Richard Burton "Rich" Cronin (August 30, 1975 – September 8, 2010) was an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and primary songwriter for the pop group Lyte Funky Ones or LFO.
LFO
Cronin was the founding member of the pop group LFO. The group’s breakout hit "Summer Girls", was written by Cronin in 1999, hit #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales chart for six weeks. The single also went platinum in the US with sales of over 1,000,000 units. The group disbanded in 2002.
Illness and death of Rich Cronin
In March 2005, Cronin went to the hospital after suffering from constant headaches. He was diagnosed with a form of leukemia known as acute myelogenous leukemia. He was given chemotherapy at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. In January 2006 he went into remission. He started his own foundation called the Rich Cronin Hope Foundation to raise awareness about the deadly disease; making it his mission to educate people about the urgent need for donating blood, and even more so, bone marrow.
In the summer of 2010, his condition worsened, and he was admitted for further treatment at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. On the afternoon of September 8, 2010, Rich Cronin died in the hospital after suffering a stroke, at the age of 35.
Summer Girls by LFO