Ford was 76 years old, had been ill for quite some timeFrankie Ford, a rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues singer whose 1959 hit “Sea Cruise” brought him international fame when he was 19, is dead at the age of 76. Ford died Monday of natural causes, according to the Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, coroner’s office. “He was a great guy. He had the best voice in rock and roll,” said Mike Shepherd, a friend of Ford’s and head of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, which inducted Ford in 2010.