Eric Carmen, who became an icon of early ’70s power pop as the frontman of the Raspberries (“Go All the Way”) before achieving solo success with hits like “All By Myself”, “Make Me Lose Control’, Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” and “Hungry Eyes,” has died at age 74.

From a family of Russian Jewish immigrants, Carmen was born on August 11, 1949 and grew up in Ohio, he was involved with music since early childhood. By the age of two, he was entertaining his parents with impressions of Jimmy Durante and Johnnie Ray.

By the age of three years old , he was in the Dalcroze Eurhythmics program at the Cleveland Institute of Music. At six years old, he took violin lessons from his aunt Muriel Carmen, who was a violinist in the Cleveland Orchestra. By age 11, he was playing piano and dreaming about writing his own songs. The arrival of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones altered his dream slightly.By the time he was a sophomore , Carmen was playing piano and singing in rock bands including the Fugitives, the Harlequins, the Sounds of Silence, and the Cyrus Erie.