CTVNews is reporting that Les Emmerson, the beloved and talented musician who wrote a song that defined a generation and led the Five Man Electrical Band to international stardom, died Friday, December 10, in an Ottawa hospital. The musician, loving husband, father and rock and roll song writing icon was 77.

"He had underlying health conditions that made him additionally vulnerable to COVID," said wife of 34 years, Monik Emmerson, who Les affectionately called "his manager, photographer, his everything."

Monik Emmerson said her husband was double vaccinated and always extremely cautious. He had been in the hospital for other health challenges over the past year. Emmerson contracted COVID in November. He died in the ICU at the Queensway Carleton Hospital.

Fifty years ago, Emmerson’s hit song "Signs", about the sign that said, "Long-haired freaky people need not apply' became a number one hit, selling 1.5 million copies. Its chorus about seeing signs everywhere became a canon of rock and roll.

"Signs" was famously covered and recorded live by Tesla for their Five Man Acoustical Jam album in 1990.

Family and a small circle of Emmerson’s closest friends (Emmerson had a lot of friends) gathered at Emmerson’s home Saturday night, all shaken and raw from the news of his death.

"I don’t think I’m processing this quite yet," said Rick Smithers, Five Man bandmate, sound engineer, and close friend. "I really thought he was going to pull through. I thought Les has so much to live for. There’s no way he’s going anywhere. I’ll say three things about Les: He loved his family. He loved his friends and he loved his music."

Emmerson was a rock star in every aspect of his life. His relationships are testament to that.  

"I think of Les as the Will Rogers of Canadian rock and roll. I don’t think there was ever a man he met that he didn’t like," said Mike Crepin, one of his dearest friends, musician, and golf buddy.

"He was friendly with everybody and everybody was his friend."

Read more, and watch a video report, at CTVNews.