Peter McCann

Biography

Peter James McCann (March 6, 1948 – January 26, 2023) was an American songwriter, musician, lecturer, and songwriters' activist. He was known for writing successful pop-rock and country songs, including his 1977 solo hit "Do You Wanna Make Love", and "Right Time of the Night" for Jennifer Warnes.

At Fairfield University, McCann founded folk-rock group the Repairs, for which he served as guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, and songwriter. He moved to Los Angeles in 1971 to record with the Repairs under the Motown label, and then was signed to ABC Records as a staff writer. McCann moved to Nashville in 1987 and began a long career as a staff writer and occasional recording artist. McCann also spent upwards of 25 years lobbying for songwriters' rights in Washington, giving lectures on copyright law in several institutes of higher education across the United States.

During his career, McCann had been signed as a recording artist to Motown, 20th Century Fox, CBS Records and RCA Records. His songs have been recorded by Lynn Anderson, Paul Anka, Karen Carpenter, Shaun Cassidy, Crystal Gayle, Mickey Gilley, Lee Greenwood, Whitney Houston, Julio Iglesias, Jermaine Jackson, Michael Johnson, Nicolette Larson, Kathy Mattea, Reba McEntire, Michael McDonald, Anne Murray, Ricky Nelson, The Oak Ridge Boys, K.T. Oslin, Donny Osmond, Buck Owens, Kenny Rogers, Ricky Skaggs, John Travolta, Bobby Vinton, Shelly West, among others.

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