Dawn Sears, stellar vocalist and member of 4-time Grammy-nominated band The Time Jumpers, died Dec. 11. She was 53.
Diagnosed with Stage 3B lung cancer in February 2012, Sears fought the disease ferociously and championed efforts for lung cancer research.
In addition to being a Time Jumper, Sears was also a long-time member of Vince Gill's touring band.
She is survived by her husband, the fiddler and fellow Time Jumper Kenny Sears, and daughter Tess. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Reba McEntire headlined a concert that Sears organized to raise funds and awareness for lung cancer research. The concert, Dawn Sears and Friends: A Benefit for Lung Cancer Research, featured performances by McEntire, The Time Jumpers and Riders In The Sky. Gold-winning Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton, a cancer survivor, emceed the event at the Depot Square in Gallatin, Tenn., on Nov. 30.
"I am on a mission to help fund lung cancer research at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center," Dawn said at the time on The Time Jumpers website. "A benefit concert is the best way I know how to do that. It is my mission to bring more hope to those of us with lung cancer. I was diagnosed with lung cancer over a year ago and I now have a greater understanding of the daily battle and challenges that people with cancer of any kind face."
Sears won her first talent contest at the VFW hall in Grand Forks, N.D., when she was 14 -- right across the river from where she grew up, in East Grand Forks, Minn. -- her bio on the website states. When she was 17, and with her parents' cautious consent, she began touring with a band throughout the West and Midwest. She got her first break in Nashville when TV personality Ralph Emery asked her to sing on his morning show. That led to a contract with Warner Bros. Records in 1991 and the release of three well-received singles. In 1992, Gill invited her to go on the road as a backup singer, a role she held until her death.
