Joseph Brooks, 'You Light Up My Life' Songwriter, Dies in Apparent Suicide

May 22, 2011— -- Grammy-winning songwriter Joseph Brooks died today in his Manhattan apartment in what police are calling an apparent suicide, according to The Associated Press.

Brooks, 73, was found with a plastic dry-cleaning bag around his head and a towel wrapped around his neck, police told the AP.

An autopsy will determine the cause of death.

Brooks, best known for writing the Grammy and Academy Award-winning ballad "You Light Up My Life," was indicted last year on more than 80 sex-related charges.

He was awaiting trial on charges that he sexually assaulted several young after luring them into his apartment for supposed acting auditions.

In December 2010, Brooks' son Nicholas Brooks, 24, was arrested in death of fashion designer Sylvie Cachay, who was found dead in a hotel bathtub at SoHo House in New York.