Iron Butterflys Doug Ingle, Dead At 78

Ingle, left, with members of Iron Butterfly in this 1969 Atco Records publicity image.

(CelebrityAccess) — Douglas Lloyd Ingle, co-founder, organist, and lead vocalist of the rock band Iron Butterfly died on May 25th at the age of 78.

Ingle’s passing was announced by his son on a social media post, stating that his father had passed away but providing no additional details about a cause of death.

It’s with a heavy heart & great sadness to announce the passing of my Father Doug Ingle. Dad passed away peacefully this evening in the presence of family,” Doug Ingle Jr. shared. “Thank You Dad for being a father, teacher and friend. Cherished loving memories I will carry the rest of my days moving forward in this journey of life. Love you Dad.”

A native of Nebraska, who learned the organ at an early age from his father, Ingle, founded Iron Butterfly in 1966 along with drummer Ron Bushy, guitarist Erik Brann and bassist Lee Dorman.

He would be featured on the band’s first five studio albums, including 1968’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, which contained the band’s biggest hit, the song of the the same name, written by Ingle.

The song, a 17-minute organ-powered jam, proved to be the group’s only hit to break into the top 40 on U.S. charts and was later lauded as the 24th-greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1 in 2009. A radio edit of the song was trimmed down to a compact 2:52 minutes and was released as a 45.

In 1971, Ingle, growing disenchanted with life on the road, announced plans to step away from Iron Butterfly and the group split after a U.S. tour that concluded with a final show at Central Oregon Community College in Bend, Oregon on May 23, 1971.

Following the split, the band reunited for multiple reunions but with Ingle rejoining the lineup for brief stints in the late 1970s, the early 1980s, and the 1990s, amid numerous personnel changes. Ingle was the last surviving member of the band’s original lineup, following the passing of Ron Bushy in 2021.

Apart from his work with Iron Butterfly, Ingle performed briefly with the bands Stark Naked and the Car Thieves and also spent time as an RV park manager and housepainter, according to the Los Anglees Times.

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