Dave "Baby" Cortez
Biography
David Cortez Clowney, known by the stage name Dave "Baby" Cortez (born August 13, 1938, Detroit, Michigan, and died May 31, 2022, New York City), was an American pop music and R and B pianist and organist.
Clowney made his first record in 1956 under his own name but it was not until three years later that he scored a major success using the stage name Dave "Baby" Cortez. His instrumental, "The Happy Organ", was the first pop/rock hit to feature the electronic organ as lead instrument. The 45rpm single went to No. 1 on Billboard magazines Hot 100 chart.
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He was the second earliest surviving singer to have a solo #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 next to Frankie Avalon. Cortez had another Top Ten hit in 1962 with "Rinky Dink" on Chess Records.
Cortez subsequently left the music industry, which he did not feel respected within. He led an extremely private life over the following decades, and passed away on May 31, 2022 at the age of 83. Cortezs death was not publicly reported until 2025. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.
