Singer Eddie Money Dead at Age 70

Famous singer and songwriter Eddie Money, who was diagnosed with stage four cancer last fall, passed away on Friday at the age of 70.

Some of his most famous songs include “Take Me Home Tonight,” “Two Tickets to Paradise,” and “Baby Hold On.” Especially popular in the ’80s, Money struggled with the same addictions many stars do, and almost lost his life to overdose before getting back on the straight and narrow.

Money loved to perform, and his kids were often on stage with him. While he was known for his music, he was also known for his wit.

He always had something edgy or amusing to say, and could have easily been a comedian. Though he told Rolling Stone he missed out when it came to making lots of money, he also couldn’t complain.

“I don’t know what happened, you know?” he said. “I’m not really getting rich out here. But I look at it like this: The kids aren’t in jail, they’re not in rehab, nobody’s wrecked the car this week and there’s still milk in the refrigerator. I’m having a good month.”

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Money got the esophageal cancer diagnosis in fall 2018, according to Rolling Stone. He talked about it on his show “Real Money.”

“I thought I was going in for a check-up and [the doctor] told me I have cancer,” Money said in a clip featured by Rolling Stone.

“We found out that I had cancer and that it was stage four and that it was in my liver and my lymph nodes and a little bit in my stomach … It hit me really, really hard.”

“Eddie has been diagnosed with Stage four esophageal cancer,” his wife said. “It’s in his esophagus, it’s in the top of his stomach — it’s where the tumor is — and it’s also spread to his liver.”

Despite the unwelcome news, Money didn’t want to keep his illness a secret.

“What I don’t want to do is I don’t want to keep the fact that I have cancer from everybody,” he said. “It’s not honest. I want to be honest with everybody. I want people to know that cancer [treatment] has come a long way and not everybody dies from cancer like they did in the ’50s and ’60s.”

“Am I going to live a long time? Who knows? It’s in God’s hands. But you know what? I’ll take every day I can get. Every day above ground is a good day.”

The episode dealing with the heavy news was set to air on Thursday, though news of the diagnosis was spread in August. The day after the episode was set to air, Money had passed.

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“The Money Family regrets to announce that Eddie passed away peacefully early this morning,” his family said in a statement shared by Variety.

“It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our loving husband and father. We cannot imagine our world without him. We are grateful that he will live on forever through his music.”

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