LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jewel Akens, a pop singer who had a 1960s hit with "The Birds and the Bees," has died in Southern California at age 79.
His wife, Eddie Mae Akens, tells the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/XmXa83 ) that Akens died Friday from back surgery complications at an Inglewood hospital.
Akens was in a group called the Turnarounds when they were offered a song that talked about "the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees and the moon up above — and a thing called love."
Other members disliked it, so Akens recorded it solo. The song was No. 3 on Billboard's Top 100 chart in 1965 and was later covered by Dean Martin and others.
Akens never duplicated its success but performed into his 70s.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com
