Another death has occurred in the Jefferson Airplane family.
Signe Anderson, the original female singer for the group, died January 28 — the same day that founding member Paul Kantner died, Rolling Stone reports.
Anderson was 74.
“One sweet Lady has passed on. I imagine that she and Paul woke up in heaven and said ‘Hey what are you doing here? Let’s start a band’ and no sooner then said Spencer was there joining in!” Jefferson Airplane founder Marty Balin wrote on Facebook, referring to the group’s drummer Spencer Dryden, who died in 2005. “Heartfelt thoughts to all their family and loved ones.”
Anderson appeared on the group’s 1966 debut album “Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.” However, after giving birth to her first child, the singer opted to depart the band that same year, deciding that touring was incompatible with caring for a newborn. She was replaced by Grace Slick, and the band rose to fame with psychedelic classics such as “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.”
Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady remembered Anderson as a “real sweetheart with a terrific contralto voice.” He added that Anderson had recently been moved to hospice care.
“I was just informed of the passing of Signe Anderson, the same day as we lost Paul. Signe was our, Jefferson Airplane’s first female singer. I had been in touch with Signe this past week as she had moved from her home to hospice care,” Casady wrote. “She was a real sweetheart with a terrific contralto voice coming from a solid folk background. Listen to how she made the three part harmonies of JA Takes Off (first album) sound so thick…her wonderful tone between Paul’s and Marty’s. A sad day …..for those of us still here.”