Notable musicians and other music-related figures who have died this year:
Verne Allison (second tenor and founding member of The Dells)
Freddie Jackson (legendary 1980s R&B star)
Piero (Argentine singer-songwriter)
George Fenton (British film and TV composer)
Lena Martell (first Scottish female singer to top U.K. singles chart)
Sass Jordan (JUNO Award-winning Canadian bluesy rock singer)
Conrad “Cronos” Lant (lead singer-bassist of Venom)
Russell Scott (Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys)
Slinger Francisco, aka The Mighty Sparrow (Trinidadian calypso legend)
Bruno Kramm (Das Ich)
Chuck Varga (vocalist and founding member of GWAR)
Neil Henderson (former Bay City Rollers guitarist)
Pete Byrne (Naked Eyes lead singer)
Chad Gilbert (New Found Glory guitarist)
Duncan Sheik (Grammy- and Tony Award-winning singer-songwriter and composer)
Gary McCracken (Max Webster)
Ed Morris (Nashville-based music journalist wrote for Billboard and authored eight books)
Rosalind Ashford-Holmes (Martha and the Vandellas)
Sway DaSafo (British rapper)
Ronnie Dove (1960s pop/country star)
Ben Saunders (winner of first-ever version of “The Voice”)
Cheetah Chrome (Dead Boys co-founder and guitarist)
Pat Senatore (original bassist in Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass)
Brian Duckworth (member of sibling country trio Taylor Made)
Jon Small (music video director and Billy Joel’s longtime collaborator)
Andy Williams (Every Time I Die guitarist and pro wrestling’s “The Butcher”)
Craig Douglas (chart-topping U.K. pop singer)
Cassandra Wilson (Grammy-winning jazz singer-songwriter)
Ron Parker (longtime radio personality spent final 18 years of his career at SiriusXM as the national voice of the ’60s and ’70s gold channels)
Frankie Miller (country singer-songwriter)
Granville Straker (calypso and soca pioneer who founded Straker’s Records)
David Fair (co-founder of Half Japanese)
Tim Curry (singer-actor and star of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”)
Dolly Parton (Queen of Country Music)
Jaye P. Morgan (singer and bawdy “Gong Show” panelist)
Shelley Fabares (actress-singer had a No. 1 hit with “Johnny Angel”)
Nick Glennie-Smith (British orchestral conductor-composer collaborated with Hans Zimmer on film scores)
Latimore (blues/R&B singer-songwriter best known for 1974’s “Let’s Straighten It Out”)
Pat Enright (bluegrass musician performed as part of the Soggy Bottom Boys in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”)
Janie Bradford (Motown songwriter co-wrote “Money [That’s What I Want]” and “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby”)
Barry Mitchell (Queen bassist, 1970-71)
Sandy Beach (Western New York radio legend)
José Luis “Pucho” Ponce (bassist for Argentine folk group Los Tekis)
Frank Beard (co-founder and drummer of ZZ Top)
Hayden Panettiere (actress-singer portrayed a bubblegum country pop star on “Nashville,” scoring three hits on Billboard’s country chart)
Dave Marsh (rock critic and Bruce Springsteen biographer)
Ruby Andrews (Chicago R&B singer, whose biggest hit was “Casanova [Your Playing Days Are Over]” in 1967)
Derry Brownson (EMF keyboardist and founding member)
Violet Hensley (National Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame musician)
Cat Dowling (Irish singer-songwriter)
Abbe Lane (singer-actress fronted husband Xavier Cugat’s Latin music orchestra for a decade before divorcing)
Björn Stigsson (guitarist and founding member of Swedish Christian metal band Leviticus)
William Orbit (Grammy-winning producer for Madonna and Blur)
Peter Katsis (Smashing Pumpkins and Backstreet Boys manager and co-founded The Firm)
Pepe Habichuela (influential Spanish flamenco guitarist)
John Douglas (Trashcan Sinatras guitarist-singer)
Vicki Wickham (TV producer, journalist and artist manager guided the careers of Dusty Springfield, Labelle and Marc Almond and co-wrote Springfield’s biggest hit “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”)
David Z (Grammy-winning producer was an architect of “Minneapolis sound” and helped launch Prince’s career)
Jeanie Bryson (jazz singer and daughter of Dizzy Gillespie)
Jeff “Monoman” Conolly (frontman of The Lyres and DMZ)
Anthony “TJ” Catalfo (former Ruiner drummer)
Arlene Smith (lead singer and co-founder of The Chantels)
Glen Hansard (Oscar-winning singer-musician)
Kavinsky (French DJ-electronic musician)
Ray Gomez (jazz electric guitarist)
Lou Koller (frontman and co-founder of Sick of It All)
Oliver Jones (Canadian jazz pianist)
Vernon Taylor (country/rockabilly pioneer)
Plas Johnson (saxophonist behind “The Pink Panther” theme song)
Brian Doerksen (Canadian Christian worship artist)
Jim Gilstrap (“Good Times” TV theme singer, vocalist on Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” and had a Top 60 hit with “Swing Your Daddy”)
Jennifer Finch (L7 bassist)
Freddy Cannon (early rock hitmaker)
Tony Thorpe (The Rubettes guitarist)
Alan Walden (Capricorn Records co-founder discovered and managed Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Charlie Rich Jr. (singer-songwriter and eldest son of the late Charlie Rich)
Dave Kendall (creator and host of MTV’s “120 Minutes”)
Jimmy Nichols (session/touring keyboardist)
Josh Grisetti (Broadway star and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” actor)
Bob Farrell (one-half of Christian pop duo Farrell and Farrell)
Mike Browning (former Morbid Angel drummer-vocalist)
Joe Melson (singer-songwriter co-wrote some of Roy Orbison’s biggest hits, including “Only the Lonely,” “Running Scared,” “Crying” and “Blue Bayou”)
Andy Bickers (Cold Chisel saxophonist)
Bonnie Tyler (Welsh pop star best known for “Total Eclipse of the Heart”)
Calvin Hayes (Johnny Hates Jazz)
Rodney Franklin (R&B/jazz pianist)
Brian Potter (songwriter-producer worked with partner Dennis Lambert, co-producing “Rhinestone Cowboy” and co-writing “One Tin Soldier,” etc.)
Brian Burns (Texas musician-songwriter)
Joe Murphy (frontman of English rock band Koopa)
Lauren Bennett (G.R.L. member sang on LMFAO’s hit “Party Rock Anthem”)
Rickie Castrillo (New Orleans musician and longtime MC for Tipitina’s)
Doreen Broadnax (known as 1980s hip-hop singer/rapper Sparky D)
Tommy Hunter (“Canada’s Country Gentleman”)
Shaun Glass (Soil founding member and guitarist)
Victor Willis (lead singer of The Village People)
Bruce Tull (Scud Mountain Boys)
Doug Goldstein (longtime Guns N’ Roses manager)
Harold Wheeler (Tony Award-winning Broadway orchestrator and longtime musical director for “Dancing With the Stars”)
David Clayton-Thomas (Blood, Sweat & Tears singer)
Beau Williams (Dove Award-winning gospel singer)
Clive Davis (legendary Columbia and Arista president and producer)
Justin Cary (Sixpence None the Richer bassist)
Tay Keith (Grammy-nominated hip-hop producer)
Walter Parazaider (saxophonist and founding member of Chicago)
Görel Hanser (ABBA’s longtime manager)
Abdullah Ibrahim (South African jazz pianist-composer)
Oliver Tree (alt-pop singer-songwriter)
Stranger Cole (Jamaican ska pioneer)
Steve Almaas (Suicide Commandos / Beat Rodeo)
James “Blood” Ulmer (avant-garde electric guitarist-singer)
Bill Cody (Grand Ole Opry announcer and WSM radio host)
Anthony Head (“Ted Lasso”/”Buffy the Vampire Slayer” actor, sang backup on Red Box’s 1986 hit “Lean on Me [Ah-Li-Ayo],” played Frank N. Furter in a 1990s West End revival of “The Rocky Horror Show” and was younger brother of singer-actor Murray Head)
Carla Evonne (of Chicago 1980s new wave band Bohemia)
Kanya King (Mobo Awards founder)
Peabo Bryson (Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter)
Dexter Wansel (Philly soul giant produced, wrote and played keyboards for Philadelphia International Records)
Joe Negri (jazz guitarist and Handyman Negri on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”)
Foster Sylvers (of The Sylvers)
Ronald LaPread (co-founder and former bassist of the Commodores)
John McClain (veteran music executive and co-executor of Michael Jackson Estate)
Sonny Rollins (colossus of jazz saxophone)
Dick Parry (Pink Floyd saxophonist)
Rob Base (“It Takes Two” rapper, with DJ E-Z Rock)
Jimmy Hughes (R&B singer’s biggest success was the 1964 Top 20 hit “Steal Away”)
Totó La Momposina (Colombian folk music legend)
Ike Willis (guitarist-vocalist for Frank Zappa, playing Joe in Zappa’s three-part rock opera “Joe’s Garage”)
Dennis Locorriere (lead singer of Dr. Hook)
Clarence Carter (soul singer, best known for million-selling “Patches”)
Claudine Longet (singer-actress, formerly married to Andy Williams)
Jack Douglas (producer worked with John Lennon, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick)
Buddy Flett (Southern blues singer-guitarist)
Jo Ann Castle (pianist and longtime performer on “The Lawrence Welk Show”)
Earl-Jean Reavis (last surviving member of The Cookies)
Alex Ligertwood (former Santana vocalist)
Jeff Taylor (frontman for Altered Five Blues Band)
Georg Wadenius (Blood, Sweat & Tears guitarist from 1972-75 and a member of “Saturday Night Live” house band, 1979-85)
David Allan Coe (outlaw country singer-songwriter wrote “Take This Job and Shove It”)
Tony Wilson (Hot Chocolate bassist co-wrote “You Sexy Thing”)
Beverley Martyn (British folk singer)
Barbara Carr (soul/blues singer)
Nedra Talley Ross (last surviving original member of The Ronettes)
Dylan Carter (“The Voice” season 24 contestant)
Michael Tilson Thomas (Grammy-winning conductor and composer led San Francisco Symphony for 25 years)
Taylor Kirk (Timber Timbre)
Dave Mason (Rock Hall legend and Traffic co-founder)
Gregg Foreman (The Delta 72)
Alan Osmond (oldest member of the Osmonds)
Craig Krampf (Nashville session drummer)
Paul Armstrong (co-founding guitarist of The Flashcubes)
Wayne Moss (Nashville session guitar great)
Don Schlitz (country songwriter wrote “The Gambler” and “Forever and Ever, Amen”)
Andy Kershaw (BBC DJ and Live Aid presenter)
Marcos Loya (guitarist-composer portrayed a street musician in Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita” music video)
Moya Brennan (Clannad singer-harpist)
Alain Lefebvre, aka Al Gunn (former Men Without Hats bassist)
Felipe Staiti (guitarist and founding member of Argentine rock band Enanitos Verdes)
Donald K. Tarlton (Canadian concert promoter, label head and producer)
Sid Kroftt (partnered with brother Marty to create and produce “H.R. Pufnstuf,” “Land of the Lost,” “Donny & Marie,” etc.)
Asha Bhosle (Bollywood recording legend and subject of Cornershop’s “Brimful of Asha”)
Afrika Bambaataa (hip-hop pioneer)
Keith Wood (co-founder of Caroline Records)
David Wiffen (Canadian folk singer-songwriter)
Gwendolyn “Blondy” Chisolm (co-founder of The Sequence with Angie Stone and Cheryl “The Pearl” Cook)
Scott Aiges (former music critic at The Times-Picayune and producer of festivals for New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation)
Albert Mazibuko (Ladysmith Black Mambazo)
Donn Landee (longtime Van Halen engineer and co-producer)
Fred Simon (last original member of The Lost Generation)
James Gadson (one of R&B’s most recorded drummers)
Walt Maddox (The Marcels)
Suki Lahav (former E Street Band violinist played and sang on “Jungleland” and “4th of July, Asbury Park [Sandy]”)
Tony Rivers (frontman of Tony Rivers and the Castaways)
Bo Lueders (Harm’s Way guitarist)
James Lollar (dark-synthwave artist known as GOST)
Christopher North (Ambrosia keyboardist and founding member)
Greg Elmore (Quicksilver Messenger Service drummer)
Trevor Oakes (Showaddywaddy guitarist and co-founder)
Ross “The Boss” Friedman (founding guitarist of Manowar and The Dictators)
Jon Dee Graham (Austin guitarist-songwriter and a member of the True Believers)
Dash Crofts (Seals & Crofts)
Terry Cox (Pentangle drummer)
Chip Taylor (singer-songwriter/producer wrote “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning”)
Ted Nichols (Hanna-Barbera musical director/composer on “The Flintstones,” “Scooby-Doo,” “Josie and the Pussycats”)
Ronnie Bowman (bluegrass star and former Lonesome River Band member)
Louie Louie (singer had a Top 20 hit in 1990 with “Sittin’ in the Lap of Luxury” and was Madonna’s love interest in her “Borderline” video)
Wayne Perkins (1970s-era guitarist nearly joined The Rolling Stones)
Kiki Shepard (longtime co-host of “Showtime at the Apollo”)
Dolores Keane (traditional Irish folk singer)
Phil Campbell (Motörhead guitarist)
Cicero Blake (Chicago blues/soul legend)
Lord Sear (DJ and hip-hop radio host)
David Brigati (Joey Dee and the Starliters member and brother of The Rascals’ Eddie Brigati)
Tommy DeCarlo (Boston singer who replaced founding member Brad Delp)
Augie Meyers (founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet and Texas Tornados)
Country Joe McDonald (1960s counterculture rock legend)
Roy Book Binder (blues-folk singer-songwriter)
Mike Vernon (producer and British blues champion)
Bob Power (hip-hop engineer and producer)
Roscoe Robinson (The Blind Boys of Alabama)
John Hammond (blues singer-guitarist)
Len Garry (member of The Quarrymen with Paul McCartney and John Lennon)
Neil Sedaka (legendary singer-songwriter/pianist)
Uncle Joe Benson (Los Angeles radio legend)
Oliver “Power” Grant (Wu-Tang Clan co-founder)
Éliane Radigue (French composer and musique concrète pioneer)
Monti Rock III (Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes)
Willie Colón (salsa legend)
José van Dam (Belgian opera star)
Billy Steinberg (Songwriters Hall of Famer co-wrote “Like a Virgin,” “True Colors,” “Eternal Flame”)
Timothy Very (Manchester Orchestra drummer)
Jerry Kennedy (guitarist-producer was a member of Nashville’s elite A-Team of studio musicians)
Andrew Ranken (drummer and founding member of The Pogues)
Rafael Amador (co-founder of Pata Negra)
Dean Franklin (former contestant on “The Voice UK”)
Ebo Taylor (Ghanaian highlife pioneer and guitarist)
Brad Arnold (lead singer of 3 Doors Down)
Greg Brown (founding guitarist of Cake)
Fred Smith (Television bassist)
Lynn Blakely (indie rock musician played with Let’s Active, Oh-OK, Tres Chicas)
LaMonte McLemore (The 5th Dimension)
Tracy Zamot (longtime publicist at Atlantic, Virgin and Motown labels, Pandora and SiriusXM)
Chuck Negron (founding member of Three Dog Night)
Ken Peplowski (jazz musician)
Ron Kenoly (gospel legend)
David Yarnell (created and produced ABC’s late-night “In Concert” series)
Don Adams (country musician played with Johnny Paycheck and George Jones)
Billy Bass Nelson (founding Parliament-Funkadelic bassist)
Nancy Seltzer (publicist’s clients included Garth Brooks, Whitney Houston, Placido Domingo)
Bryan Loren (songwriter-producer co-wrote “Do the Bartman” with Michael Jackson)
Gabe Lopez (“RuPaul’s Drag Race” crew member, songwriter and Belinda Carlisle producer)
Sly Dunbar (drummer-producer and one-half of Sly and Robbie)
Francis Buchholz (longtime Scorpions bassist)
Guy Hovis (“Lawrence Welk Show” singer)
Rob Hirst (Midnight Oil drummer and founding member)
Tucker Zimmerman (Belgium-based/U.S.-born folk singer-songwriter)
Stephen “Cat” Coore (guitarist and co-founder of Third World)
Ralph Towner (pioneering guitarist)
Tom Esty (longtime entertainment publicist)
Kenny Morris (early drummer for Siouxsie and the Banshees)
Rebecca Kilgore (singer of swing standards)
John Forté (The Fugees and Refugee Camp All-Stars)
Bobby Gosh (singer-songwriter wrote Dr. Hook’s 1976 hit “A Little Bit More”)
Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin (Black Midi guitarist)
Terry Sullivan (Renaissance drummer)
Yeison Jiménez (Colombian singer)
Álvaro Peña-Rojas (Chilean punk pioneer)
Bob Weir (Grateful Dead singer-guitarist and founding member)
Jim McBride (Nashville Hall of Fame songwriter wrote Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee”)