Larson, Nicolette
Leigh (17th July 1952-16th December 1997)
She was a singer and actress born in Helena, Montana, as
one of six children to a family where her father was a Treasury Department
employee and moved them to live in a different city within the United
States every two years.She
began her career as a member of Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen,
which was Hoyt Axton's band.She became a session singer and quickly became sought after and
through the years she worked with artists that included The Beach Boys, Jimmy
Buffett, Guy Clark, Christopher Cross, The Doobie Brothers, The Georgia
Satellites, Bob Glaub, Andrew Gold, Emory Gordy, Emmylou Harris, Little
Feat, Michael McDonald, Graham Nash, Willie Nelson, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,
Bill Payne, Linda Ronstadt, Van Halen, Neil Young and many more.She was heard as a backing vocalist
on songs such as "Sweet Blue Midnight" by The Georgia Satellites, "Make a
Little Magic" by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and "Could This Be Magic" by
Van Halen and in her solo recordings she had hits with her "I Only Want To
Be With You", "Rumba Girl", "That's How You Know When Love's Right", "Let
Me Go Love" with Michael McDonald and her cover of "Lotta Love" by Neil
Young in 1979 won her the "Best New Artist" Grammy Award for that year. Albums she appeared on during the
course of her career included her own Nicolette, In the Nick of Time, Radioland,
Rose of My Heart and Sleep, Baby Sleep and with other artists she
featured on Minute by Minute and Long Train Runnin' 1970-2000
by The Doobie Brothers, Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads, Barometer
Soup and Fruitcakes by Jimmy Buffett, Comes a Time, Rust
Never Sleeps and Harvest Moon by Neil Young, Even Worse
by Weird "Al" Yankovic, Fearless and Road Songs by Hoyt
Axton, Portraits by Emmylou Harris, Flying Dreams by
Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, Greatest Hits by
Michael McDonald, I Fell in Love by Carlene Carter, Halloween
Howls by Andrew Gold and Christopher Cross. She ventured out into acting in the
1980s and made an appearance in the TV shows Family Reunion and Throb
and also in the movie Twins. In 1997,
when she was just 45 years old, she was struck down by a cerebral oedema
and she died in December of that year from ensuing complications. Her
husband was the acclaimed drummer Russell Kunkel and they have one
daughter, Elsie-May.The
memorial "Lotta Love Concert" was held in her honour in February 1998.
