LOS ANGELES - Jewel Akens, a pop singer who had a 1960s hit with "The Birds and the Bees," has died in Southern California at age 79.

His wife, Eddie Mae Akens, tells the Los Angeles Times that Akens died Friday from back surgery complications at an Inglewood hospital.

Akens was in a group called the Turnarounds when they were offered a song that talked about "the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees and the moon up above -- and a thing called love."

Other members disliked it, so Akens recorded it solo. The song was No. 3 on Billboard's Top 100 chart in 1965 and was later covered by Dean Martin and others.

Akens never duplicated its success but performed into his 70s.