Bob Flanigan, Member of the Four Freshmen, Dead at 84 - Spinner

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Bob Flanigan, a tenor and multi-instrumentalist in the jazz vocal group the Four Freshmen, died Sunday, May 15. The 84-year-old passed away at his Las Vegas home due to congestive heart failure, theAPreports.

The Four Freshmen began in 1948 when Flanigan, his cousins Ross and Don Barbour, and Hal Kratzsch were students at Indiana's Butler University. Best known for hits such as 'It's a Blue World' and 'Mood Indigo,' the jazz harmony group was nominated for six Grammys and released over 50 albums. Aside from his vocal duties, Flanigan played bass and trombone in the band.

"Flanigan's voice was indestructible,"Ross Barbour told the AP."He could drive all day and all night without stopping between gigs, and when our voices were on the edge Bob was still in full form."

Ross is now the only surviving original member of the Four Freshmen, as his brother died in 1961 and Kratzsch passed away in 1970. Flanigan retired from performing in 1992, but remained involved in the current incarnations of the group.

Flanigan is survived by his wife, Mary, six children and 15 grandchildren.

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