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  BOBBY HATFIELD 11/06/03 (Various Sources) Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brother has gone to the "Rock and Roll Heaven" they sang about. Mr. Hatfield, 63, was found dead yesterday in his hotel room in Kalamazoo, Mich., a half-hour before he and his partner, Bill Medley, were to take the stage on the campus of Western Michigan University. As police officers did not see any evidence of unusual circumstances or foul play, it appears that Hatfield died of natural causes, according to a spokesperson for the Kalamazoo Public Safety office. He was pronounced dead at 7:02 p.m. and an autopsy is scheduled for today. "It's a shock, a real shock," David Cohen, the duo's manager, said. Medley, Cohen said, is "broken up. He's not even coherent." Nicknamed the Blonde Bomber, Robert Lee Hatfield was born in Beaver Dam, Wis., on Aug. 10, 1940. Shortly thereafter, his parents moved to Anaheim, Calif. when he was 4, and Hatfield later became active in singing groups in high school and in college at Long Beach State University, where he began organizing his own band. He teamed up with Medley in 1962, and they began singing what would later be called "blue-eyed soul", often to predominantly black audiences. The match was perfect, with Medley singing the baritone parts  and Hatfield using his
crystal-clear high-tenor voice to sing falsetto notes. They originally called themselves
the Paramours, but they changed their names after a Marine called out during one of their
performances, "That was righteous, brothers!". They renamed themselves The Righteous Brothers before the release of their first album in 1963. The act scored immediately with "Little Latin Lupe Lu". Later that year, they were spotted by record producer Phil Spector at a California concert, and they were soon signed to his Philles label. With Spector prducing his "Wall of Sound", the sweeping 1965 ballad "You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ " was unusual for the times, clocking in at almost four minutes. But the power of the soaring, orchestral track and the combination of Medley and Hatfield’s voices pushed it to #1. The song, which was famously crooned by Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards in the film Top Gun, went on to become one of the most frequently played songs in the history of American radio with more than 8 million spins. The Righteous Brothers were also regulars on the TV show Shindig.  Their association with Spector continued to spawn hits, including 1965’s
"Just Once in My Life," "Ebb Tide" and the classic "Unchained
Melody." The pair split with Spector that year and had another hit,
"(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration," on the Verve label, but the hits would
soon dry up. By 1968, Medley had left for a solo career and Hatfield kept the Righteous
Brothers going with the addition of singer Jimmy Walker.  The pair reunited in 1974 and had a hit
with their tribute to fallen rockers, "Rock & Roll Heaven." Medley retired
from performing for the rest of the '70s, but the duo began a lucrative career performing
as part of oldies shows for much of the '80s and '90s. "Unchained Melody" became
a hit again in 1990 when it was featured in the famous pottery-wheel scene between Patrick
Swayze and Demi Moore, in the movie Ghost.They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (by Billy Joel) in March 2003. After a two-week run of dates in Las Vegas in October, the Kalamazoo gig was to be the first of a string of five Midwestern shows the pair were scheduled to perform before making their way back to Vegas for another two weeks of dates at the Orleans Hotel and Casino. 
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