Dan Peek, a founding member of the popular 1970s band America and singer of high harmonies on hits that included “A Horse With No Name” and “Ventura Highway,” has died, his father said Tuesday. He was 60.

Mr. Peek’s wife, Catherine, found him dead Sunday in bed in his home in Farmington, Mo., about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis, Milton Peek said. The cause of death was not known, and an autopsy was planned. The singer had suffered from arthritis, but it wasn’t known if that was a contributing factor.

Mr. Peek, whose father was in the U.S. Air Force, had met the two other members of America—Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley—while attending high school in London. After signing a record contract, America was an almost instant sensation with its songs featuring tight harmonies over catchy tunes. All told, the group had three platinum and three gold albums, along with eight Top 40 hits, from 1971 through 1975.
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In the late 1970s, Peek became disenchanted with the travel and lifestyle. “He was a Christian and he just got tired of the rat race,” his father said.

He left America in 1977 and turned to contemporary Christian music. His first solo album in 1979, “All Things Are Possible,” reached No. 1 on the Contemporary Christian Music chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award.
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He also operated a website and wrote a memoir, “An American Band: The America Story.” Just last month he signed copies of the book at a Christian bookstore in Farmington.

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