Overview
- The songwriter died Monday in hospice care, first reported by his friend Billy Vera and later confirmed by his label and a Facebook post from his children Kris and Kelly.
- Train Wreck Records announced his death on Tuesday, and no cause has been disclosed in the statements and early obituaries.
- Taylor wrote ‘Wild Thing’—a No. 1 hit for The Troggs in 1966 that Jimi Hendrix made famous onstage—and ‘Angel of the Morning,’ a long‑running hit later echoed in Shaggy’s chart‑topper ‘Angel.’
- Born James Wesley Voight in Yonkers, he was actor Jon Voight’s brother and the uncle of Angelina Jolie and James Haven, with no public statements from them noted in initial reports.
- He entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016 and kept releasing albums after throat‑cancer treatment, and his label shared the family’s request for donations to the Metropolitan Golf Association Caddie Scholarship Fund in lieu of flowers.