Sad.

[www.sfgate.com]

Paul Pena — star of 1999 documentary ‘Genghis Blues’

Paul Pena, a San Francisco blues artist who mastered the arcane art of Tuvan throat singing, died Saturday from complications of diabetes and pancreatitis. He was 55.

Many people are familiar with Mr. Pena because of the 1999 Academy Award-nominated documentary “Genghis Blues,” which tells the story of how he took up throat singing, culminating with an eventful trip to the Central Asian country Tuva, where he won awards in a throat singing competition.

But millions more are acquainted with his work without even knowing it because he wrote the song “Jet Airliner,” which was a Top 10 hit for the Steve Miller Band in 1977.

Mr. Pena, almost completely blind since birth and plagued by illnesses most of his life, lived off the royalties from that hit.

…continues at [www.sfgate.com]