On This Day in 1981, Grammy Hall of Famer Harry Chapin Passed Away While en Route To Perform at a Free Benefit Concert

Remembered for his hit songs like “Taxi” and “Cat’s in the Cradle”, Harry Chapin watched his fame in the music industry hit new heights during the 1970s. His accomplishments within the studio led him to sell over 16 million albums and gain entry into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Outside of his music career, the singer also supported many humanitarian efforts, like fighting world hunger. With his career on the rise, Chapin sadly passed away on July 16, 1981, at the age of 38 when struck by a semi-trailer truck. 

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At the time of Chapin’s death, the singer drove on the Long Island Expressway, making his way to the free benefit concert at the Lakeside Theater. During that time, the songwriter put his emergency blinkers on as his vehicle started to decelerate. While trying to make it to the emergency lane in his 1975 Volkswagen Rabbit, a semi-trailer hit his car. 

The impact of the crash completely crushed Chapin’s car as the truck dragged the vehicle hundreds of feet down the road. Onlookers quickly rushed to the scene, helping pull Chapin from his vehicle. Even with first responders life-flighting Chapin to a nearby hospital, the songwriter was pronounced dead from internal bleeding. 

[RELATED: Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo to Be Honored for Their Charitable Efforts with WhyHunger’s ASCAP Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award]

Widow Of Harry Chapin Keeps His Legacy Alive

With many within the music industry celebrating his legacy and contributions to fighting world hunger, Chapin received the Congressional Gold Medal after his passing. 

Laid to rest at the Huntington Rural Cemetery in New York, His gravestone featured lyrics from his 1978 hit song “I Wonder What Would Happen to the World.” Centered around the importance of a single life, the gravestone read, “Oh, if a man tried to take his time on Earth and prove before he died what one man’s life could be worth, I wonder what would happen to this world.”  

Keeping his legacy alive, his widow, Sandra Chapin, is the chair of the Harry Chapin Foundation. She continued to work with his son, Josh, at the foundation alongside other family members. At the time of Chapin’s death, Sandra won $12 million from a lawsuit against the company that owned the trucks, Supermarkets General. 

With his contributions to music still entertaining music lovers all over the world, his hit “Cat’s in the Cradle” gained over 186 million streams on Spotify.

(Photo by Jeremy Grayson/Radio Times/Getty Images)