Who was Roger Nichols? Grammy-nominated songwriter dies at 84

Grammy-winning songwriter Roger Nichols has died at the age of 84.

The artist was best known for having co-written hit tracks for the Carpenters, including We’ve Only Just Begun, Rainy Days and Mondays, and I Won’t Last a Day Without You.

As reported by Billboard, Nichols died on May 17, lyricist and collaborator Paul Williams revealed in a heartwarming statement on Instagram. While he did not mention a cause of death, he did give a general understanding of how Nichols died.

The Montana native signed to A&M Records in 1968, the same year he dropped his first solo LP, Roger Nichols & the Small Circle of Friends. The LA Times has reported that the album is now widely regarded as a cult classic. It features cameos from Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, and Lenny Waronker.

Nonetheless, the crooner only made his breakthrough as a songwriter when he surprised everyone by penning a bank jingle for a Crocker-Citizens National Bank advertisement.

Roger Nichols' life and legacy explored:

In his statement on Instagram, Paul Williams said of his late collaborator, Roger Nichols:

“The first song Roger Nichols and I wrote was called ‘It’s hard to say goodbye …’ Sadly, we hit the nail on the head. Roger Nichols passed away peacefully four days ago, at home with his beautiful family. His wife Terry and the daughters he was so proud of, Claire and Caitlin at his side.

He added:

“He was as disciplined as he was talented. The words were born of the beauty in his completed melodies. I wrote what I heard, note for note …word for word. The lyrics waiting in the emotion already in his music. He made it easy.”

Roger Nichols’ advertisement track was well received, and shortly after, Richard Carpenter—one-half of the duo with his sister, Karen—saw it and approached Nichols and Williams. The group then extended the track into what is now renowned as the full-length 1970 smash We’ve Only Just Begun, which was also nominated as Song of the Year at the following Grammys.

Back in 2020, during a guest appearance on The Paul Leslie Hour, Nichols noted that he and Williams “hit it off right away,” as he recalled writing two verses for the track at the behest of Crocker Bank:

“They played it on the radio and on television and Richard Carpenter picked up on it,” Nichols said. “He said, ‘Oh, I like that song.’ And in the meantime, Wells Fargo, Crocker Bank had come back and said, 'We want a full song to give to our clientele.' So in the meantime, Paul and I had written the bridge and the last verse ‘We’ve Only Just Begun.’ done. So when Richard called us, I said, ‘We have a full song.’ So we played it for him and the rest is history. Interesting stuff.” “It’s the Carpenters that really launched our career,” he added, according to People Magazine.

Per the outlet, despite his blooming career, Roger Nichols decided to quit songwriting, as he said in 2020, “I pretty much stopped when the music business became so weird.” At the time, Williams described Nichols’ decision as him trying to pursue “another dream.”

“He said, ‘I wanna go fishing… wanna go back to Montana.’ He smiled and said something about having a family and maybe making a home by a nice little river… it was clear that he was already gone,” he wrote. “A few years ago, I visited him and met Terry and the girls at the house by the river … and I knew he found his dream.”

Nichols’ daughter Caitlin also took to Instagram to pen a tribute to her dad, writing:

“He lived his life to the very fullest, loved his family so so much, and impacted the lives of so many people through his music, his work ethic, and his heart, she wrote. “He was a visionary and was an absolute inspiration to life.”

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Nichols' other daughter, Claire, also left a comment on Williams’ post, noting,

“My mom, Terri, and my sisters, Caroline and Caitlin, are all so proud of the man he was, and are in awe of the legacy he leaves.”

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