NEW YORK — Singer-songwriter Carly Simon is mourning the loss of her two sisters this week.
Broadway composer Lucy Simon died of breast cancer Thursday at age 82, and former opera singer Joanna Simon, 84, lost her battle with thyroid cancer the day before.
Born into wealth as the children of Simon & Schuster publisher Richard Simon in New York City during the 1940s, all three siblings were successful in their professional music pursuits.
Lucy Simon launched her music career in the 1960s when she performed alongside Carly in Greenwich Village and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Under the moniker Simon Sisters, the duo recorded the 1964 song “Wynken, Blynken & Nod” based on Eugene Field’s children’s 1889 children’s poem.
As a solo artist, the former nursing school alum went on to record albums in the mid 1970s. Simon co-produced two Grammy Award winning children’s albums — 1981′s “In Harmony: A Sesame Street Record” and 1983′s “Harmony 2″ — with her husband David Levine.
In 1991, Lucy composed the acclaimed Broadway musical “The Secret Garden,” which led to a Tony Award nomination for best original score. Years later, she crafted the music for the theatrical adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s epic novel “Doctor Zhivago,” which landed on Broadway in 2015.
Joanna Simon, 84, gained notoriety in the opera world with a performance and concert career that spanned nearly 25 years.
Making her debut at the New York City Opera in 1962 as Cherubino in Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro,” the mezzo-soprano took on the titular role in the world premiere of Thomas Pasatieri’s “Black Widow” at the Seattle Opera In 1972.
Carly Simon, 77, who is also a children;s book writer, rose to pop music stardom in the 1970s with a string of hits including “Anticipation,” “You’re So Vain” and “I Haven’t Got Time for the Pain.”
