R.I.P. 2022
Notable musicians and other music-related figures who have died this year:
Anita Pointer (The Pointer Sisters)
Jeremiah Green (Modest Mouse drummer)
Ian Tyson (Canadian folk legend)
Randy Begg (co-founder of Canadian group Wednesday)
Walter “Wolfman” Washington (blues guitarist-singer)
Joseph “Jo Mersa” Marley (musician and grandson of Bob Marley)
Charnett Moffett (jazz bassist)
Maxi Jazz (lead singer of Faithless)
Thom Bell (legendary Philly soul producer-songwriter)
Big Scarr (rapper and Gucci Mane protegé)
Charlie Monk (music industry networker and radio personality known as the Mayor of Music Row)
Terry Hall (lead singer of The Specials and Fun Boy Three)
Rick Anderson (The Tubes)
Charlie Grace (rock ‘n’ roll pioneer)
Dino Danelli (The Young Rascals drummer)
Kim Simmonds (Savoy Brown)
Benjamin Bossi (Romeo Void saxophonist)
Shirley Eikhard (Canadian singer-songwriter wrote the Bonnie Raitt hit “Something to Talk About”)
Stephen “tWitch” Boss (longtime DJ on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show)
Angelo Badalamenti (David Lynch’s go-to composer on “Blue Velvet,” “Twin Peaks” and more)
Georgia Holt (singer and Cher’s mother)
Jet Black (The Stranglers)
George Newall (“Schoolhouse Rocks” creator)
Peter Cooper (Nashville music journalist, singer and Country Hall of Fame executive)
Norm Pattiz (Westwood One, PodcastOne founder)
Eugene Thomas Facenda (Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps)
Armond Morales (The Imperials)
Jim Stewart (co-founder of Stax Records)
Hamish Kilgour (The Clean)
Bob McGrath (“Sesame Street” actor-singer)
Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter)
Jake Flint (Red Dirt country artist)
Don Newkirk (musician and producer collaborated with De La Soul)
Gene Cipriano (famed session musician and woodwind player)
Louise Tobin (big-band singer who urged husband Harry James to hire Frank Sinatra)
Irene Cara (“Fame” and “Flashdance … What a Feeling” singer-actress)
Charles Koppelman (music publishing and talent giant)
Wilko Johnson (pioneering guitarist for Dr Feelgood)
Geoff Wonfor (director of Beatles “Anthology” documentary series)
Pablo Milanés (Grammy-winning Cuban singer-songwriter)
Ken Mansfield (former U.S. manager of The Beatles’ Apple Records)
Danny Kalb (The Blues Project)
Robert Clary (singer and “Hogan’s Heroes” star)
B. Smyth (R&B singer)
Roslyn Singleton (“America’s Got Talent” fan favorite)
Rab Noakes (Stealers Wheel)
Keith Levene (member of The Clash and Public Image Ltd.)
Colin Irwin (folk music journalist)
Nik Turner (co-founding saxophonist, flutist and vocalist of Hawkwind)
Garry Roberts (Boomtown Rats guitarist)
Jeff Cook (guitarist and co-founder of Alabama)
Dan Cafferty (Nazareth lead singer)
Greg Gilley (Misery singer-guitarist)
Michael Tyrrell (former Mylon and Broken Heart guitarist)
Hurricane G (Brooklyn rapper)
Tyrone Downie (keyboardist/pianist and member of Bob Marley and The Wailers)
Mimi Parker (vocalist and drummer of Low)
Aaron Carter (singer and younger brother of Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter)
Noel McKoy (British soul singer)
Joe Tarsia (Philly soul recording engineer)
Jerry Whitehurst (longtime “Hee-Haw” and Grand Ole Opry pianist)
Patrick Haggerty (Lavender Country)
Takeoff (one-third of Migos)
D.H. Peligro (drummer for Dead Kennedys, Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Bruce Arnold (co-founder of Orpheus)
Jerry Lee Lewis (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend)
Don Edwards (cowboy singer)
Gregg Philbin (REO Speedwagon)
Jules Bass (Rankin/Bass Productions)
Leslie Jordan (actor, comedian and singer)
Libor Pešek (Liverpool Philharmonic conductor)
Robert Louis Gordy (recording artist, music executive and Berry Gordy’s brother)
Zuri Craig (“America’s Got Talent” finalist)
Lucy and Joanna Simon (singers and sisters of Carly Simon)
Andy McKaie (longtime MCA/Universal music executive)
Noel Duggan (founding member of Clannad)
Joyce Sims (R&B singer-songwriter)
Ronnie Cuber (baritone saxophonist)
Angela Lansbury (TV, film and Broadway legend)
Willie Spence (“American Idol” season 19 runner-up)
Anita Kerr (Anita Kerr Singers)
Art Laboe (“Oldies But Goodies” DJ)
Brooks Arthur (producer-engineer)
Ivy Jo Hunter (Motown songwriter co-wrote “Dancing in the Street” and “Ask the Lonely”)
Nikki Finke (Deadline founder and longtime entertainment journalist)
Ichiyanagi (Japanese avant-garde pianist and composer and former husband of Yoko Ono)
Lenny Lipton (“Puff the Magic Dragon” lyricist)
Jody Miller (Grammy-winning country singer)
Loretta Lynn (country music legend)
Mary McCaslin (folk singer)
Stephanie Cecilia Boosahda (Contemporary Christian singer)
Keith “Wonderboy” Johnson (gospel singer)
Coolio (Grammy-winning rapper best known for “Gangsta’s Paradise”)
Joe Bussard (record collector who preserved early American blues and more)
Pharoah Sanders (legendary saxophonist)
John Hartman (Doobie Brothers drummer)
Ray Edenton (Nashville session guitarist)
Anton Fier (drummer and founding member of The Feelies and The Golden Palominos)
Marva Hicks (singer-actor appeared in Broadway’s “The Lion King,” “Motown The Musical”)
Jim Post (one-half of Friend & Lover, of “Reach Out in the Darkness” fame)
Jesse Powell (1990s R&B singer)
David Andersson (Soilwork guitarist)
Ramsey Lewis (jazz piano legend)
Lowry Mays (iHeart Communications founder)
Paul Sartin (folk musician)
PnB Rock (Philly rapper)
Dr. Paul T. Kwami (musical director of the Grammy-winning Fisk Jubilee Singers)
Sonny West (rockabilly songwriter wrote Buddy Holly’s “Oh Boy” and “Rave On”)
Art Rosenbaum (visual artist, folk artist and Grammy winner for Best Documentary Recording)
Johnny Moran (one of the original DJs at Radio 1)
Paul “Mr Razzcocks” Dufour (original Libertines drummer)
Wes Freed (visual artist designed Drive-By Truckers’ album covers)
Drummie Zeb (lead singer of Aswad)
Luke Bell (country singer-songwriter)
Warren Bernhardt (studio and touring keyboardist)
Mable John (Motown’s first female solo singer)
Joey DeFrancesco (jazz organist)
Cecil “Skelly” Spence (Israel Vibration)
Gerald Potterton (“Heavy Metal” director and ‘Yellow Submarine’ animator)
Helen Grayco (singer and widow of Spike Jones)
Creed Taylor (jazz producer and founder of the Impulse! and CTI labels)
Jerry Allison (The Crickets drummer co-wrote “Peggy Sue” and “That’ll Be the Day”)
Stuart Anstis (former Cradle of Filth guitarist)
Inez Foxx (Inez & Charlie Foxx, of “Mockingbird” fame)
Margaret Urlich (New Zealand singer)
Tom Springfield (The Springfields, brother of Dusty Springfield and writer of The Seekers hits)
Butch Thompson (jazz pianist performed and was a band leader on “Prairie Home Companion”)
Darius Campbell Danesh (singer and former “Pop Idol” star)
Svika Pick (Israeli “King of Pop” and Eurovision winner)
Steve Grimmett (Grim Reaper)
Bill Pitman (Wrecking Crew guitarist)
Frederick Waite Jr. (Musical Youth drummer)
Darryl Hunt (The Pogues bassist)
Lamont Dozier (Motown songwriter and solo artist)
Olivia Newton-John (1970s-’80s pop superstar and actress)
David Muse (Firefall)
Judith Durham (The Seekers lead singer)
Gord Lewis (Teenage Head)
Sam Gooden (founding member of The Impressions)
Kaleb Luebchow (War of Ages drummer)
Dave Heckman (founder and president of Metropolis Records)
Nicky Moore (Samson singer)
John King (co-founder of Ardent Records)
Mo Ostin (longtime Warner-Reprise chief)
Ed Hardy (Nashville music executive)
Pat Carroll (actress voiced Ursula in the Disney musical “The Little Mermaid”)
John Aielli (longtime Austin disc jockey)
Clay “The Cooker” Collins (Dayton radio legend)
Doug McKean (producer-engineer won two Grammys for Green Day’s “American Idiot”)
Bernard Cribbins (British comedy legend and novelty chart star)
Raymond Raposa (Castanets)
Joey Abbott (original drummer of Fuel)
Jimy Sohns (lead singer of The Shadows of Knight)
Larry Josephson (champion of free-form radio)
Archie Roach (Aboriginal musician)
Michael Bloodgood (Christian heavy metal artist)
Cliff Johnson (Off Broadway)
Sidney Kirk (The Isaac Hayes Movement)
Bob Heathcote (former Suicidal Tendencies bassist)
Bob Rafelson (co-creator of “The Monkees” and directed “Head” and “Five Easy Pieces”)
Stefan Soltesz (Austrian-Hungarian conductor)
Don K. Reed (WCBS radio personality who hosted “The Doo Wop Shop”)
Shonka Dukureh (portrayed Big Mama Thornton in “ELVIS”)
Michael Henderson (bassist for Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder and vocalist on Norman Connors’ “You Are My Starship”)
Nolan Neal (“The Voice” and “America’s Got Talent” alum)
Mickey Rooney Jr. (actor, musician and son of the late screen legend)
George Kinney (The Golden Dawn)
William Hart (lead singer and founding member of The Delfonics)
David Dalton (Rolling Stone writer and rock biographer)
Paul Ryder (Happy Mondays)
Michael James Jackson (KISS and L.A. Guns producer)
Don Graham (music promotion pioneer who also helped start Tower Records)
Gene Fowler (WetNurse)
Steve Smith (radio programmer who helped launch the hip-hop format)
Monty Norman (James Bond theme composer)
Adam Wade (singer-actor)
Barbara Thompson (Colosseum saxophonist)
Bil VornDick (country producer/engineer)
Glenn Meadows (Music Row mastering engineer)
Manny Charlton (guitarist and founding member of Nazareth)
Alan Blaikley (co-wrote “Have I the Right” for The Honeycombs and songs for Elvis Presley)
Tristan Goodall (The Audreys)
Bruno Falcon (“Smooth Criminal” choreographer)
Arnold Skolnick (artist who created the Woodstock 1969 poster)
Andrew LaBarre (former Impaled guitarist)
Sheila Nadler (Mezzo-soprano)
Robert Suriya (lead guitarist of Singapore ’60s band Naomi & The Boys)
Kenneth “Ken” Williams (Grammy Award-winning songwriter co-wrote “Everybody Plays the Fool”)
Bernard Belle (Grammy-winning songwriter/musician; co-wrote Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time”; and brother of Regina Belle)
Ramona Reed (Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys)
Massimo Morante (Goblin)
Reggie Andrews (“Let It Whip” songwriter and producer)
Bobby Flores (Grammy-winning country musician)
Steve Fickinger (producer of the Tony Award-winning musical “Dear Evan Hansen” and former Disney executive)
Yury Shatunov (Soviet-era pop star)
James Rado (co-creator of the hit musical “Hair)
Patrick Adams (pioneering disco producer-songwriter)
Todd Brodginski (Art Garfunkel’s manager and veteran music publicist)
Jim Schwall (The Siegel-Schwall Band)
Brett Tuggle (longtime Fleetwood Mac keyboardist)
Joel Whitburn (Billboard chart historian and reference book author)
Al Cooley (Nashville A&R veteran)
Baxter Black (American cowboy poet)
Julee Cruise (“Twin Peaks” singer)
Frank Ursoleo (BMG executive and founder of Iconoclassic Records)
Jim Seals (Seals & Crofts)
Trouble (Atlanta rapper)
Alec John Such (bassist and founding member of Bon Jovi)
Paul Vance (songwriter behind “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” “Tracy,” “Playground in My Mind,” etc.)
Ken Kelly (KISS album cover artist)
Hal Bynum (country songwriter who co-wrote “Lucille”)
Kelly Joe Phelps (blues and country musician)
Deborah McCrary (The McCrary Sisters)
Catrine Dominique (Cyndi Lauper’s mother and star of several of her videos)
Dave Smith (created the Prophet-5 synthesizer and pioneered the use of MIDI)
Krishnakumar Kunnath, aka KK (Indian singer-composer)
Sidhu Moose Wala (Indian rapper turned politician)
Ronnie Hawkins (rockabilly singer who mentored The Band)
Bill Walker (Music City arranger-conductor)
Andy Fletcher (founding member of Depeche Mode)
Alan White (Yes drummer)
Christine Ann Dickinson (music book author and former pop music critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Cathal Coughlan (Irish singer-songwriter)
Thom Bresh (guitarist-singer and son of Merle Travis)
Bernard Wright (funk and jazz singer and godson of Roberta Flack)
Bhaanu Mendiratta (guitarist and composer of Soul’d Out)
Vangelis (Oscar-winning film composer: “Chariots of Fire,” “Blade Runner,” etc.)
Bob Neuwirth (folk artist and Bob Dylan associate)
Rosmarie Trapp (Trapp Family Singers)
Ben Moore (Blind Boys of Alabama)
William Bennett (renowned flautist)
June Preston (child actor turned opera singer)
Teresa Berganza (Spanish opera singer)
Ricky Gardiner (Bowie/Iggy Pop Berlin-era guitarist)
Trevor Strnad (The Black Dahlia Murder)
Mickey Gilley (country legend)
Jewell Caples (“The First Lady of Death Row Records”)
Ric Parnell (Spinal Tap and Atomic Rooster drummer)
Naomi Judd (matriarch of The Judds)
Judy Henske (folk singer-songwriter)
Gabe Serbian (The Locust)
Régine (French disco pioneer)
José Luis Cortés (Cuban bandleader and timba pioneer)
Klaus Schulze (electronic music pioneer)
Randy Rand (founding member of Autograph)
Susan Jacks (The Poppy Family)
Shane Yellowbird (Cree country singer-songwriter)
Andrew Woolfolk (Earth, Wind & Fire saxophonist)
Orlando Julius (Nigerian saxophonist, singer and bandleader)
Re Styles (former Tubes member and ex-wife of Prairie Prince)
Robert Morse (Broadway, TV and film star)
Guitar Shorty (blues master guitarist)
Jerry Doucette (founder of the JUNO-winning band Doucette)
Roderick “Pooh” Clark (an original member of Hi-Five)
David Freel (Swell)
Keith Grayson, aka DJ Kay Slay (NYC hip-hop legend)
Art Rupe (record mogul who helped launch Little Richard, Sam Cooke, etc.)
Tim Feerick (Dance Gavin Dance bassist)
Ronald Lee DeMoor, aka Johnny Counterfit (celebrity impressionist)
Charnett Moffett (jazz bass legend)
Charles McCormick (founding member of Bloodstone wrote and sang “Natural High”)
Chris Bailey (The Saints)
Bobby Rydell (1950s teen idol)
Joe Messina (Funk Brothers guitarist)
Chris Owens (dancer, singer, the heart of old Bourbon Street)
Francisco González (Los Lobos founding member)
Pamela Rooke (the “Queen of Punk” and fashion icon known as Jordan)
Fitzroy “Bunny Diamond” Simpson (The Mighty Diamonds)
Roland White (bluegrass musician)
Bill Fries, aka C.W. McCall (of “Convoy” fame)
Tom Parker (The Wanted)
Tabby Diamond (The Mighty Diamonds)
John Swenson (OffBeat contributing editor and writer)
Mira Calix (producer-composer)
Keith Martin (R&B musician, producer and songwriter)
Andy Wickham (record label talent scout signed Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, a-ha, et al)
Denise Coffey (British actress-singer)
Jeff Carson (country singer-songwriter)
Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters drummer)
Jared Hancock (Grammy-nominated producer)
LaShun Pace (The Anointed Pace Sisters)
Barbara Morrison (jazz and blues vocalist)
Pervis Spann (Chicago radio legend)
Barry Bailey (Atlanta Rhythm Section guitarist)
Timmy Thomas (“Why Can’t We Live Together” singer)
Brad Martin (country singer-songwriter)
Traci Braxton (actress-singer and sister of Toni Braxton)
Richard Podolor (Three Dog Night producer)
Ron Miles (jazz cornetist)
Bobbie Nelson (musician and sister of Willie Nelson)
Emilio Delgado (Luis from “Sesame Street”)
Ellen Zoe Golden (publicist for Billy Idol, Hall & Oates, Chumbawamba, et al)
David “Ziggy” Sigmund (Econoline Crush guitarist)
Lil Bo Weep (Australian singer)
Denroy Morgan (reggae singer and father of the members of Morgan Heritage)
Johnny Brown (character actor and singer)
Jim Owens (country music TV producer and husband of Lorainne Crook)
Warner Mack (1960s country star)
Nicky Tesco (The Members)
Joni James (1950s-era pop singer)
Riky Rick (South African rapper)
Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees)
Gary Brooker (Procol Harum)
Jane “Nightbirde” Marczewski (“America’s Got Talent” singing contestant)
Jamal Edwards (pioneering music entrepreneur)
Michael Lee Rabon (lead singer-guitarist of The Five Americans)
Scotty Wray (Miranda Lambert’s guitarist and brother of Collin Raye)
Sidney Miller (publisher and founder of Black Radio Exclusive magazine)
Dallas Good (The Sadies’ singer-guitarist)
Steve Salas (Tierra)
Sandy Nelson (influential early rock-era drummer)
Bappi Lahiri (Bollywood singer, composer)
Chick Rains (country songwriter)
Sandhya Mukherjee (legendary Bengali singer)
King Louie Bankston (The Exploding Hearts)
Howard Grimes (Hi Rhythm drummer)
Ian McDonald (founding member of Foreigner and King Crimson)
Betty Davis (the “Queen of Funk”)
Blake Mevis (country songwriter-producer)
Donny Gerrard (lead singer of Skylark’s “Wildflower”)
Syl Johnson (legendary soul singer)
George Crumb (Grammy-winning avant-garde composer)
Alexander Hamilton (Aretha Franklin’s “Amazing Grace” choir director/arranger)
Lata Mangeshkar (Bollywood’s most beloved voice)
Norma Waterson (British folk singer)
Philip Paul (drummer played on “The Twist,” “Fever,” etc.)
Jon “Jonny Z” Zazula (Megaforce Records co-founder)
Glenn Wheatley (musician and longtime manager of Little River Band)
Jimmy Johnson (Chicago blues legend)
Sam Lay (The Paul Butterfield Blues Band)
Hargus “Pig” Robbins (Country Music Hall of Fame session pianist)
Howard Hesseman (disc jockey turned actor starred as Dr. Johnny Fever in “WKRP in Cincinnati” in a prolific career)
Diego Verdaguer (legendary Mexican-Argentinian singer)
Sister Janet Mead (singing nun who had a pop hit with “The Lord’s Prayer”)
Andy Ross (head of Food Records in the 1990s, signed Blur, Jesus Jones, etc.)
Dick Halligan (a founding member of Blood, Sweat & Tears)
Terry Tolkin (former Elektra Records A&R executive who championed alt-rockers)
Beegie Adair (jazz musician)
Don Wilson (co-founder of The Ventures)
Meat Loaf (“Bat Out of Hell” superstar)
Jerry Ray Johnston (former Grand Ole Opry staff drummer)
Elza Soares (Brazilian samba singer)
Jon Lind (songwriter wrote “Boogie Wonderland,” “Crazy For You,” “Save the Best for Last,” etc.)
Dan Einstein (co-founder of John Prine’s Oh Boy Records)
Rachel Nagy (Detroit Cobras frontwoman)
Ralph Emery (Country Music Hall of Fame broadcaster)
Sonny Turner (The Platters)
Jerry Crutchfield (country producer/songwriter)
Dallas Frazier (country songwriter wrote “Elvira” and “Beneath Still Waters”)
Wavy Navy Pooh (Miami rapper)
Fred Parris (co-founder of The Five Satins)
CPO Boss Hogg (rapper once signed to Death Row Records)
Ronnie Spector (legendary lead singer of The Ronettes)
Rosa Lee Hawkins (The Dixie Cups)
Burke Shelley (bassist-vocalist and founding member of Budgie)
R. Dean Taylor (Motown hit songwriter and singer of “Indiana Wants Me”)
James Mtume (R&B and jazz percussionist)’
Maria Ewing (opera singer)
Marilyn Bergman (Oscar-winning lyricist wrote “The Way We Were”)
Calvin Simon (Parliament-Funkadelic co-founder)
Michael Lang (Woodstock co-creator)
Flavio Etcheto (Argentine electronic music pioneer)
Peter Bogdanovich (Oscar-nominated director won a Grammy for Best Music Film for his 2007 Tom Petty documentary “Runnin’ Down a Dream”)
Ted Gardner (Lollapalooza co-founder)
Jay Weaver (Big Daddy Weave)
Stephen J. Lawrence (“Sesame Street” composer and “Free to Be … You and Me” musical director)
Nick Colionne (smooth jazz guitarist)
Denis O’Dell (Beatles film producer)
Traxamillion (hip-hop producer)
Graham Pauncefort (CRD founder, who died on Dec. 31)
John C. Koss (stereo headphone innovator; died on Dec. 21)
R.I.P. 2021
R.I.P. 2020
R.I.P. 2019
R.I.P. 2018
R.I.P. 2017
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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