Chuck Negron was born on June 8, 1942 in New York City. He grew up in the Bronx. He sang with doo-wop groups from when he was very young. He also played basketball. He played at William Howard Taft High School, and then at at Allan Hancock College, a junior college in Santa Maria, California. This put him in proximity to the music industry in Souther California.
It was in 1967 that Chuck Negron joined Danny Hutton and Cory Wells to form a a group initially called "Redwood." It was under that name that they did some work with Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. It was in 1968 that they stopped using the name "Redwood" and adopted the name 'Three Dog Night." They also hired a group of backing musicians.
Three Dog Night signed with ABC Dunhill Records. Their self-titled debut album was released on October 16, 1968. Their first single, "Nobody," failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100, but their second single, a cover of "Try a Little Tenderness," reached no. 29 on the chart. Their third single, a cover of Harry Nilsson's "One," proved to be their first major hit. It peaked at no. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would be followed by their version of "Easy to Be Hard," which peaked at no. 5 on the chart. This would be the beginning of a string of hits from Three Dog Night which lasted into the Seventies. It was with their cover of Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me Not to Come" that they reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Over the next several years, Three Dog Night would have such hits as "Eli's Coming," "Joy to the World," "An Old Fashioned Love Song," "Black and White," "Shambala," and "The Show Must Go On" among others. As time passed, Three Dog Night's album sales declined. Their 1975 album Coming Down Your Way peaked at no. 70 on the Billboard album chart. Their following album, American Pastime, did even worse. It only reached no. 123 on the chart. Three Dog Night then disbanded in 1976.
Three Dog Night reunited in 1981 and recorded the album It's a Jungle. Chuck Negron remained with the group through 1985. He would record several solo albums, including Am I Still in Your Heart? (1995), Joy to the World (1996), The Chuck Negron Story (2005), and Negron Generations (2017). He continued to tour regularly until the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chuck Negron sang lead vocals on several of Three Dog Night's major hits, including "One," "Easy to Be Hard," "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)," "Joy to the World," and "The Show Must Go On." He had a powerful, tenor voice, that could be both emotive and filled with energy. It was versatile enough that Mr. Negron could sing lead on the heartbreaking "One" and later sing lead on the humorous "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)." His voice also covered several octaves, so that Chuck Negron could reach some very high notes. If Three Dog Night has multiple hits, it is in part due to Chuck Negron's powerful and soulful voice.
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