M-C: R.I.P.: Susan Jacks Of The Poppy Family

Canadian singer-songwriter Susan Jacks, who lit up the airwaves with her band's 1969 smash hit Which Way You Goin' Billy? has died at age 73 while awaiting a second kidney transplant, reports the CBC.

Jacks made an indelible mark on the Canadian music scene as lead singer of the Poppy Family, which also featured vocals by her then-husband Terry Jacks, most notably on another megahit, Where Evil Grows.

Jacks is being remembered for a smooth, emotive voice that helped her music career soar, but also for the humility that kept her grounded, even as she became a household name through constant airplay and the band's performances on national TV.

Her older brother, Rick Pesklevits, says Jacks was "always singing" as early as age four. He remembered her belting out the Harry Belafonte tune Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) all over the house and outside, too.

"Singing in school brought her to the attention of various high school bands and so they often invited her as the 'chick singer.' Gradually, she became known through that exposure and kind of broke in through the side door," Pesklevits said.

Their brother Bill, whose name was referenced in his sister's breakout song, donated a kidney to her in 2010, but recent complications from infections had her on a wait-list for another kidney before she died in hospital in Surrey, B.C., on Monday.

"She was overwhelmed by infection, and her heart stopped," Pesklevits said, calling his sister a selfless person who "abhorred injustice and lack of sincerity."