Scott McKenzie, whose 1967 hit single “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” became a flower-child anthem of the Summer of Love, has died. He was 73, and died at his home in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles on Saturday after being ill with Guillain Barre syndrome, a disease that affects the nervous system.
From the Los Angeles Times obit:
"If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair," McKenzie gently sang in his biggest hit, written by his longtime friend, John Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas.
Phillips was inspired to write the song by the large influx of young people to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district and by the "gentleness and the love that he felt in the hippie movement," said Lou Adler, whose Ode Records released "San Francisco."
