Dick Halligan, Jerry Weiss and Randy Brecker of the rock and roll band "Blood, Sweat And Tears" perform onstage at Steve Paul's The Scene nightclub on Nov. 25, 1967 in New York.
Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/GIBlood, Sweat & Tears co-founder Dick Halligan, who won two Grammys with the classic jazz-rock band, died of natural causes on Jan. 18 in Rome, Italy. He was 78.
Halligan grew up in Michigan and moved to New York for school, and as the story goes he first turned down his friend and jazz saxophonist Fred Lipsius when he asked him to join Blood, Sweat & Tears. But, Halligan changed his tune and joined the band when Lipsius told him they would be touring in California — a place he always wanted to see.
With Blood, Sweat & Tears, Halligan played the trombone, keyboard and flute. He also co-wrote several tracks, including “Redemption” and “Lisa Listen To Me.”
Halligan’s expertise in music stemmed from hours spent listening to the big band music of Stan Kenton, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller as a boy growing up in Glens Fall, New York. He went on to receive a master of arts degree in music theory and composition from the Manhattan School of Music and continued his studies in voice and piano.
Blood, Sweat & Tears’ second studio album, Blood, Sweat & Tears, was released in 1968, spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1969 and won a Grammy for album of the year in 1970. That same year, they also won a Grammy for best contemporary instrumental performance for the album’s opening track, “Variations On A Theme by Eric Satie.”
Halligan left the band in 1971 following the recording of the group’s fourth studio album, B, S & T 4. Of the four albums that Halligan created with the band, four were certified Gold by the RIAA and one was certified four-times Platinum.
Following his time with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Halligan went on to score over 20 film and TV projects, including The Owl and the Pussycat, the Chuck Norris movies A Force Of One and The Octagon, as well as ABC’s Holmes And Yoyo. He also composed for orchestras and, most recently, wrote, performed and toured with the one-man show Musical Being, which was based on his book of the same name detailing his unique musical journey.
Halligan is survived by his daughter and musician Shana, his son-in-law Eric Kaufman, his grandson Otis and his stepson Buddy.
NEWS
There’s a high probability that Jorja Smith has new music coming this summer. The British singer revealed plans for her What Are the Odds LP on Thursday (July 2), with the album set to arrive on Aug. 21 via FAMM.
Smith reunites with producer P2J — who served as a primary collaborator on her 2023 album Falling or Flying — for the entirety of the project. J Money and P2J will continue to build on the inventive U.K. garage sound Smith has been exploring, alongside a mix of grime and house.
“This album came together really naturally. There was never a big plan; it was just me making music that felt right in the moment,” Smith tells Billboard. “Working with P2J, we started experimenting with different sounds, pulling from U.K. garage, grime and house (funky house, Afro house) and it all grew from there.”
She continues: “The music feels uplifting, but the lyrics can be a bit sad at times. They’re about growing up, love, loss, friendships and figuring things out as I go. I trusted my instincts with this one, and I think you can hear that throughout the record.”
Smith kicked off the album’s rollout in May with the self-assuring “What’s Done Is Done,” and it continues on Thursday (July 2) with a second single, “Alive,” which finds the R&B singer joining forces with Afrobeats pioneer WizKid. The duo basks in the love-drunk euphoria of the honeymoon phase of a bubbling relationship and heads to Paris for the visual.
“Making this with P2J and WizKid felt really easy,” Smith adds of the collab. “We wrote and recorded it together in London. I think we captured that feeling when you’re at the beginning of something with someone and everything feels exciting. I’ve always loved WizKid’s music and the way he’s opened so many doors for Afrobeats around the world, so it feels really special and a big honor to have a song with him.”
What Are the Odds serves as Jorja Smith’s third studio album and contains 12 tracks. Outside of WizKid, the only other feature comes from grime artist Devlin.
When the project lands on Aug. 21, Smith will hit the stage later that night at London’s All Points East, as she’ll be co-headlining the Victoria Park show with Tems. 2026 has already been a busy year for J Money, who served as a musical guest on the debut season of Saturday Night Live UK in April.
The 29-year-old also collaborated with Mobb Deep’s Havoc for a remix of her “Blue Lights” classic and lent “Price of It All” to Amazon MGM Studios’ Bait soundtrack.
Find the What Are the Odds cover art and tracklist below.
What Are the Odds tracklist:
