Jack Ely

American guitarist and singer

PersonDied aged 71humanQ6112346

Also known as Jack Brown Ely

Born: September 11, 1943
1
Sources
1.Stated in Find a GraveRetrieved 2017-10-09
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Died: April 27, 2015
1
Sources
1.Stated in Find a GraveRetrieved 2017-10-09
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Birthplace: Portland
Place of death: Terrebonne
Citizenship: United States
Occupation: musician
, guitarist
Education: Portland State University
, Washington High School

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Jack Brown Ely was an American guitarist and singer, best known for singing the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie". Classically trained in piano, he began playing guitar after seeing Elvis Presley on television. In 1959, he co-founded the Kingsmen and with them recorded "Louie Louie" in 1963; Ely's famously incoherent vocals were partly the result of his braces and the rudimentary recording method. Before the record became a hit Ely was forced out of the group and began playing with his new band, the Courtmen. Ely died in Terrebonne, Oregon, on April 28, 2015, at age 71.

Overview

All data

28 statements · 14% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Sex or gender: male
Given name: Jack
Instrument: guitar
Genre: garage rock
Label: Jerden
Start of work period: 1959
Member of: The Kingsmen

On other databases

11 identifiers linking Jack Ely across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

14%

externally sourced

Source last edited August 17, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). Jack Ely (Q6112346). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/jack-ely-Q6112346