Photo: Amy Records / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Del Shannon was born on December 30, 1934 in Coopersville, Michigan, United States. Del Shannon was listed as a singer, singer-songwriter and songwriter. Death is recorded on February 8, 1990, at the age of 55. Listed accolades include Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999).
My Take
Del Shannon is one of those early 60s artists who I feel never quite got the credit he deserved while he was alive — and then "Runaway" just refuses to leave your brain once you've heard it. That falsetto swoop, that eerie musitron keyboard run, the whole brooding teenage heartache of it hitting number one in 1961 and staying there — it's a genuinely strange and brilliant record that sounds like nothing else from the era. What gets me is that he wrote his own material at a time when most pop singers were just handed songs by Tin Pan Alley, and he clearly had real instincts. His influence quietly rippled through everyone from the Beatles to Tom Petty, yet he spent decades on the comeback trail, always just outside the spotlight. The 1999 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction — posthumous, nine years after his death at 55 — felt both deserved and a little bittersweet. We lost him too soon.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Del Shannon
- Name (Japanese)
- デル・シャノン
- Reading
- でる・しゃのん
- Born
- December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Dog
- Origin
- Coopersville, Michigan, United States
- Occupation
- singer / singer-songwriter / songwriter / guitarist / musician
2. Background
Awards & achievements
- 1999 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
3. Links
- Official sitehttps://www.delshannon.com
- Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/allthingsdelshannon/
- Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del%20Shannon
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%87%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A3%E3%83%8E%E3%83%B3
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q323456
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Del Shannon born?
Born December 30, 1934.
When did Del Shannon die?
Died February 8, 1990, aged 55.
Where was Del Shannon from?
Del Shannon was from Coopersville, Michigan, United States.
What did Del Shannon do?
Del Shannon worked as singer, singer-songwriter, songwriter, guitarist, musician.
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