Well this isn’t the bright and cheery blog post I was hoping to do today. I was actually searching around looking for a definitive list of all 2010 album releases so I could come up with my Top 20 for the No Depression end of the year readers poll. Somehow, I clicked here and clicked there and than landed on a Wikipedia page that gives the list below. And it’s not even current…deaths of musicians only through October.
What surprised me about this was how long it is. And how young so many of these people were. There is a story to be told or heard for everyone one of these folks. They no doubt left behind family, friends and fans. And great stories and memories. And music of course.
The reason I’m taking the time to share this is simple: as you look through the names you’ll (if your like me) see one or two, be surprised because you hadn’t heard, and than go off to search for some of their music to listen to. It seems to be a good way to remember them and honor their contributions.
January
January 1 – Lhasa de Sela, 37, singer, breast cancer
January 1 – Gregory Slay, 40, drummer for Remy Zero, cystic fibrosis
January 4 – Tony Clarke, 68, The Moody Blues producer
January 5 – Willie Mitchell, 81, producer and arranger, cardiac arrest
January 7 – Thomas Sam Davis, a.k.a. Eric Shark, 59, singer for Deaf School, lung failure
January 9 – Ned Theall, 72, The Boogie Kings trumpet player, stomach aneurysm
January 12 – Yabby You, 63, reggae singer and producer, brain aneurysm
January 12 – Dannie Flesher, 58, Wax Trax! Records co-founder, pneumonia
January 12 – Brian “Damage” Keats, 46, drummer for Misfits, liver cancer
January 12 – Jimmy O, 35, Haitian musician of Barikad Crew, earthquake victim
January 13 – Ed Thigpen, 79, jazz drummer
January 13 – Eddie Edgehill, 74, member of The Valentines and The Del-Kings, heart attack
January 13 – Teddy Pendergrass, 59, R&B singer, colon cancer
January 13 – Jay Reatard, 29, garage punk singer and guitarist, cocaine toxicity
January 14 – Bobby Charles, 71, songwriter and swamp pop musician
January 14 – Chilton Price, 96, songwriter
January 23 – Earl Wild, 94, pianist, congestive heart disease
February
February 6 – Tony Taylor, 42, lead singer of Twisted Tower Dire, motorcycle accident
February 14 – Doug Fieger, 57, lead singer of The Knack, cancer
February 14 – Lee Freeman, 60, guitarist for Strawberry Alarm Clock, cancer
February 17 – Kathryn Grayson, 88, singer and actress
February 23 – Chilly B, 47, rapper for Newcleus, stroke
February 27 – Tom “T-Bone” Wolk, 58, bassist for Hall & Oates, stroke
March
March 4 – Lolly Vegas, 70, lead singer of Redbone, lung cancer
March 4 – Rob Banks, 58, singer of The Dramatics, heart attack
March 6 – Mark Linkous, 47, singer and guitarist for Sparklehorse, suicide
March 10 – Evelyn Dall, singer and actress
March 17 – Alex Chilton, 59, singer and guitarist for Big Star, heart attack
March 28 – Herb Ellis, 88, jazz guitarist, Alzheimer’s disease
April
April 14 – Peter Steele, 48, singer and bassist for Type O Negative, heart failure
April 19 – Guru, 48, rapper for Gangstarr, multiple myeloma
May
May 3 – Chubby Carrier, 63, zydeco musician
May 3 – Eddie L. Jackson, 63, guitarist for Brenda & The Tabulations
May 7 – Dave Fisher, 69, singer, musician for The Highwaymen
May 9 – Lena Horne, 92, singer and actress, heart failure
May 16 – Hank Jones, 91, jazz pianist and bandleader
May 16 – Ronnie James Dio, 67, singer for Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell and Dio, stomach cancer
May 19 – Larry Dale, 87, blues musician
May 24 – Paul Gray, 38, bassist for Slipknot
May 26 – Judy Lynn, 74, country singer
May 28 – Slim Bryant, 101, country singer-songwriter
June
June 5 – Tony Peluso, 60, guitarist, record producer
June 6 – Marvin Isley, 56, bassist for The Isley Brothers
June 7 – Oliver N’Goma, 51, Gabonese singer and guitarist
June 7 – Stuart Cable, 40, drummer for The Stereophonics
June 8 – Crispian St Peter, 71, British pop singer
June 13 – Jimmy Dean, 81, country singer
June 15 – Busi Mhlongo, 62, South African singer
June 16 – Bill Dixon, 84, jazz musician
June 16 – Garry Shider, 56, guitarist for Parliament-Funkadelic, brain cancer
June 24 – Fred Anderson, 81, avant-garde jazz musician
June 24 – Pete Quaife, 66, original bassist for The Kinks
June 26 – Benny Powell, 80, jazz trombonist with Lionel Hampton and Count Basie
June 26 – Sergio Vega, 40, Mexican singer, stage name “El Shaka”
June 27 – Rammellzee, 49, hip hop musician, graffiti artist
July
July 1 – Ilene Woods, 81, singer, actress
July 6 – Harvey Fuqua, 80, singer for The Moonglows and record producer
July 10 – Sugar Minott, 54, reggae singer
July 11 – Walter Hawkins, 61, gospel singer, pancreatic cancer
July 12 – Tuli Kupferberg, 86, poet and singer for The Fugs
July 13 – Olga Guillot, 87, Cuban singer, “Queen Of Bolero”
July 14 – Gene Ludwig, 72, jazz organist
July 15 – Hank Cochran, 74, country singer-songwriter, brother of Eddie Cochran
July 15 – Yandé Codou Sène, 78, Sengalese singer
July 17 – Fred Carter, Jr., 76, guitarist, songwriter, producer
July 19 – Andy Hummel, 59, bassist for Big Star, cancer
July 26 – Al Goodman, 63, singer for The Moments and Ray, Goodman & Brown
July 26 – Bice, 36, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
July 27 – Ben Keith, 73, guitarist, steel guitarist, musician and producer
July 30 – Richard “Scar” Lopez, 64, member of Cannibal & The Headhunters
July 31 – Mitch Miller, 99, producer, musician
August
August 3 – Mitch Jayne, 82, bassist for bluegrass band The Dillards
August 3 – Bobby Hebb, 72, soul singer
August 6 – Chris Dedrick, 62, singer for The Free Design
August 6 – Catfish Collins, 66, guitarist with James Brown, Parliament/Funkadelic and brother to Bootsy Collins
August 8 – Ted Kowalski, 79, singer with Canadian doo-wop group, The Diamonds
August 10 – Dana Dawson, 36, soul singer, actress
August 12 – Richie Hayward, 64, drummer for Little Feat, and with Bonnie Raitt and Eric Clapton among others
August 14 – Abbey Lincoln, 80, jazz singer, actress
August 15 – Ahmad Alaadeen, 76, jazz musician
August 15 – Robert Wilson, 53, bassist for The Gap Band
August 17 – Mac Tontoh, 69, trumpet player and songwriter for Osibisa
August 18 – Kenny Edwards, 64, pianist, singer-songwriter. In The Stone Poneys with Linda Ronstadt
August 19 – Michael Been, 60, singer and guitarist for The Call
August 20 – Charles Haddon, 22, member of Ou Est Le Swimming Pool
August 23 – Bill Phillips, 74, country singer
September
September 8 – Rich Cronin, 36, lead singer and songwriter for LFO
September 11 – King Coleman, 78, R&B singer
September 15 – Arrow, 60, Monserratian soca musician
September 19 – Buddy Collette, 89, jazz saxophonist
September 20 – Leonard Skinner, 77, schoolteacher and namesake of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alzheimer’s disease
September 22 – Eddie Fisher, 82, vocalist, ex-husband of Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, father of Carrie Fisher
September 27 – Buddy Morrow, 91, aka Moe Zudekoff, jazz bandleader, trombonist
September 27 – Ed Wiley Jr., 80, R&B saxophonist, singer
October
October 7 – T. Lavitz, 54, keyboard player for Dixie Dregs
October 8 – Albertina Walker, 81, gospel singer and member of The Caravans
October 10 – Joan Sutherland, 83, opera soprano
October 10 – Solomon Burke, 70, R&B singer
October 13 – General Norman Johnson, 69, singer for Chairmen Of The Board, songwriter and producer
October 16 – Eyedea, 28, rapper and guitarist for Eyedea & Abilities
October 22 – Denis Simpson, 60, singer for the Canadian band, The Nylons
October 25 – Gregory Isaacs, 59, reggae singer
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