PHILADELPHIA - Robert Hazard, a songwriter and musician from Philadelphia who wrote the 1983 Cyndi Lauper hit "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," has died. He was 59.
Hazard died Tuesday subsequently a abbreviated illness, his record tag, Rykodisc, said in a statement.
Hazard�s wife, Susan, told The Philadelphia Inquirer her husband died unexpectedly after surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Hazard, born Robert Rimato, led the band Robert Hazard and the Heroes, a fixing in Philadelphia clubs through the mid-1980s. In an online poster a few years ago, he recalled how he got his big break in 1982 when music journalist Kurt Loder, wHO was in town to review a Rolling Stones concert, happened to check into a bar where he was performing.
"I stayed up talk with him till 5 o�clock in the morning. The future month, at that place was a two-page spreading in Rolling Stone magazine, pictures and all, raving about the band. Soon after that, we were signed to RCA Records," Hazard wrote.
His song "Escalator of Life" became a hit soon after.
Recently, he has played country music with a band called The Hombres. His in style album, "Troubadour," was released in October.
"Robert had the unique talent of portrayal individual moments in life through brilliant lyrical imaging," Ruby Marchand, head of A&R at Rykodisc, aforesaid in a statement. "His songwriting was timeless and eloquent. As a vocalist, the nuances he brought to his performances were unforgettable."
In recent years, Hazard and his wife ran an antique shop good their home in Old Forge, N.Y.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a girl from his first wedding, Corrina, and teenage sons Rex and Remy.
Plans for memorial services were uncomplete Wednesday.
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