Dave Loggins, Grammy-nominated singer of “Please Come to Boston,” dies at 76

Singer-songwriter Dave Loggins, who had a hit in 1974 with the soft rock hit “Please Come to Boston,” has died. He was 76 years old.

Loggins, a Grammy-nominated member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, died Wednesday, July 10, at Alive Hospice in Nashville, according to an obituary posted in The Tennessean.

The musician was best known as the author and singer of “Augusta,” the theme song of the Golf Masters Tournament, and for his groundbreaking hit “Please Come to Boston” from the 1970s, which made it into the top 5 of the Billboard It stayed on the Hot 100 for two weeks and received a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

The inspiration for the song came after a tour with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1972, during which he stopped in Boston, Denver and Los Angeles.

Loggins was born in Shady Valley, Tennessee, and grew up in Bristol, according to his obituary. His father was a country fiddle player and the musician, a second cousin of Kenny Loggins, began playing guitar and writing songs in high school.

“I spent every free minute listening to records for hours at night,” he said in Everything about singing with Judy Rodman Podcast in 2021. “I did my homework, had dinner, then went upstairs to my room, closed the door and went into a trance-like state… My subconscious was studying the structures of the songs.”

According to the Hall of Fame, Loggins briefly worked as a draftsman at a metal company and as an insurance agent, but eventually moved to Nashville to live with his brother. He released his debut album, Personal belongingsin 1972.

“Nashville was tough because if there weren’t country songs there, people didn’t want to hear them,” he said, according to the Hall. “I spent a couple of tough years there.”

Nevertheless, his breakthrough came in 1973 when Three Dog Night recorded his song “Pieces of April” and made it a top 20 hit.

Loggins released numerous albums in the 1970s, but eventually returned to songwriting and, according to his obituary, enjoyed success writing hits for Music City’s biggest stars, including Johnny Cash, Toby Keith, Willie Nelson and Wynonna Judd.

In 1985, he won the CMA Award for Vocal Duo of the Year for “Nobody Loves Me Like You Do,” his No. 1 duet with Anne Murray.

Loggins leaves behind his three sons Quinn, Kyle and Dylan and his grandson Braxton.