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Dan Peek of America Dead at 60

Co-founder of folk rock band who recorded 'Horse with No Name'

July 27, 2011 8:35 AM ET
dan peek america dead
From left: Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek and Gerry Beckley of America
Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images

Dan Peek, co-founder of the folk rock band America, has died at the age of 60. According to his wife, Peek died in his sleep at their home in Farmington, Missouri. The specific cause of death is not yet known.

Peek, a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, formed America in the late Sixties with along with Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley, who he had met at a high school in London, where their fathers were stationed with the United States Air Force. The band's first album, America, yielded the Number One hit "A Horse with No Name," which led to a Grammy for best new act later that year.

Photos: Random Notes

Peek became a born-again Christian in 1977 and renounced drugs and alcohol, which led to him leaving America the same year. In 1979, he began a career in Christian pop with his first solo album All Things Are Possible, which was recorded for Pat Boone's Lamb and Lion Records. In recent years, Peek went into semi-retirement while remaining active as a songwriter.

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