Ray Sawyer
February 1, 1937 - December 31, 2018
2005 Inductee

A beat up hat, eye patch and wild stage antics were the perfect image for Dr. Hook. So perfect in fact that many people felt Ray Sawyer was Dr. Hook. The name, however, was for the entire band. Sawyer, a native of Monroeville, began playing drums professionally at the age of 17 in Mobile. In 1967 while on a fishing trip to Oregon, he was involved in an automobile accident that left him in a wheel chair for a year. It was during this accident that he lost his right eye. After recovering, Sawyer moved to Los Angeles, then traveled to the East Coast where he met Dennis Loccorriere. The two formed the band Dr. Hook and played their first serious gig in the Dustin Hoffman movie "Who Is Harry Kellerman, and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me." They soon signed with CBS Records and began releasing hits such as "Cover of the Rolling Stone", "Sylvia's Mother", "Only Sixteen", "Sexy Eyes", "Sharing The Night Together", and "Beautiful Woman". In the early 1980s, the group members went their separate ways, and Sawyer signed with Mel Tillis' publishing company and began a solo career as a Country singer-songwriter.