Alan Merrill (born Allan Preston Sachs; February 19, 1951 – March 29, 2020) was an American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1970s, he was one of the few resident foreigners to achieve pop star status in Japan. He was the writer of, and lead singer on, the first released version of the song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was recorded by his band the Arrows in 1975. The song became a breakthrough hit for Joan Jett in 1982. Merrill was primarily a vocalist and songwriter, but also played the guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, and keyboards. He died during the COVID-19 pandemic due to complications brought on by the virus. Early life Merrill was born in The Bronx, New York City on February 19, 1951, the son of two jazz musicians, singer Helen Merrill and saxophone/clarinet player Aaron Sachs. He went to Aiglon College in Switzerland from age 9 to 13, a British-style boarding school. On returning to the United States, he attended schools in New York and Los Angeles, and at Sophia University (a private Jesuit research university in Tokyo, Japan). He started his semi-pro career in New York City aged 14 when he began playing in Greenwich Village's Cafe Wha? with the bands The Kaleidoscope, The Rayne, and Watertower West. The groups played the club during the 1966–1968 period. Professional career Japan In 1969, Merrill auditioned for the New York City band, the Left Banke. The audition was successful, but the band dissolved. Shortly thereafter, he left to reside in Japan, where his mother was living, and began his professional career there by joining the band The Lead, who were contracted to RCA Victor Records. The band was a foreign Tokyo-based act. The Lead had some chart success, but the project soon fell apart when two of the American members of the group were deported. Merrill subsequently signed a solo management deal with Watanabe Productions, who contracted him to Atlantic Records, and changed his professional surname from Sachs (pronounced sax) to Merrill (his mother's maiden name) apparently because "Merrill" sounded less lascivious and was more commercially viable when spoken by young Japanese pop music fans. He recorded one album with Atlantic, Alone in Tokyo (February 1971) which yielded a single, "Namida" (Teardrops). Merrill acted on the TV soap opera Jikan Desu Yo and occasionally had his own 'corner' on the TBS's Young 720, a morning show