Libby Titus—Singer-Songwriter & Wife of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen—Dies at 77

Libby Titus, a singer-songwriter and actor whose collaborators included Burt Bacharach, Carly Simon and Dr. John, died Oct. 13, 2024. No cause or place of death has been reported. Titus was 77.

She is best known as the co-composer (with Eric Kaz) of “Love Has No Pride,” a song that she recorded in 1977. It has been covered by Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt and Australian singer Daryl Braithwaite, whose version was a top 5 hit in that country in 1977.

Titus’ death was announced by her husband, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, who posted on the band’s website. “My beautiful wife, Libby Titus Fagen, passed on October 13th surrounded by family. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts, and for respecting our privacy at this time.”

Titus was the mother of Amy Helm, a singer-songwriter whose father, the Band’s late Levon Helm, was Titus’ partner from 1969 throughout most of the ’70s.

Born July 6, 1947, in Woodstock, N.Y., Titus released her self-titled debut album, featuring all covers, in 1968. She subsequently worked as a backup singer for artists including Martin Mull before recording her sophomore album, also-self-titled, in 1977. Although that album, her last, boasted four well-known producers—Phil Ramone, Robbie Robertson, Paul Simon and Carly Simon—it failed to chart; none of Titus’ other recordings were commercially successful either, despite receiving mostly positive reviews in the music press.

According to her Wikipedia profile, Titus “is the subject of Carly Simon’s song ‘Libby’ from the [latter’s[ album Another Passenger (1976), to which Titus also contributed vocals. She inspired Dr. John’s piano composition ‘Pretty Libby’ from the 1983 album The Brightest Smile in Town.” The website also notes, “Carly Simon’s 1979 album Spy included ‘Love You by Heart,’ a song Simon wrote with Titus and Jacob Brackman. Titus later wrote ‘The Sailor and the Mermaid’ with Brackman and sang it with Dr. John on the Sesame Street album In Harmony (1980).”

In the late ’70s, Titus co-wrote five songs with Burt Bacharach, two of which appeared on the latter’s album Woman. In 1981, Titus collaborated again with Dr. John on music for Robert Frank’s film Energy and How to Get It, and performed the song in the film. Titus also appeared in Mike Nichols’ film Heartburn and Penny Marshall’s Awakenings.

In 1987, Titus met Fagen and two years later they began working together in a short-lived group called the New York Rock and Soul Revue. The two wrote songs together, and married in 1993. In 2016, the couple made the news when Fagen allegedly shoved Titus against a window frame in their Manhattan home and injured her. Although she announced that they would divorce, they reconciled and were still married at the time of Titus’ death.

Related: Musicians we’ve lost in 2024

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Jeff Tamarkin

Best Classic Bands Editor Jeff Tamarkin has been a prolific music journalist for more than four decades. He is formerly the editor of Goldmine, CMJ and Relix magazines, has written for dozens of other publications and has authored liner notes for more than 80 CDs. Jeff has also served on the Nominating Committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and as a consultant to the Grammys. His first book was 'Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane.' He is also the co-author of 'Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc.,' with Howard Kaylan.

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