Folk Singer David Olney Dies While Performing At Music Festival

KEY POINTS

Renowned folk singer David Olney passed away at the age of 71 while performing live music
Amy Rugby was besides him when the incident occurred and noted that at first they believed he was taking a moment
Doctors tried to revive him but failed to do so

Renowned singer-songwriter David Olney has passed away at the age of 71 while performing on stage at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida.

According to Variety, the 71-year-old folk singer was in the middle of a performance when suddenly his head dropped after falling silent during the show. The publication also reported that Olney became really still in the middle of his act and his teammates thought he was taking a break to regain his energy.

But when he did not move and was unable to answer the people on stage, everyone realized what has happened and quickly took him off the stage.

The first person to know about it was Amy Rigby, who was sitting next to him and performing when the incident occurred.

Rigby recalled the incident on Facebook and noted that Olney suddenly stopped in the middle of his third track and apologized to her for stopping. This was when he closed his eyes. Rugby thought that he was taking a moment to have his mojo back and was talking about his "hat" with the people listening to their performance.

"He was very still, sitting upright with his guitar on, wearing the coolest hat and a beautiful rust suede jacket we laughed about because it was raining like hell outside the boathouse where we were playing — I just want the picture to be as graceful and dignified as it was, because it at first looked like he was just taking a moment,” she recalled.

See posts, photos and more on Facebook.

As soon as they found that something was not right, they immediately got Olney down from the stage and called the doctors to check on him. But sadly, they were unable to revive him. Rigby was broken and stated that the world has lost someone really "important" in the form of Olney.

“Scott Miller had the presence of mind to say we needed to revive him. Doctors in the audience and 30A folks were all working so hard to get him to come to. We all lost someone important last night," Rigby said.

Olney was perhaps one of the biggest music personalities coming from Nashville. Considered as a legend in Americana communities, Olney record over 20 albums throughout his career.

The late musician is survived by wife, Regine, daughter, Lillian, and son, Redding.