Harry Nilsson
Harry Nilsson was born "Harry Edward Nilsson III" (not "Nelson" as has been reported) on June 15, 1941, in
Brooklyn, New York. After dropping out of high school and moving to California,
Nilsson lied about his lack of a high school diploma and was given a job working in
a bank's computer section. While Nilsson worked nights at the bank, his interest
in music grew. During the day he began writing songs, visiting music publishers, and singing on
demo records.
After having songs recorded by Glen Campbell and the Monkees, Nilsson left the bank
to work full-time as a songwriter and singer. Nilsson signed with RCA in 1967 and in October
of that year released Pandemonium Shadow Show.
Nilsson's second RCA album, Aerial Ballet, included his recording of
Fred Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'". Director John Schlesinger used
Nilsson's recording of "Everybody's Talkin'" in Midnight Cowboy and the song
became a hit - reaching number 6 on Billboard's Hot 100 and earning Nilsson a Grammy.
Nilsson's success continued as Three Dog Night's recording of his song
"One" reached number 5 on the charts and went on to sell more than a million copies.
Nilsson's 1969 album Harry included a song written by Randy Newman. In 1970, Nilsson
recorded an entire album of songs by Newman, Nilsson Sings Newman.
In early 1971, The Point!, the first 90-minute, "made-for-television," animated film debuted on
ABC. Based on a story by Nilsson, The Point! featured several songs by Nilsson
including "Me And My Arrow".
Nilsson's 1971 album, Nilsson Schmilsson, became his best-selling album and
"Without You", the album's first single, became a world-wide hit in 1972.
In 1974, Nilsson and John Lennon generated newspaper headlines by being thrown out of the
Troubadour for heckling a Smothers Brothers performance. The same year,
Lennon produced Nilsson's Pussy Cats album.
Nilsson's last album for RCA, Knnillssonn was released in July of 1977.
In 1980, Nilsson traveled to Malta where Robert Altman was filming Popeye starring
Robin Williams. On location, Harry composed and recorded the music and songs for the film. The same year,
Nilsson signed with Mercury Records and released his last album, Flash Harry. The album was only
released in Europe.
After the murder of John Lennon in December of 1980, Nilsson devoted much of his time to campaigning
for better gun laws. He also formed Hawkeye Entertainment which produced the film
"The Telephone" starring Whoopi Goldberg and written by Nilsson and Terry Southern.
In early 1993, Nilsson suffered a major heart attack. Almost a year later, on January 15, 1994, Harry Nilsson died.
Nilsson songs have been recently recorded by artists such as Belly and Aimee Mann
and have been featured in films and TV commercials.
For a more complete biography of Harry Nilsson, please read Dawn Eden's One Last Touch of Nilsson.
