Chip Taylor, the Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee who wrote two of the most covered songs in the history of popular music, died Monday in hospice care. He was 86. Born James Wesley Voight on March 21, 1940 in Yonkers, New York, Taylor leaves behind a catalog that touched virtually every corner of American music, from garage rock to country to R&B, and a legacy that will outlast most of what gets written in any given decade.
“Wild Thing” came first. Written in minutes at the request of a producer working with Jordan Christopher and the Wild Ones, the song’s raw simplicity made it irresistible. The Troggs took it to number one in July 1966. Jimi Hendrix performed it at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and set his guitar on fire when he was done. X recorded it. It appeared in Major League. Taylor considered it the beginning of punk. “It’s simple and it feels good,” he said. “It’s sweaty. Sweaty things are good.”
“Angel of the Morning” followed a different arc. First recorded by Evie Sands in 1967, it reached number seven with Merrilee Rush in 1968, then became a million-selling number four hit for Juice Newton in 1981, the first country song to play on MTV. Shaggy sampled it for his 2001 hit “Angel.” It opened Deadpool. Nina Simone, Olivia Newton-John, and the Pretenders all recorded versions. The song simply refused to stop finding new audiences.
Taylor’s catalog extended well beyond those two landmarks. Janis Joplin opened her debut album with his “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder).” Linda Ronstadt popularized “I Can’t Let Go.” Willie Nelson recorded “He Sits at Your Table.” Frank Sinatra, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, and Marshall Crenshaw all covered his songs. He signed both Billy Vera and James Taylor as a staff writer at April-Blackwood Music, CBS’s publishing arm, and formed Rainy Day Records with Al Gorgoni in 1967, releasing the Flying Machine single that first introduced James Taylor to the world.
Between 1981 and 1995, Taylor walked away from music entirely to become a professional gambler, counting cards and betting horses until casinos banned him from their floors. He returned to music in 1995, launched his own Train Wreck Records in 2007, and spent the final decades of his career making intimate Americana records, often alongside singer-violinist Carrie Rodriguez. His 2012 album carried the title that said everything about his personality. His final album, ‘The Truth And Other Things’, came out in 2025. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016, with his brother Jon Voight present to mark the occasion.
Taylor is survived by his children Kelly and Kristian, his grandchildren, his brother Jon Voight, and his brother Barry Voight. His wife Joan passed away in June 2025. He was 86 years old and had been writing songs since he was a teenager sitting in the Brill Building, certain that music was the only place he ever wanted to be.