R&B singer Sweet Pea Atkinson died May 5, 2020.

Hillard “Sweet Pea” Atkinson (September 20, 1945 – May 5, 2020) was an American R&B singer known as one of the vocalists for the band Was (Not Was).

Hillard Atkinson was born in Oberlin, Ohio, and moved to Detroit as a child. He worked at the Chrysler factory, and sang with work colleagues in a local band called Hi Energy. He met Don Was in the late 1970s, when he was rehearsing at the same studio that Don Was was using.

Sweet Pea Atkinson joined Was (Not Was) as joint lead vocalist alongside Harry Bowens and they featured on some of the band’s most successful recordings. Shortly after the release of the first Was (Not Was) album called “Was (Not Was)”, in 1982, Sweet Pea Atkinson recorded and released his first solo album, “Don’t Walk Away” which was co-produced by David Was and Don Was.

In 1997 Sweet Pea Atkinson starred along with Kris Kristofferson, in a 15-minute short film included on Don Was’ album “Forever’s a Long, Long Time”, which Don Was released under the alias Orquestra Was. Sweet Pea Atkinson also performed as lead vocalist on most of the songs on the album, on which Don Was interprets songs by legendary country artist Hank Williams.

Sweet Pea Atkinson later joined forces with blues guitarist Randy Jacobs, who was also a longtime Was (Not Was) session guitarist and co-wrote the band’s most successful hit, “Walk the Dinosaur”, in a band called the Boneshakers. Together they released three albums, two of which were studio recordings, “Book of Spells” in 1997 and “Shake the Planet” in 1999, both on Point Blank Records. The third album was “Live in Seattle”, which was released on Concord Records, and recorded with Mindi Abair, who is a saxophonist, vocalist, author, and National Trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the organization that puts on the Grammy Awards show. Two more albums were credited to Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers “The EastWest Sessions” (2017) and “All I Got for Christmas Is the Blues” (2018).

Sweet Pea Atkinson also toured for ten years with Lyle Lovett, and sang on records by Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Willie Nelson, Iggy Pop, Elton John, Jackson Browne, and many, many others.

Sweet Pea Atkinson died from a heart attack in Los Angeles, on May 5, 2020, aged 74.

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