Dan McCafferty, Nazareth Singer, Dead at 76

Longtime Nazareth vocalist Dan McCafferty has died. He was 76 years old.

The Scottish proto-heavy-metal trailblazers' bassist, Pete Agnew, confirmed the news in a statement earlier today (November 8th). "Dan died at 12:40 today," he wrote. "This is the saddest announcement I ever had to make. Maryann and the family have lost a wonderful loving husband and father, I have lost my best friend and the world has lost one of the greatest singers who ever lived." The cause of death was not disclosed.

Co-founding the group in 1968, McCafferty sang on the band's Seventies hits, including their power-ballad take on the Everly Brothers' "Love Hurts" and the rocking "Hair of the Dog," which Guns N' Roses would notably cover on 1993's "The Spaghetti Incident?".

In 2013, after nearly 50 years in the band, McCafferty stepped away from Nazareth due to health reasons, specifically, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, an inflammatory lung disease that restricted his ability to breathe. He released his final solo album, Last Testament, in 2019.