Singer David Olney Dies On Stage During Performance

BYCole Blake5.9K Views
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Rest in peace.

Singer-songwriter David Olney died Saturday night at age 71 during a performance at 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida, according to Variety.

Olney became still during his performance, which was assumed to be him taking a moment to rest, but then, those nearby realized what was happening and lowered him to the stage.

Amy Rigby, who was sitting next to him, described his last moments in a Facebook post: “Olney was in the middle of his third song when he stopped, apologized, and shut his eyes,” Rigby wrote. “He was very still, sitting upright with his guitar on, wearing the coolest hat and a beautiful rust suede jacket we laughed about because it was raining like hell outside the boathouse where we were playing — I just want the picture to be as graceful and dignified as it was, because it at first looked like he was just taking a moment.”

“Scott Miller had the presence of mind to say we needed to revive him. Doctors in the audience and 30A folks were all working so hard to get him to come to … We all lost someone important last night," she added.

Olney was born in 1948 and recorded 20 albums throughout his career. The following video was uploaded earlier on the day of his death.


About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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