Chip Taylor

At a glance

Born 1940-03-21; died 2026-03-23.

Known as: songwriter, singer, singer-songwriter, record producer, and composer. Citizenship: United States.

Listed as: human.

Who they were

Personal life and death By Taylor's own accounts, from 1980 through 1995, he was very successful at, but unhappily addicted to, gambling professionally on blackjack in New Jersey casinos and on horse races . He returned to music, starting by singing to his dying mother, Barbara Voight. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Taylor has said that the gambling addiction was hard on both himself and his family. He has written that, after having an epiphany,

James Wesley Voight, known professionally as Chip Taylor, was an American songwriter and singer. He is noted for writing "Angel of the Morning" and "Wild Thing".

Early life

Educated at: University of Hartford and Archbishop Stepinac High School.

Early life Taylor was born in Yonkers, New York , on March 21, 1940. He was the brother of actor Jon Voight and geologist Barry Voight and the uncle of actress Angelina Jolie and actor James Haven . [ 1 ] Taylor and his brothers attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York . [ 2 ] In 1961, Taylor attended the University of Hartford in Hartford, Connecticut , for one year. [ citation needed ] After an unsuccessful attempt to become a professional golfer like his father,

Path and career

Career As songwriter Taylor wrote many pop and rock songs, both alone and with other songwriters, including Al Gorgoni (with whom he also performed, as the duo Just Us ), [ 1 ] Billy Vera , Ted Daryll , and Jerry Ragovoy . [ citation needed ] He first freelanced and was later an employee of a New York City music publisher. [ 1 ] His first big hit was " Wild Thing ", first recorded in 1965 by Jordan Christopher and the Wild Ones .

Why this date

Chip Taylor appears on our March 23 calendar for 2026 as a death entry.