Dave Burgess, the guitarist and leader of rock and roll group, The Champs has passed away at the age of 90.According to his obituary, Burgess died on October 19 in Dover, Tennessee. He was preceded in death by his parents and stepfather, his wife, Deon and his daughter Charmaine. He is survived by his son, David. A celebration of life service was held in his memory on November 8, 2025, at Anglin Funeral Home.The legendary musician had a prolific career spanning over six decades in the music industry. His last album was Tequila Party, released in November 2020. The album featured twelve tracks which included seven new compositions written by Burgess himself. It also consisted of The Champs’ interpretation of Watermelon Man, Peter Gunn, Oye Como Va, Green Onions and a reimagined version of their signature song, Tequila Party. Continue reading for more details.Exploring more details about the career of Dave BurgessDave Burgess was a musician, songwriter and producer. He was born on December 3, 1934, in Los Angeles, California, to Sigmund and Mariet (nee Davidson) Eck. He was then raised by his mother and stepfather, Austin “Tex” Burgess, from the age of four. He used his stepfather’s last name as his stage name by adding an additional “s” at the end.Burgess began his professional music career in 1953, at the age of 19, when he recorded for OKeh Records. During that time, he recorded several singles for the Tops label. He also recorded for Challenge Records under the name Dave Dupre' in the late 1950s, including the songs Fire In The Eyes and Don't Cry For You I Love.Dave Burgess formed The Champs primarily as a studio group to record a B-side for a record he was working on at Challenge Records. In addition to Dave Burgess, the band members include Danny Flores (aka Danny Flores; sax, piano), Cliff Hills (bass), Buddy Bruce (lead guitar), and Gene Alden (drums).His best-selling song, Tequilla sold more than six million records worldwide. It also earned him a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance at the first-ever Grammy Awards ceremony in 1959. Tequila was formed spontaneously during a recording session when Burgess and other artists needed a B-side for his single Train to Nowhere.In an interview, Flores shared how he came up with a catchy melody for the song. He said:“I used to use it as a break song and I used to drink tequila, and the people used to tell me, ‘you ought to write a song about that drink.’ Then, when the time came that we were gonna use it as a B-side, I figured, why don’t we call it ‘Tequila’?”After The Champs disbanded in 1965, Dave Burgess continued his musical career. He has over 700 copyrights registered with BMI. His songs were recorded by major artists such as Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Lou Rawls, Glen Campbell, Marty Robbins, and many others. He also worked as a producer and produced albums for Don McLean, Darlene Love, and Marty Balin.On the personal front, Dave Burgess was married to his wife, Deon Adair Raab, who was a professional dancer and actress. They adopted two children - David Leith Burgess and Charmaine Adair Burgess.After leaving Hollywood in the early ‘70s, they moved to Montana, where they ran an art gallery that featured Western and Native American art.