Trendells singer Charlie Shuck thought his career would last ‘at least through the 80s.’ It ended Saturday.

Lexington vocalist Charlie Shuck, whose career with The Trendells spanned more than 40 years, died Saturday at Central Baptist Hospital after a long illness, according to an obituary. He was 71.

For decades, The Trendells, with Shuck as lead singer, were staples around Lexington, specializing in Motown classics from the 1960s to 1980s.

“We feel like we’ll be around for at least through the ‘80s,” Shuck told the Herald-Leader in a 1985 article. “I plan on singing at least that long.”

And he certainly did.

Charlie Shuck & The Trendells were booked for Thursday Night Live on June 7.

“Charlie was the ultimate entertainer and promoter,” said Bruce Thomas, who had been friends with Shuck since the 1960s. “He knew all sorts of people all over Lexington. It’s amazing how many people he knew. ...He always made you feel like you were the number one person.”

“He just drew people in,” said Gail Moses, Shuck’s companion for 17 years and friend for years afterward. “He just had the effervescence about him.”

Shuck, a native of Louisville, was a graduate of Waggener High School and the University of Kentucky.

He started singing as a choir boy, according to his obituary.

By the time he was 14, Shuck was singing with a Louisville group called The Nightcrawlers. Two years later, he joined the Trendells, which at that time was a four-man vocal group that was backed by The Carnations, a five-piece band.

In the later 60s, he performed with a group called The Magnificent 7 before rejoining the Trendells in the early 1970s. The Trendells stopped performing in 1977, but Shuck re-formed the band in 1978 as the Lexington Trendells.

For years, the group headlined at The Bash, an annual party that celebrated the start of the University of Kentucky football season.

They were also a regular attraction at The Fireplace on Euclid Avenue.

“That was the place to go,” Moses said.

Shuck also founded a local company, Event Productions, which booked bands for corporate functions, weddings and other events.

Last year, he self-published his autobiography, “It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll With a Little Bit of Soul.”

And he never stopped singing. Shuck performed Oct. 13 with The Tymes Band at an event at Lexington Catholic.

“He loved the performing,” Moses said. “That was just his life. That was all he wanted to do.”

A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville. Friends will gather at the cemetery’s Broadway entrance at 10:45 a.m.

Kerr Brothers Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements.

Moses said she is also planning a celebration of life for the near future as “a toast to him for all the good times, and the last dance.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2018 at 10:04 PM.