John Sebastian

John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who founded the rock band the Lovin' Spoonful in 1964 with Zal Yanovsky. During his time in the Lovin' Spoonful, Sebastian wrote and sang some of the band's biggest hits such as "Do You Believe in Magic", “Summer in the City”, "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind", and "Daydream". Sebastian left the Spoonful after the 1968 album Everything Playing to focus on a solo career, releasing John B. Sebastian in 1970.

He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and scored a U.S. No. 1 hit in 1976 with "Welcome Back", which was used as the theme song on the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter.

Sebastian was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 as a member of the Lovin' Spoonful.

Sebastian was born in New York City and grew up in Little Italy and Greenwich Village. His father, John Sebastian (né John Sebastian Pugliese), was a noted classical harmonica player, and his mother, Jane (born Mary Jane Bishir), was a radio script writer. His godmother was the actor Vivian Vance, who was a close friend of his mother. His godfather and first babysitter was children's book illustrator Garth Williams, a friend of his father. Eleanor Roosevelt was a neighbor who lived across the hall.

Sebastian grew up surrounded by music and musicians, including Burl Ives and Woody Guthrie, and hearing such players as Lead Belly and Mississippi John Hurt in his own neighborhood. He graduated from Blair Academy, a private boarding school in Blairstown, New Jersey, in 1962. He next attended New York University for just over a year, but dropped out as he became more interested in musical pursuits.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.