Joseph Brooks Dies in Apparent Suicide

Posted on May 22, 2011

Songwriter Joseph Brooks, 73, is dead in an apparent suicide. Brooks is best known for writing "You Light Up My Life," which Broadway.com says is the most successful single record in the history of recorded music. Brooks won a Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe for the song.

The New York Daily News reports that Brooks committed suicide using helium gas. Brooks was charged with multiple counts of rape in 2009. He was currently awaiting trial on charges he lured young women into his apartment and sexually assaulted them. Reports say Brooks used the promise of movie roles to get women back to his apartment.

The New York Times reports that Joseph Brooks'son, Nicholas Brooks, was charged with murdering his girlfriend last December.