Very sad news today for fans of classic rock: Cory Wells, born on the East Side of Buffalo and one of the founders and lead singers of Three Dog Night, died last night in Dunkirk.

A statement from the band did not give a cause of death, noting only that Wells, who still performed regularly with Three Dog Night, had developed severe back pains in September. He was 74.

Of the three lead singers in the band, Wells had the comparatively gruff voice: he was in front on “Mama Told Me Not To Come,” “Eli’s Coming,” “Never Been To Spain,” and “Shambala.”

Three Dog Night, who also recently lost another founding member, keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon, was in Buffalo twice last year, once for a show at Kleinhans with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (where they caused a fuss for playing too loud), and later in the summer at the Erie County Fair.

Three Dog Night seldom got a lot of respect from rock critics because they didn’t write their own material. But they helped launch the careers of many of the best songwriters of the 1970s, including Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Laura Nyro, Hoyt Axton, Paul Williams, Leo Sayer and Elton John. They released nine studio albums from 1968 through 1975, containing 21 Billboard hits and three number ones.