Singer David Olney apologises, pauses mid-concert and dies
File image of David Olney
Renowned folk singer-songwriter David Olney passed away mid-show on Sunday while performing at 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach in the US state of Florida.
The singer, 71, paused in the middle of his performance, apologised and simply shut his eyes and became still.
“I’m sorry,” the singer reportedly said. "He put his chest to his chin,” according to fellow singer-songwriter Scott Miller.
“He never dropped his guitar or fell (off)his stool,” Miller wrote on Facebook. “It was as easy and gentle as he was."
Amy Rigby, a singer who was on stage next to him, recalled how he apologised in the middle of his third song and shut his eyes.
"He was very still, sitting upright with his guitar on,” Rigby wrote on Facebook. "(He was)wearing the coolest hat and a beautiful rust suede jacket we laughed about because it was raining … outside the boathouse where we were playing."
The festival staff and audience at first thought he was taking a moment but they soon realsied that Olney was not waking up and they jumped to action in an attempt to revive him.
“We got him down and tried our best to revive him until the EMT’s arrived,” Miller wrote.
Olney was a well-known figure in the folk-rock and Americana communities and was a key member of Nashville’s music scene since moving there in 1973.
“The world lost a good one last night,” Miller wrote. “But we still have his work. And it still inspires. And always will.”
The singer is survived by wife, Regine, daughter, Lillian, and son, Redding.
