BREWER & SHIPLEY Legend MICHAEL BREWER Dead At 80 - "We Made Nixon's 'Hate List', Which We Held As A Badge Of Honor"

Ultimate Classic Rock is reporting that Michael Brewer of Brewer & Shipley passed away on Tuesday (December 17) at the age of 80.

The news was confirmed in a press release, noting that Brewer had been battling multiple illnesses for the last three years.

Brewer & Shipley were best known for their Top 10 hit, "One Toke Over the Line," released as their debut single in 1971.

"Who would have guessed they [the duo's record label] would release it as a single, it would go shooting up the charts, and the Nixon administration would try to ban it?" Brewer said to UCR in 2016. "We made Nixon's 'hate list,' which we held as a badge of honor and still do to this day, and the Vice President, Spiro Agnew, named us personally on national TV one night as 'subversives to America's youth.' I mean, you can't buy that kind of publicity."

Read more at Ultimate Classic Rock.

Tom Shipley shared the following tribute via social media:

"Michael Brewer, my friend of 65 years and music partner for over 60, had to go. I saw him on Saturday at Cox Hospital in Branson and he told me he wanted to go home. He was weak and very tired. They took him home on Sunday and his wife Scarlett called this morning to tell me he was gone. So tonight I will raise a glass to Michael and drink to all those years, all those miles, all those songs, and all the heavenly audiences we played for. Go with God my friend. I'll see you on the other side."