The music industry is mourning the loss of Chip Taylor, the prolific songwriter behind some of the most enduring hits in rock and country history. Taylor, whose birth name was James Wesley Voight, passed away on Monday, March 23, 2026, at the age of 86. According to reports from TMZ and Stereogum, the Hall of Fame songwriter died while in hospice care, though an official cause of death has not been disclosed.

Taylor is best known for penning the 1965 rock anthem "Wild Thing," which became a definitive hit for The Troggs and was later immortalized by Jimi Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival. He also wrote the classic ballad "Angel of the Morning," a track that reached the Top 10 for Merrilee Rush in 1968 and became a multi-platinum hit for Juice Newton in 1981. His songwriting prowess earned him an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016.

Born into a talented family, Taylor was the brother of Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight and volcanologist Barry Voight, as well as the uncle of actress Angelina Jolie. While he spent years as a successful performer and composer, Taylor famously walked away from the music business in the late 1970s to pursue a career as a professional gambler and horse racing handicapper before returning to the studio and the stage in the mid-1990s.