweeting |first=Adam |date=2022-06-10 |title=Jim Seals obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jun/10/jim-seals-obituary |access-date=2025-07-19 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> (October 17, 1942<ref name=":2" />{{efn|While some sources<ref name = Granberry>{{cite news|url = https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/music/2022/06/07/texan-jim-seals-of-the-1970s-hit-duo-seals-crofts-dies-at-80/|title = Texan Jim Seals of the 1970s hit duo Seals & Crofts dies at 80|newspaper = The Dallas Morning News|last = Granberry|first = Michael|date = June 7, 2022|accessdate = June 9, 2022}}</ref><ref name = WP>{{cite news|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/06/08/pop-singer-jim-seals-dies/|title = Jim Seals, of 1970s soft-rock duo Seals and Crofts, dies at 80|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = June 8, 2022|accessdate = June 9, 2022|url-access = limited}}</ref> have said that Seals was born on October 17, 1941, public records of his birth list him as being born in 1942.|name=fn1}} – June 6, 2022) was an American folk musician. He was one half of the folk duo Seals and Crofts with Dash Crofts and was the older brother of Danny "England Dan" Seals.
Seals was a multi-instrumentalist, playing the fiddle as a child before playing saxophone in bands throughout his teenage years, where he eventually met Dash Crofts, then a drummer. The two formed soft rock duo Seals and Crofts, in which both members sang and played the guitar and mandolin among other instruments; they would go on to record hits such as "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl". Seals died in 2022.
==Early life== Seals was born to pipefitter Wayland Seals and Susan Taylor Seals in Sidney, Texas. He grew up in Iraan, Texas.<ref name=":0"/><ref name=":1">{{cite web |last=Roger |date=2021-10-17 |title=Musician Jim Seals is 80, and alive |url=https://www.rogerogreen.com/2021/10/17/musician-jim-seals-is-80-and-alive/ |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=Ramblin' with Roger |language=en-US}}</ref> Seals recalled that he grew up surrounded by oil rigs and smoke covered the air. "The stench was so bad, you couldn't breathe."<ref name=":2">{{cite news |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |date=2022-06-07 |title=Jim Seals, Half of a Popular 1970s Soft-Rock Duo, Dies at 79 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/arts/music/jim-seals-dead.html |access-date=2025-07-19 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Jim's older brother, Eddie, was born in 1937 to Wayland and his former partner Clodell, who died in 1940.<ref name=":1"/> His father played guitar and he encouraged Jim to play the guitar.<ref name=":0"/> When Jim showed interest in a traveling fiddler soon after, at age 5 or 6, Wayland bought him his first fiddle to learn to play on.<ref name=":3">{{cite web |last=Willman |first=Chris |date=2022-06-07 |title=Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts, Duo That Ruled '70s Soft-Rock With Hits Like 'Summer Breeze,' Dies at 80 |url=https://variety.com/2022/music/obituaries-people-news/jim-seals-dead-seals-crofts-summer-breeze-soft-rock-1235286748/ |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Career == Seals quickly learned how to master the fiddle and at age ten years would go on to win a contest in west Texas in 1952 playing the fiddle with his father accompanying him on guitar and his younger brother Dan on upright bass.<ref name=":3" />
He also learned how to play the saxophone and formed The Seals Family Band with Dan.<ref name=":0" /> In high school he played the sax in Dean Beard & the Crew Cats where he met Darrell "Dash" Crofts who joined the band on drums.<ref name=":0" /> After graduating they moved to California and joined The Champs who had just released the song "Tequila" in 1958.<ref name=":0" /> The two remained in the band until its disbanding in 1965.<ref name=":3" /> The two then worked in The Dawnbreakers with The Champs' Glen Campbell.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woolley |first=Ian |date=2022-06-07 |title=Just great melodic songs - RIP Jim Seals |url=https://www.beat-magazine.co.uk/2022/just-great-melodic-songs-rip-jim-seals/ |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=Beat Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref> From 1958 to 1965 Seals released five singles as "Jimmy Seals"; his first single in 1958 was released under "Jimmy Seals And His Sax".
Jim and Dash would go on to write songs for artists such as The Monkees and Gene Vincent before working as a recording duo in the 1970s as Seals and Crofts.<ref name=":0" /> The duo were best known for their songs "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl" and released five gold certified studio albums from 1972 to 1976.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=2022-06-08 |title=Summer Breeze singer Jim Seals dies aged 80 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-61730094 |access-date=2025-07-19 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> The duo parted ways in 1980; Seals and his family moved to Costa Rica and lived on a coffee farm.<ref name=":0" /> Seals and his younger brother Dan, who eventually made a name for himself as England Dan, toured as a duo called "Seals & Seals".<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Seals and Seals - Brothers Jim Seals(Seals & Crofts) And Dan Seals(England Dan and John Ford Coley) |url=http://www.sealsandseals.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825155515/http://www.sealsandseals.com/ |archive-date=2011-08-25 |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=www.sealsandseals.com}}</ref> Seals and Crofts reunited in the 90s and in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kolirin |first=Lianne |date=2022-06-08 |title=Jim Seals, of soft-rock duo Seals and Crofts, dead at 80 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/08/entertainment/jim-seals-dead-intl-scli |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=2022-06-07 |title=Jim Seals, half of '70s group Seals and Crofts, dies at age 80 - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jim-seals-dies-age-80-seals-and-crofts-summer-breeze/ |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-07 |title=Jim Seals of '70s soft-rock group Seals and Crofts dies at 80 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-06-07/jim-seals-70s-soft-rock-seals-and-crofts-dies |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Personal life and death == Seals married Ruby Jean Anderson in 1970; Seals and Crofts wrote "Ruby Jean and Billie Lee" for their wives.<ref name=":0" /> They had three children Juliette (now Juliette Crossley),<ref name=":2" /> Joshua and Sutherland.<ref name=":0" /> Seals moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he spent the rest of his life. He suffered a stroke in 2017 and retired from performing.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Benjamin |date=2022-06-07 |title=Jim Seals, of soft rock duo Seals and Crofts, dies aged 80 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jun/07/jim-seals-dies-80-crofts-rock |access-date=2025-07-19 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Seals of Seals & Crofts Dies at 79: A 'Bona Fide, Dyed in the Wool Musical Genius' |url=https://people.com/music/jim-seals-of-seals-and-crofts-dead/ |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=People.com |language=en}}</ref>
His younger brother was singer Danny "England Dan" Seals who was one half of the soft rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley with John Ford Coley; Dan died in 2009. Seals' cousins are Brady Seals and Troy Seals; Brady is a country singer and former vocalist for Little Texas and Hot Apple Pie, Troy was a singer-songwriter who died in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oermann |first=Robert K. |date=2025-04-01 |title=Songwriting Legend Troy Seals Passes |url=https://musicrow.com/2025/04/songwriting-legend-troy-seals-passes/ |access-date=2025-07-20 |website=MusicRow.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
Seals died at his home in Nashville, aged 79, on June 6, 2022<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> from an unspecified chronic illness.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" />
== Solo discography == ''Unless noted, all were released under "Jimmy Seals".''
* "Biscayne Bay / Juarez" — Winston label — released as "Jimmy Seals And His Sax" — 1958 * "Wish For You, Want For You, Wait For You / Runaway Heart" — Challenge label — 1962 * "Lady Heartbreak / Grounded" — Challenge label — 1963 * "Everybody's Doing The Jerk / Wa-Hoo" — Challenge label — 1964 * "The Yesterday Of Our Love / She's Not A Bad Girl" — Challenge label — 1965
==Notes== {{notelist}}
== References == <references />
==External links== *{{IMDb name|1063897}} *{{imdb name|4159522|name=James Seals}} *{{discogs artist|James Seals}}
{{Seals and Crofts}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seals, Jim}} Category:1941 births Category:2022 deaths Category:People from Pecos County, Texas Category:Musicians from Texas Category:American soft rock musicians Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:21st-century American male musicians Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:21st-century American guitarists Category:American Baháʼís