Gospel star Edwin Hawkins dead at 74

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Gospel star Edwin Hawkins dead at 74

Edwin Hawkins, right, speaks during a memorial for his brother Bishop Walter Lee Hawkins at the Paramount Theatre on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 in Oakland, Calif. To the left is Hawkins' brother Daniel and sister Carol. Hawkins was the pastor and founder of Love Center Ministries, Inc. in Oakland and a grammy award-winning gospel singer. He died of cancer on July 11. (Jane Tyska/Staff)
Jane Tyska/staff archives
File photo: Edwin Hawkins, right, speaks during a memorial for his brother Bishop Walter Lee Hawkins at the Paramount Theatre on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 in Oakland.
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Associated Press

NEW YORK — Grammy winner Edwin Hawkins, the gospel star best known for the crossover hit “Oh Happy Day,” has died.

Hawkins died early Monday at his home in Pleasanton, California. He was 74 and had been suffering from pancreatic cancer, publicist Bill Carpenter told The Associated Press.

The Edwin Hawkins Singers reached the top 10 on the pop charts with “Oh Happy Day,” a call and response hymn that began as a local favorite in the San Francisco Bay Area and became an international hit in 1969.

The following year the Hawkins singers backed Melanie on her top 10 hit “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” and won a Grammy for best soul gospel performance for “Oh Happy Day.”

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