Mitch Margo, a founding member of The Tokens, the doo-wop foursome behind the mega-hit "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," has died. He was 70. November 24 2017.
Margo died peacefully from natural causes on Friday at his home in Studio City, his nephew, Noah Margo, announced.
Margo was 13 and a first tenor when he and his older brother, Phil Margo, a baritone, hooked up with Jay Siegel and Hank Medress, two of their friends from Brooklyn, to form The Tokens in 1960. (Neil Sedaka had earlier performed with Medress in a group known as The Linc-Tones.)
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight," The Tokens' adaptation of South African singer Solomon Linda's "Mbube" and The Weavers' "Wimoweh" for RCA Victor, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1961 and remained there for three weeks.
The Tokens' other hits in the 1960s included "Tonight I Fell in Love," "I Hear Trumpets Blow," "Portrait of My Love" and "He's in Town," but clearly, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was their most famous tune.