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SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The lead singer of San Diego-based band Iron Butterfly, Doug Ingle, has died at the age of 78, according to his family.

His son, Doug Ingle Jr., took to social media on May 24 to make the announcement, stating, “Dad passed away peacefully this evening in the presence of family. 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.”

The circumstances around his passing or the location at which it happened was not mentioned by Ingle Jr.

A look back

As reported by FOX 5/KUSI’s reporting partners at The San Diego Union-Tribune, Ingle and his bandmates created Iron Butterfly in 1966, releasing three rock albums by 1968.

Ingle wrote the song title “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” which became the group’s most known hit. It was on the national Billboard album chart for 140 weeks, peaking at No. 4. The 17-minute song was squeezed into three minutes for radio.

Iron Butterfly received the Country Dick Montana Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Diego Music Awards from then-San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders in 2021, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Sanders was said to have been a life-long fan of the group.

Ingle, an organist and vocalist, was the last surviving member of the original Iron Butterfly group, which included singer/keyboardist Ingle, bassist Jerry Penrod, singer Darryl DeLoach, guitarist Danny Weis and drummer Jack Pinney.