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Joe Feeney, singer for 'Lawrence Welk Show,' dies

The Associated Press

April 24, 2008

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LOS ANGELES - Joe Feeney, a tenor who crooned "Danny Boy" and other standards for 25 years on "The Lawrence Welk Show," died yesterday. He was 76.

Feeney died of emphysema at a hospice in Carlsbad, Calif., son Tim Feeney said. The elder Feeney lived in San Marcos in San Diego County. The family believes Feeney, who they said never smoked, may have contracted the illness from decades of performing in smoky casinos and nightclubs, his son said.

From 1957-82, Feeney was the featured tenor on Welk's show, which offered easy-listening "champagne music" and clean-cut, family-oriented songs. The shows are still broadcast on public television stations.

Beside the show, Feeney sang for five presidents at the White House and for Pope Paul VI in 1975 at the Vatican, according to his Web site.