Big Star and Box Tops Singer Alex Chilton Has Died at Age 59

Alex Chilton who wrote and recorded music most notably with The Box Tops and Big Star has died of what appears to be a heart attack. Chilton was 59 years old. Chilton blazed onto the music scene in at just 16 years old singing vocals on the 1967 with the number 1 hit The Letter. The band would never recapture the success and Chilton would form the band Big Star who would garner a huge cult following for their Beatles power pop and remain an influence to many alternative bands still today.

Here is Chilton singing the hit song "The Letter" in 1968.