Terry Kirkman

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title: "Terry Kirkman" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1939-births", "2023-deaths", "american-male-singer-songwriters", "american-pop-musicians", "capitol-records-artists", "deaths-from-congestive-heart-failure-in-california", "people-from-salina,-kansas", "singer-songwriters-from-kansas", "the-association-members"] description: "American singer (1939–2023)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Kirkman" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American singer (1939–2023) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Terry Kirkman
image	Terry Kirkman.png
landscape
caption	Kirkman in 1966
background	solo_singer
birth_name	Terry Robert Kirkman
birth_date
birth_place	Salina, Kansas, U.S.
origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Montclair, California, U.S.
genre
instruments
occupation
years_active	{{flatlist
past_member_of	The Association
::

| name = Terry Kirkman | image = Terry Kirkman.png | image_size = | landscape = | alt = | caption = Kirkman in 1966 | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Terry Robert Kirkman | native_name = | native_name_lang = | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = Salina, Kansas, U.S. | origin = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Montclair, California, U.S. | genre = | instruments = | occupation = | years_active = {{flatlist|

• 1964–1984
• 2019 | label = | past_member_of = The Association | associated_acts = | website =

Terry Robert Kirkman (December 12, 1939 – September 23, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as a vocalist and multi instrumentalist for the pop group The Association and the writer of several of the band's hit songs such as "Cherish", "Everything That Touches You", and "Six Man Band". As a member of The Association, he was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.

Early life

Terry Robert Kirkman was born in Salina, Kansas, on December 12, 1939, and was raised in Chino, California. His parents both had a musical background. His father Gordon had performed in bands as a soprano saxophone player and singer, and his mother Lois played the organ and piano at church and in silent film theaters. He first learned how to play brass instruments as a child, during the Second World War. After graduating from Chino High School in 1957, he attended Chaffey College as a music major. He met Frank Zappa in college and they performed together at local coffeehouses from 1959 to 1961.

The Association

Main article: The Association

As a salesman visiting Hawaii in 1962, Kirkman met Jules Alexander, who was in the United States Navy at the time, and the two resolved to meet when Alexander would be discharged from his military duties.

Kirkman moved to Los Angeles with Alexander in 1963. Kirkman and Alexander founded the folk group the Inner Tubes, which at one time included both Cass Elliot and David Crosby. The Inner Tubes slowly grew from a small group into a 13-piece band called the Men.

The Men disbanded in February 1965 and Kirkman and five other members formed their own band. To find a new name, they perused a dictionary and chose "the Association" after it was suggested by Kirkman's fiancée. The Association quickly gained fame with their songs "Cherish" and "Along Comes Mary" from their 1966 debut album And Then... Along Comes the Association.

In 1966, a collection of poems penned by the six members of the Association was released as the book Crank Your Spreaders, this was reprinted in August 1969.

Kirkman contributed vocals to many songs, including "Never My Love", "Cherish", and "Everything That Touches You". He performed with the group at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. His "Requiem for the Masses", a song written about the war in Vietnam, featured requiem-style vocals.

The Association were nominated for a Grammy Award six times, three times each in the 9th (1967) and 10th Annual Grammy Awards (1968).

Kirkman left the Association at the end of 1972, and returned when the band was reformed in 1979, after previously splitting up the year before. After growing tired of touring, Kirkman left the band in 1984. Subsequently, on rare occasions he performed in guest appearances with the band. He was present when he and the Association's other surviving members were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003 and when the band were recipients of the Rock Justice Awards on January 19, 2019, at The Village in Los Angeles.

A series of interviews that he and Jules Alexander took part in, in early 2023, were released in separate parts, starting on September 1, 2023. The fourth part of these interviews was released a day before his death.

Personal life and death

In the years following his departure from the Association, Kirkman retired from the music industry and worked in California as an addiction counselor.

Kirkman lived in Montclair, California, with his wife Heidi. He died from congestive heart failure on September 23, 2023, at age 83, following a long illness.

Discography

Main article: The Association#Discography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/The_Association.JPG" caption="Terry Kirkman (bottom right) with [[The Association]] in 1968."] ::

Albums

::data[format=table]

Title	Year
And Then... Along Comes the Association	1966
Renaissance	1966
Insight Out	1967
Birthday	1968
The Association	1969
Stop Your Motor	1971
Waterbeds in Trinidad!	1972
::

Nominations

As a member of the Association, he was nominated for a Grammy Award six times, three times each in the 9th and 10th Annual Grammy Awards:

[[9th Annual Grammy Awards]] (1967)

::data[format=table]

Category	Song	Note
Best Contemporary Group Performance	Cherish	title=Terry Kirkman – Grammy
Best Contemporary Recording	Cherish
Best Performance By A Vocal Group	Cherish
::

[[10th Annual Grammy Awards]] (1968)

::data[format=table]

Category	Song/Album	Note
Best Contemporary Group Performance	Windy
Best Contemporary Album	Insight Out
Best Performance By A Vocal Group	Never My Love
::

References

References

1. (September 26, 2023). "Terry Kirkman, Whose Band Was a Late-1960s Hit Machine, Dies at 83". The New York Times.
2. (September 25, 2023). "The Association's Terry Kirkman Dies at 83".
3. Gebroe, Dave. (September 1, 2023). "110. 1960S SOFT POP BAND THE ASSOCIATION'S 2 FOUNDING MEMBERS RATE EVERYTHING THEY EVER RELEASED IN AN UNPRECEDENTED, SHOCKING 13-HR INTERVIEW (W/ TERRY KIRKMAN & JULES ALEXANDER) – PART 1 (1962–1966)".
4. "1959-1961: Notes & Comments".
5. (July 13, 2011). "Where Have All the Pop Stars Gone? – Volume 1". EditPros LLC.
6. (August 1969). "Crank Your Spreaders". [[Price Stern Sloan]].
7. "Monterey Pop Festival 1967 Setlists".
8. McGlynn, Tim. "Terry Kirkman – Requiem for the Masses". [[Schaumburg High School]].
9. "The Association – The Vocal Group Hall of Fame".
10. (January 23, 2019). "ROCK JUSTICE AWARD given to The Association". The Fourth Way World.
11. Gebroe, Dave. (September 22, 2023). "113. 1960S SOFT POP BAND THE ASSOCIATION'S 2 FOUNDING MEMBERS RATE EVERYTHING THEY EVER RELEASED IN AN UNPRECEDENTED, SHOCKING 13-HR INTERVIEW (W/ TERRY KIRKMAN & JULES ALEXANDER) – PART 4 (1971–2023)".
12. "Terry Kirkman".
13. (2023-09-24). "Terry Kirkman, Co-Founder of the Association, and Composer of 'Cherish,' Dies".
14. (September 24, 2023). "Singer-songwriter Terry Kirkman, founding member of the Association, dies at 83". Los Angeles Times.
15. "Terry Kirkman – Grammy".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::