R.I.P.: Jess Colin Young, Lead Singer for The Youngbloods

Jesse Colin Young (1942-2025)

Jesse Colin Young, the renowned singer-songwriter and frontman of the 1960s folk-rock band the Youngbloods, passed away on Sunday at his home in Aiken, South Carolina. He was 83 years old. Death is believed to have been caused by a heart attack.

Young was best known for his soulful tenor voice on the Youngbloods’ iconic 1969 hit “Get Together,” a song written by Chet Powers (aka Dino Valenti) that became a defining anthem of the peace-and-love era. Its chorus—“Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now”—resonated deeply during the turbulent late 1960s, particularly as anti-war sentiment grew amid the Vietnam War. The track, originally released in 1967 on the band’s self-titled debut album, gained widespread popularity after a 1969 reissue, spurred by its use in a National Conference of Christians and Jews public service announcement, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Born Perry Miller on November 22, 1941, in Queens, New York, Young grew up in a musical household, with a mother who was a violinist and a father passionate about classical music. 

His early career saw him performing in Greenwich Village, where he adopted his stage name—a blend of outlaws Jesse James and Cole Younger, and Formula One designer Colin Chapman. After forming the Youngbloods in 1965 with Jerry Corbitt, Lowell “Banana” Levinger, and Joe Bauer, the band became a fixture in the folk-rock scene, releasing five albums before disbanding in 1972. Young then embarked on a solo career, producing over 15 albums across decades, blending folk, blues, jazz, and rock with socially conscious lyrics. Notable works include “Darkness Darkness,” later covered by Robert Plant, and solo albums like Song for Juli (1973) and Dreamers (2019), his final release.