SANTA ROSA (KRON) – A singer-songwriter behind the 1969 rock hit “Spirit in the Sky” has been critically injured in a Northern California car accident that killed a motorcyclist.
72-year-old Norman Greenbaum wrote and sang the hit song featured in 50 movies and several TV shows.
Sgt. David Derczo of the California Highway Patrol tells the newspaper that Greenbaum, a longtime resident of Santa Rosa, was the passenger of a Subaru Outback on Saturday afternoon that turned left, crossing into the motorcycle’s path.
Derczo says the motorcycle’s 20-year-old driver, Ihab Usama Halaweh, died at the scene; his passenger was also critically injured.
The newspaper says Greenbaum and the motorcycle passenger are being treated at a hospital.
Officials say the car’s driver was not injured; alcohol isn’t suspected.