Celebrating Sweet Charlie

Chuck Francour ‘Sweet Charlie’

Charles H. Francour; singer, songwriter, producer, playwright, poet, and lifetime entertainer died unexpectedly Saturday, December 31, 2022. He was preceded in death by his mother Evelyn, father Bill, mother to four of his daughters, Janet, and son-in-law Jason.

Charlie was most passionate about a handful of things in life; family and friendship, music, football, and golf, all of which he poured himself into. To that end, he nurtured seven amazing daughters; Eve Baldwin, Alison Davis, Noël Weigel (Nicholas), Danielle Rhoades, Deena Ball, Heidi Riedel (Shane), and April McFadden. His legacy and life lives on through them, their children and grandchildren.

He lovingly dedicated 24 years to his beloved ‘Miss Penny’ whom he adored deeply and unconditionally. And built remarkable lasting friendships that carried on throughout the decades.

Charlie lived out a masterful music career. His dedication to his craft was unwavering as he stayed true to his passion throughout his life. Over the years, he played thousands of stages as a band member/frontman; Cambridge Five (1961-1969), Heavy Load (1969-1970), Kracker (1971-1979), His Boy Elroy (1989-1999), and Loose Cannons (1999-2000), HornDogs (2000-2001) and as a solo artist ‘Chuck Francour’ (1979-1984), and ‘Sweet Charlie’ (2000-2022). These musical endeavors yielded three label-produced albums; La Familia, Kracker Brand, and Hot with Kracker as well as United States and European tours opening for J. Geils Band, Styx, and the Rolling Stones throughout the 70’s. He also released one solo album, Chuck Francour: Under the Boulevard Lights as well as two MTV videos Under the Boulevard Lights and Prisoner of Rock and Roll during the early 80’s.

In addition to stage and recorded music successes Charlie also composed, produced and performed music for movie and television productions such as Berserker, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Dance Academy, Pole Position, Dick Clark’s Reachin’ for the Stars and childrens shows including Kidd Video, Inspector Gadget, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe as well as many pilot productions throughout the 80’s. Charlie honed his talent for commercial music production throughout the 90’s-2000’s, opening GTC Studio in 1989 wherein he wrote, performed and produced hundreds of marketing jingles and theme music.

He was a highly insightful and intelligent man. Off stage you could usually find him reading (famously two books at once), writing, composing, golfing or watching a football game, especially his beloved Chicago Bears. The last two decades he lived and worked with his wife Penny in Florida and Michigan where he entertained thousands of fans with his prolific vocals, brilliant smile and contagious energy. It’s hard to encapsulate everything that he accomplished in his long life and the impact he made on the world through his music. Charlie was an enigma of a man who lived and breathed all things music. As he would always say, “There’s a song for that.”

Charlie, you’ve reached the end of your set and performed your very last song. May you ‘rock’ the heavens above and ‘roll’ along with each of us as we continue to share your legacy.

Please help us raise money to support Charlie’s funeral costs and to support his loving wife, Miss Penny, as she transitions her life around the loss of income. ❤️