Sonny Curtis, Crickets Member Who Wrote ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’ Theme, Dead At 88

Sonny Curtis, a veteran songwriter and guitarist who wrote the rock classic I Fought the Law and sang the opening theme Love Is All Around for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, has died at age 88, his wife said Friday. Curtis, a member of the Crickets, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as part of the group. His daughter, Sarah Curtis, wrote on his Facebook page that he had been suddenly ill.

Curtis was born in Meadow, Texas, during the Great Depression, and grew up as a friend and early collaborator of Buddy Holly. He performed with Holly in the mid-1950s and opened shows for Elvis Presley when Presley was an up-and-coming regional act. Before turning 20, Curtis wrote hits including Someday for Webb Pierce and Rock Around With Ollie Vee for Holly. He left Holly's group before Holly rose to stardom, but returned after Holly died in 1959 and contributed to the Crickets' next studio work, In Style with the Crickets (1960), which contained I Fought the Law and More Than I Can Say, a Jerry Allison collaboration later recorded successfully by Bobby Vee and Leo Sayer.

During the 1960s, I Fought the Law gained traction after Bobby Fuller Four released a cover in 1966, reaching the Top 10. The song has since been covered by multiple artists, including the Clash, Johnny Cash, and Bruce Springsteen. Curtis has said it is his most important copyright.

In 1970, Curtis turned his attention to commercial writing and created the theme for CBS’s The Mary Tyler Moore Show, a television comedy about a single woman in Minneapolis. The song Love Is All Around carried a melodic, uplifting tone that matched the show's opening image of Moore tossing her hat and the scene of a midwestern newsroom. The original version was used for the first season, while a revised version provided the remaining seasons. Producers initially considered Andy Williams to sing the theme, but he declined. Curtis's version ultimately became the opening theme. A commercial release in 1980 peaked at No. 29 on Billboard's country chart.

Curtis released a handful of solo albums, including Sonny Curtis and Spectrum, and had a Top 20 country hit with the 1981 single Good Ol’ Girls. He continued to perform with the Crickets, who released collaborative albums such as The Crickets and Their Buddies, featuring appearances by Eric Clapton, Graham Nash and Phil Everly. He also wrote The Real Buddy Holly Story, a response to the 1978 biopic The Buddy Holly Story. Curtis settled in Nashville in the mid-1970s and lived there with his wife, Louise. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991 and, as part of the Crickets, into Nashville’s Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007. Five years later, he and the Crickets were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, praised as a blueprint for rock and roll bands that inspired thousands of garage bands around the world.

Outside of his writing, Curtis's songs were recorded by artists across genres and decades, from Bing Crosby and Glen Campbell to Bruce Springsteen and the Grateful Dead, illustrating a career that bridged country and rock. He settled in Nashville with his wife and continued to play with the Crickets in later years. His death was confirmed by his wife Louise Curtis, and the Associated Press reported that he had been briefly ill before his passing.