Drifters performer dies just hours before performance
By LYDA LONGA
Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH — Bill Pinkney, one of the original members of the popular musical group The Drifters — and sole survivor of the initial 1953 band — died Wednesday night at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort, just two hours before he was scheduled to perform for Fourth of July festivities at the Bandshell.
The 81-year-old Pinkney, whose band had such hits as “Under the Boardwalk,” “Up on the Roof,” and “Save the Last Dance For Me,” died of a heart attack in his hotel room just hours after he and members of the band — which included Pinkney’s son — arrived from Sumter, S.C., said the group’s publicist, Donnie Lowery.
Despite the tragic loss, the band played nonetheless, Lowery said, and an announcement was made afterward concerning Pinkney’s death.
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