Music History Events: Deaths
October 6, 2020 Johnny Nash, whose "I Can See Clearly Now" was the first reggae song to hit #1 in America, dies at 80.
September 29, 2020 Mac Davis, who wrote the Elvis Presley hits "A Little Less Conversation" and "In The Ghetto," dies at 78.
September 29, 2020 Helen Reddy, whose hit "I Am Woman" soundtracked the women's rights movement in the '70s, dies at 78.
August 20, 2020 Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali dies of pancreatic cancer at 68.
July 25, 2020 Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green dies at 73. Green gave the band a strident blues sound before leaving in 1970.
June 29, 2020 Benny Mardones of "Into The Night" fame dies at 73 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
June 18, 2020 Singer Vera Lynn, who became the musical embodiment of Britain's fighting spirit during World War II, dies at 103.
June 8, 2020 Bonnie Pointer of The Pointer Sisters dies of a heart attack at 69.
June 4, 2020 Producer Rupert Hine, whose credits include Tina Turner's hit "Better Be Good To Me" and the first four albums by The Fixx, dies at 72.
April 7, 2020 Acclaimed singer-songwriter John Prine dies at 73 after coming down with coronavirus.
April 1, 2020 Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne dies at 52 after contracting coronavirus. He's one of the first popular entertainers to die from the virus, which a week later claims the life of John Prine.
March 29, 2020 Alan Merrill of The Arrows, who co-wrote "I Love Rock And Roll," dies at 69, one of the first high-profile musicians to succumb to coronavirus.
March 20, 2020 Kenny Rogers dies at 81.
February 19, 2020 The rapper Pop Smoke is shot and killed at age 20. Five months later, his debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, is released and goes to #1 in the US.
January 7, 2020 Rush drummer/lyricist Neil Peart dies of brain cancer at 67.
December 9, 2019 Marie Fredriksson of Roxette dies of a brain tumor at 61.
December 8, 2019 Juice WRLD, a 21-year-old rapper known for his hit "Lucid Dreams," dies after suffering a seizure onboard a private jet.
October 15, 2019 Chambers Brothers vocalist and bassist George "Pops" Chambers passes away at 88 years old.
October 14, 2019 Choi Jin-ri, the South Korean singer/actress known as Sulli, commits suicide at Busan aged only 25.
October 2, 2019 Kim Shattuck of The Muffs dies at 56 after a battle with ALS. Her bandmates remember her as "a brilliant songwriter, rocking guitarist and singer/screamer extraordinaire."
September 15, 2019 The Cars frontman Ric Ocasek dies at 75.
September 13, 2019 Eddie Money dies of esophageal cancer at 70.
August 3, 2019 Henri Belolo, who co-founded The Village People and co-wrote many of their hits, dies at 82.
June 23, 2019 Dave Bartholomew, who co-wrote many of Fats Domino's hits, dies at age 100.
May 31, 2019 Psychedelic-music legend and frontman for the 13th Floor Elevators, Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson passes away at 71 years old in his home in Austin, Texas.
May 13, 2019 Doris Day dies at 97.
April 13, 2019 UFO keyboard player Paul Raymond dies of a heart attack at 73.
March 26, 2019 Ranking Roger (Roger Charlery), the toaster for General Public and The English Beat, dies at 56 after a battle with cancer.
March 22, 2019 Scott Walker dies at 76. In the UK, he became a pop star in the '60s, but turned to more experimental music in ensuing years.
March 16, 2019 Surf rock pioneer Dick Dale dies at 81.
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