“What You Won’t Do For Love” singer-songwriter Bobby Caldwell dead at 71

“What You Won’t Do For Love” singer-songwriter Bobby Caldwell has died.

He was 71.

A rep for the “Open Your Eyes” crooner told TMZ Caldwell died Tuesday night at home in New Jersey after a years-long illness.

Caldwell was diagnosed in 2017 with neuropathy, a nerve disorder, after having a bad reaction to an antibiotic. He had been unable to speak for several years.

“Bobby passed away here at home. I held him tight in my arms as he left us. I am forever heartbroken. Thanks to all of you for your many prayers over the years. He had been ‘FLOXED,’ it took his health over the last 6 years and 2 months. Rest with God, my Love,” Mary Caldwell, the singer’s wife, wrote on Twitter.

Caldwell’s self-titled debut album went double platinum on the strength of “What You Won’t Do For Love,” which was a Billboard Top 10 hit in 1978. The song was covered widely by artists like Michael Bolton and Boyz II Men and even sampled by rapper Tupac Shakur in 1998.

He wrote songs for other singers as well, like Neil Diamond and Roberta Flack. Caldwell also penned Amy Grant and Peter Cetera’s number-one hit “The Next Time I Fall” in 1986.