Alan Merrill (1951-2020) *69

was an American vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, actor and model. In the early 1970s, Merrill was the first Westerner to achieve pop star status in Japan. He was the co-writer of, and lead singer on, the first released version of the song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was recorded by the Arrows in 1975. The song became a breakthrough hit for Joan Jett in 1982.

Merrill was primarily a vocalist and songwriter, but also played the guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, and keyboards. Merrill was born in The Bronx, New York City on February 19, 1951, the son of two jazz musicians, singer Helen Merrill and saxophone/clarinet player Aaron Sachs. He went to Aiglon College in Switzerland from age 9 to 13, a British boarding school. On returning to the United States he attended various schools in New York and Los Angeles, and at Sophia University (a private Jesuit research university in Tokyo, Japan). He started his semi-pro career in New York City aged 14 when he began playing in Greenwich Village's Cafe Wha? with the bands The Kaleidoscope, The Rayne, and Watertower West. The groups played the club during the 1966–1968 period.

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