# Musician Leon Redbone dead at 69 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [May 30, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785 "2019-05-30T16:52:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/21 "2019-05-31T12:39:04Z")
> [@txjim](#): > > I saw him when he opened for Tom Waits in the 70s. … Wow - must’ve been an incredible show. 2 great artists, both of whom I first saw as a teen on late-night TV. That kinda shit really warps your musical tastes lifelong! Champagne Charlie’s my name… ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/22 "2019-05-31T13:03:55Z")
I saw him twice when he opened for Leo Kottke in 1982. He was certainly a singular performer. I remember smiling and laughing throughout at the way he would phrase songs and throw in odd vocal gymnastics, and his guitar playing involved funny little flourishes. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/23 "2019-05-31T13:08:12Z")
The Beatles may have written _Sheik of Araby_, but Redbone delivered it. The world is a duller place without him. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/24 "2019-05-31T14:18:56Z")
> [@txjim](#): > > I saw him when he opened for Tom Waits in the 70s. Took a Polaroid photo of the audience then used a flashlight to compare faces to the image. > > He was great and I can’t think of a better matched pair of artists I saw him on that same tour, opening for Tom Waits at Alex Cooley’s Electric Ballroom in Atanta. Did the same thing with the Polaroid camera. This was in ‘78 or ‘79. Saw him again in the early 80’s at Chastain Park in Atlanta opening for Jerry Jeff Walker. Again, took a Polaroid of the audience. He was so talented and so cool! RIP ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/25 "2019-05-31T14:32:31Z")
Very sad news. I’ve been a fan since his appearances in the first season of Saturday Night Live in 1976. I own all of his albums and have seen him in person more often than any other performer, perhaps a dozen times. I’ve spoken to some of musicians he performed with, and they all said he was no different off stage than he was on. People who have met him in real life, for instance, at the Martin guitar factory near his home in Pennsylvania, say the same thing. Was that really him, or was he the greatest performance artist of all time, making his whole life (at least outside the privacy of his own home) a work of art? We’ll never know, and clearly that’s how he wanted it. A true one-of-a-kind, and much missed. The world’s a less happy place without Leon Redbone. Riddle Films made a short film about him last year, and [they’ve just put it online](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngas6KfP3s0&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1Rcn2DY75ieua_M4hXwwgs_-eaS31iaXkrwgqAtvOEtcvJj5S_PkRK4gw). They are also working on a longer version. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/26 "2019-05-31T14:41:53Z")
Now that Leon is gone, won’t someone please tell me what Diddie Wa Diddie means? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/27 "2019-05-31T14:43:45Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > The Beatles may have written _Sheik of Araby_… [Am I being whooshed?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sheik_of_Araby) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/28 "2019-05-31T14:44:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Now that Leon is gone, won’t someone please tell me what Diddie Wa Diddie means? Now that he’s gone, no one will \*ever \*know. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/29 "2019-05-31T16:09:27Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > [Story here](https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ny-leon-redbone-dead-20190530-v2bmoz4f3ba3fcjciintyscihy-story.html). > > Not only a fine musician, but he managed to create a persona and keep his past a sevret for decades. Very little is known about his pre-Redborn days. > > And he was _good_ I rode with him back to his hotel one night after a gig at a college venue in Pittsburgh. He stayed in character the whole time. Fascinating guy. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/30 "2019-05-31T16:14:28Z")
When I broke this news to my gf she teared up a bit, a rarity for her (her heart is cold and black, as she was born without the gene for empathy). ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/31 "2019-05-31T17:23:18Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > [Am I being whooshed?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sheik_of_Araby) Nah. Safest bet is always I’m just stupid. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/32 "2019-05-31T18:43:07Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Nah. Safest bet is always I’m just stupid. I didn’t know the Beatles had ever done it, so thanks for that! (I prefer Leon’s version.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/33 "2019-05-31T19:32:29Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Now that Leon is gone, won’t someone please tell me what Diddie Wa Diddie means? [If you don’t know by now, don’t mess with it.](https://comixjoint.com/6_site_graphics/*Covers/2_Underground/zap1-2ndb.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/34 "2019-05-31T21:28:09Z")
Will his death make it easier to learn who he was before he became Leon Redbone? I’ve always been curious to know where and how such a talent came to be. ETA: Is the wikipedia entry on him credible? It sounds convincing, but wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musician-leon-redbone-dead-at-69/834785/35 "2019-06-01T00:04:07Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Will his death make it easier to learn who he was before he became Leon Redbone? I’ve always been curious to know where and how such a talent came to be. > > ETA: Is the wikipedia entry on him credible? It sounds convincing, but wikipedia. It’s as credible as we could make it about someone who worked very hard to hide any and all information about himself. I took [the photo that is currently on the page](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Leon_Redbone_at_Knuckleheads_Saloon-Kansas_City_MO.png), by the way. Megan Pugh wrote an excellent profile of him for the Oxford American that is about as authoritative on him as anything will ever be. > **[Vessel of Antiquity](https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-104-spring-2019/vessel-of-antiquity)** > > \