Classic Lounge Singer Jimmy Damon Dies at 75

The singer who inspired Bill Murray's classic
'Nick the Lounge Singer' character passed away
on his 75th birthday after battling a rare heart
disease.
Jimmy
Damon,
one of
Chicago's
most
beloved
nightlife
singers,
has passed
away. The
well-known
crooner in
cabaret music scene died late Saturday, April
27, which happened to be his 75th birthday,
after battling a rare heart disease.
He died at Rush University Medical Center's
Horizon Hospice Care Unit on South Paulina
Ave. while being treated for cardiac
amyloidosis. He is survived by his wife, his
daughters Alexa Damon-Soegaard and Dana
Damon-Trentadue, and a grandson Antonio
Trentadue.
Born Jimmy Demopoulos in Memphis, Tenn.,
Jimmy left his hometown for Milwaukee and
then moved to Chicago to pursue his singing
career. In 1968, he reinvented himself as
Jimmy Damon and took inspirations from Frank
Sinatra, whom he became friends with, and
Elvis Presley, who once frequented his father's
restaurant in Memphis.
During his years-long career, Jimmy had
performed in many clubs and theaters from a
near-empty lounge, weddings, funerals, charity
events and a jam-packed Wrigley Field. He also
shared a stage with his idol Presley and
another big star Conway Twitty.
Bill Murray was so impressed by Jimmy after
watching him relentlessly working the room at
a gig that the comedian based his classic
" Saturday Night Live" character "Nick the
Lounge Singer" on the crooner. "I wasn't
upset," Jimmy once told the Chicago Tribute,
before jokingly added, "I just wish he'd sent
me a check. He owes me a lot of money."
In his final years, Jimmy staged his own Sinatra
tribute concert. "My father was the only one
who was authorized in writing by Frank Sinatra
and his family to sing his music," his daughter
Dana told Chicago Sun-Times.
In 2011, he was honored at the 13th annual
Chicago Cabaret Professionals Gala at Park
West. "It's probably one of the highest honors
I've received in my career, to get this from
where I've spent my adult life - Chicago," he
gushed.