R.I.P. 2017: A Tribute to the Music Stars We Lost
To music fans, 2016 was particularly brutal. That year, we lost such big names as David Bowie, Prince, George Michael, Glenn Frey, Leonard Cohen, Sharon Jones, Keith Emerson, Greg Lake. Many of us thought, “It can’t get any worse than this.”
Well, it turns out 2017 was equally devastating. Tom Petty died unexpectedly in early October; Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington ended their lives within months of each other, and we lost such legends as Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Glen Campbell, Gregg Allman, Steely Dan’s Walter Becker, David Cassidy and AC/DC co-founder Malcolm Young.
Here’s a look at some of the notable musicians and others who died in the past year.
Thank you for the music.
Hairl Hensley (Grand Ole Opry announcer)
Larry Harris (co-founder of Casablanca Records)
Jason Browning (longtime Matchbox Twenty tour manager)
Miggie Lewis (Lewis Family)
Curly Seckler (Flatt & Scruggs)
Jim Burns (co-creator of MTV’s “Unplugged” series)
Michael Prophet (roots reggae singer)
Jordan Feldstein (Maroon 5 manager)
Reggie “Combat Jack” Ossé (hip-hop pioneer)
Leo “Bud” Welch (Mississippi bluesman)
Jonghyun (lead singer of K-pop group SHINee)
Kevin Mahogany (jazz singer)
Keely Smith (jazz-pop vocalist and singing partner of Louis Prima)
Ralph Carney (saxophonist and Tom Waits collaborator)
Z’ev (industrial music legend)
Richard Dobson (country songwriter)
Jack Boyle (concert promoter, founder of Cellar Door Productions)
Gloria Ann Taylor (Grammy-nominated soul singer)
Bob Seidemann (rock photographer and album cover designer)
Warrel Dane (Nevermore and Sanctuary vocalist)
Pat DiNizio (The Smithereens)
Leon Rhodes (lead guitarist of Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours)
Jason McNinch (industrial guitarist and sound engineer)
Johnny Hallyday (the “French Elvis”)
Jim Nabors (singer-actor, of “Gomer Pyle” fame)
Mitch Margo (The Tokens)
Carol Neblett (star soprano)
Shadia (Egyptian actress and singer)
Tommy Keene (power-pop legend)
David Cassidy (The Partridge Family, solo artist)
Jon Hendricks (jazz singer-songwriter)
Wayne Cochran (soulful singer-songwriter; wrote “Last Kiss”)
George Avakian (producer and talent scout)
Warren “Pete” Moore (The Miracles)
Della Reese (singer and actress, famous for her role in “Touched By an Angel”)
Mel Tillis (legendary country singer-songwriter)
Malcolm Young (AC/DC guitarist and co-founder)
Lil Peep (emo/hip-hop artist)
Chuck Mosley (former Faith No More vocalist)
Robert De Cormier (singer and arranger helped spur the folk revival of the 1950s and ’60s)
Paul Buckmaster (Grammy-winning arranger/conductor; worked on early David Bowie and Elton John recordings, etc.)
Robert Knight (R&B singer, “Everlasting Love”)
Keith Wilder (Heatwave singer)
Daniel Viglietti (Uruguayan singer)
Joseph “Smokey” Holman (Tweed Funk)
Shea Norman (gospel artist)
Dick Noel (“The King of the Jingles”)
Fats Domino (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend)
Scott Putesky, aka Daisy Berkowitz (Marilyn Manson, Jack Off Jill)
George Young (Easybeats and Flash and the Pan guitarist, AC/DC producer)
Al Hurricane (“Godfather of New Mexico Music”)
Martin Eric Ain (former Celtic Frost bassist)
Eamonn Campbell (The Dubliners guitarist)
Gord Downie (The Tragically Hip)
Grady Tate (jazz drummer-singer)
Jimmy Beaumont (The Skyliners)
Jerry Ross (Philly-born producer-songwriter-entrepreneur co-wrote “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” for Diana Ross and the Supremes and The Temptations and produced chart-toppers by Bobby Hebb and Shocking Blue)
Bunny Sigler (Philly soul legend)
Jack Good (produced several early TV music shows, including “Shindig”)
Tom Petty (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend)
Anne Jeffreys (opera singer/actress; “Topper,” “General Hospital”)
Skip Haynes (Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah)
Carol Peters (longtime manager of Heart)
Laudir de Oliveira (former percussionist for Chicago)
Charles Bradley (soul great)
Eric Eycke (former Corrosion of Conformity singer)
Mark Selby (country and blues-rock songwriter)
Johnny Sandlin (Allman Brothers Band producer)
Harry Dean Stanton (actor, singer and musician)
Grant Hart (Hüsker Dü drummer-singer)
Jessi Zazu (formerly of Those Darlins)
Virgil Howe (Little Barrie drummer and son of Steve Howe)
Troy Gentry (one-half of Montgomery Gentry died in a helicopter crash)
Don Williams (country legend; “the Gentle Giant”)
Rick Stevens (Tower of Power)
Holger Czukay (co-founder and bassist of Can)
Dave Hlubek (Molly Hatchet founder/lead guitarist)
Walter Becker (Steely Dan co-founder)
Melissa Bell (former Soul II Soul member and mother of UK “X Factor” winner Alexandra Burke)
Denis Richard (Acadian singer-songwriter)
Jenny Mae (singer-songwriter)
Bea Wain (big-band era singer)
Jerry Lewis (comedy legend, singer and humanitarian)
Sonny Burgess (rockabilly legend)
Glen Campbell (country/pop legend)
Barbara Cook (star of Broadway and cabaret)
Goldy McJohn (keyboardist and founding member of Steppenwolf)
William “Dice” Galloway (The Harptones)
D.L. Menard (Cajun music legend)
Michael Johnson (singer-songwriter; “Bluer Than Blue”)
Bobby Taylor (Motown singer who discovered The Jackson 5)
Chester Bennington (Linkin Park lead singer)
Simon Holmes (The Hummingbirds)
Barbara Weldens (French singer)
Red West (longtime Elvis Presley friend/bodyguard and songwriter)
John Blackwell Jr. (touring drummer for Prince)
Geri Allen (jazz pianist, composer and educator)
Gary DeCarlo (lead singer of Steam, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”)
Prodigy (Mobb Deep)
Bill Dana (aka comic character Jose Jimenez, who charted seven albums in the 1960s and a Top 40 hit, “The Astronaut”)
Sonny Knight (soul singer)
Brandon Rogers (“America’s Got Talent” season 12 standout)
Rosalie Sorrels (folk singer-songwriter)
Norro Wilson (country songwriter; “The Most Beautiful Girl,” “A Very Special Love Song”)
Gregg Allman (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend)
Jimmy LaFave (Austin singer-songwriter)
Jimmy Hayes (The Persuasions)
Chris Cornell (lead singer of Soundgarden)
Casey Jones (blues drummer)
Johnny Daye (Pittsburgh soul singer)
Helen Lee Davis (Big Band-era singer)
Michael Parks (actor-singer; “Long Lonesome Highway”)
Robert Miles (Italian DJ; “Children”)
Mario Maglieri (Whisky A Go Go owner)
Bruce Hampton (Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit)
Kevin Garcia (Grandaddy bassist and co-founder)
Cuba Gooding Sr. (The Main Ingredient)
Matt Holt (Nothingface singer)
Sylvia Moy (songwriter and Motown’s first female producer; collaborated with Stevie Wonder on “Uptight [Everything’s Alright]” and “My Cherie Amour”)
Tim Goshorn (Pure Prairie League)
Bruce Langhorne (folk-rock guitarist who worked with Bob Dylan in the 1960s)
Allan Holdsworth (innovative fusion guitarist)
Martín Elías (Colombian singer-songwriter)
Toby Smith (keyboardist and founding member of Jamiroquai)
J. Geils (lead guitarist and founder of J. Geils Band)
Linda Hopkins (Tony Award-winning actress and gospel/blues singer)
Paul O’Neill (Trans-Siberian Orchestra founder)
David Peel (anti-establishment icon, signed to Apple Records and produced by John Lennon and Yoko Ono)
Brenda Jones (The Jones Girls)
Lonnie Brooks (Chicago bluesman)
Rosie Hamlin (Rosie and the Originals)
Clem Curtis (The Foundations)
Don Hunstein (Columbia Records photographer; most famous for the cover of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”)
Sib Hashian (former Boston drummer)
Chuck Barris (“Gong Show” host; creator of “The Dating Game” and “The Newlywed Game”; songwriter, “Palisades Park”)
Chuck Berry (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend)
James Cotton (blues harmonica legend)
Maxx Kidd (go-go music pioneer)
Tommy LiPuma (Grammy-winning jazz producer)
Robert “P-Nut” Johnson (Parliament-Funkadelic)
Don Warden (Dolly Parton’s longtime manager)
John Lever (The Chameleons drummer)
Joni Sledge (Sister Sledge)
Hurshel Wiginton (Nashville Edition bass singer)
Valerie Carter (1970s-era singer)
Tommy Page (“I’ll Be Your Everything” singer)
Rick Chavez (Drive)
Leon Ware (R&B singer-songwriter; wrote Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You,” Michael Jackson’s “I Wanna Be Where You Are,” etc.)
Larry Coryell (guitar legend)
Junie Morrison (Ohio Players, Parliament-Funkadelic)
Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown’s “Funky Drummer”)
Peter Skellern (British singer-songwriter; “You’re a Lady”)
Bobby Freeman (soul singer; “Do You Want to Dance”)
Robert Fisher (Willard Grant Conspiracy)
Al Jarreau (jazz-pop legend)
Sonny Geraci (lead singer of The Outsiders and Climax)
John Wetton (original Asia singer-bassist)
Elkin Ramírez (lead singer of the Colombian heavy metal band Kraken)
Tia Sprocket (former Luscious Jackson and Ministry member)
Geoff Nicholls (longtime Black Sabbath keyboardist)
Lundi Tyamara (South African gospel star)
Tom Edwards (guitarist and music director for Adam Ant)
Butch Trucks (Allman Brothers Band drummer)
Ronald “Bingo” Mundy (The Marcels)
Lee O’Denat, aka “Q” (WorldStarHipHop founder)
Jaki Liebezeit (Can drummer)
Mike Kellie (Spooky Tooth drummer)
Pete Overend Watts (original Mott the Hoople bassist)
Roberta Peters (coloratura soprano)
Maggie Roche (The Roches)
Loalwa Braz (vocalist behind Kaoma’s 1989 hit “Lambada”)
Steve Wright (original bassist for the Greg Kihn Band)
Christopher “JC” Dwight (Nine Mile Drive)
Greg Trooper (singer-songwriter)
Richie Ingui (The Soul Survivors, of “Expressway to Your Heart” fame)
“Magic” Alex Mardas (sham technological “guru” to The Beatles)
Larry Steinbachek (Bronski Beat keyboardist)
Tommy Allsup (touring guitarist for Buddy Holly)
Buddy Greco (jazz pianist-singer; “The Lady Is a Tramp”)
Peter Sarstedt (singer of the 1969 hit “Where Do You Go To [My Lovely]?”)
Allan Williams (first Beatles manager; died Dec. 29, 2016)
R.I.P. 2016
R.I.P. 2015
R.I.P. 2014
R.I.P. 2013
R.I.P. 2012
About the Author
Gerry Galipault Gerry Galipault debuted Pause & Play online in October 1997. Since then, it has become the definitive place for CD-release dates — with a worldwide audience.
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