Sonny Curtis: “I FOUGHT The Law” writer has died

Sonny Curtis (1937-2025) died unexpectedly. The sad news confirmed his daughter on Facebook in a short post. The American musician and songwriter turned 88.

“It breaks my heart to tell you that my father Sonny died yesterday after a sudden illness,” says that. “I am so grateful that in the end I could be with him with my mother. It was peaceful and he didn’t have to suffer.”

Her father Sonny “led an extraordinary life than any other I have ever met”. The musician had shaped the world “and the hearts of everyone who knew him”. It is “a sad day, but what kind of life. May we look back on his life instead of grief instead of grief. He would have liked that.”

Curtis was known, among others, as a member of the crickets, the accompanying band of the legendary Buddy Holly (1936-1959). In the United States in particular, many people are still likely to know the title music of the “Mary Tyler Moore Show”, which comes from Curtis.

Curtis also wrote the song “I Fought the Law”. Often covered in the past decades, among other things, the “I Fought the Law” version of The Clash should be known to many music fans. Dead Kennedys, the Toten Hosen, the Beatsteaks or Green Day, for example, have covered the song.