Jesse Colin Young, Aiken resident and lead singer of hit song 'Get Together,' dies at 83 (2025)

Jesse Colin Young, a founding member and the lead singer of the 1960s rock group The Youngbloods, died March 16 at his Aiken home.

Themusician and songwriter was 83.

The group is best known for their version of the song, “Get Together.” The song appeared on the Youngbloods’ debut album in 1967 and peaked at No. 5 on the “Billboard Hot 100” in 1969.

An appeal to peace and love, the song fit the sentiment of the Woodstock generation in the late 1960s with its refrain: “Come on people now, Smile on your brother, Everybody get together, Try to love one another right now.”

In 2006, Young and his family moved to Aiken, the hometown of his wife, Connie Darden Young.

In 2020, Young performed "Get Together" as City of Aiken leaders held a unity press conference in response to the recent deaths of several African Americans, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, that divided the nation.

"He called me up and really wanted to be a part of that," former Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon said. "It took on a really special meaning. It brought a gravitas to that event for him being there."

Osbon said Young "loved" the Aiken community and would reach out to him about issues that mattered to him. Osbon recalled Young performing at a fundraiser for the Saratoga WarHorse Foundation.

"It was a special evening for everyone who was there," Osbon said. "He would only use his celebrity if that would bring attention to positive things.

"I think Jesse used his talents to make those around him better."

After moving to Aiken, Young often would donate his time and talents. Chief among those causes were Golden Harvest Food Bank and concerts to raise money for area schools.

Young was a member of the "No Nukes" movement. He and his wife founded the movement Don't Waste Aiken, which tried to prevent thousands of tons of radioactive waste from being dumped at the Savannah River Site.

“It's always David and Goliath when you're dealing with the federal government and the military industrial complex, so I'm warming up my slingshot,” Young once told the Aiken Standard.

Born Perry Miller in Queens, N.Y., in 1941, Young started his musical career in Greenwich Village alongside such notable musicians as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. He then went to San Francisco in 1967 where he became acquainted with the Grateful Dead, The Jefferson Starship and Janis Joplin.

After The Youngbloods broke up in the early 1970s, Young embarked on a successful solo career.

According to his website, Young was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in the mid-2000s and it left him unable to tour for several years. He began performing again in 2015 and his first show was for Saratoga WarHorse.

Neither Young nor any of the members of The Youngbloods were involved in writing “Get Together” and they weren't the only ones to perform it. But their version of the song is the one most remembered today.

“Get Together" remains one of Young's favorites even though he has sung it countless times.

“It's a beautiful song, and it carries a timeless message,” he told the Aiken Standard in 2013. “No matter how many wars we start or participate in, we still yearn for peace. We yearn to get along.”

Arrangements will be announced by Shellhouse Funeral Home.

Larry Wood and Dede Biles contributed to this article.