Mentor Williams, the award-winning US songwriter behind the 1970s hit Drift Away, which became a soulful rock n' roll anthem aired on radio stations for generations, has died in Taos, New Mexico, at age 70, his brother says.
Actor and songwriter Paul Williams, who is the president of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), confirmed that his brother Mentor Williams died on Wednesday morning after battling lung cancer.
Paul Williams, who is 76, said he was with his brother when he died at home in northern New Mexico.
"It seemed the closer we got to his death the more absolute joy he claimed to feel," the elder Williams said. "He was an amazingly kind, big-hearted cowboy."
Mentor Williams' Drift Away was sung by pop artist Dobie Gray in 1973 and reached No. 5 on the Billboard charts that year.
