Pick a Day

Music History Events: Deaths

June 11, 2025 Brian Wilson, the creative engine in The Beach Boys, dies at 82. After a run of hits with jaunty songs like "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "Surfin' U.S.A.," he stopped touring with the group to focus on studio work, resulting in masterworks like "Good Vibrations" and "God Only Knows."

June 9, 2025 Sly Stone dies from COPD at 82. With his group Sly & the Family Stone he brought lively funk grooves to the charts with songs like "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" and "I Want To Take You Higher." The band fell apart in the mid-'70s when he battled drug addiction, and Stone remained reclusive and erratic the rest of his life, sabotaging various comeback opportunities.

February 24, 2025 Roberta Flack dies at 88 after a battle with ALS. As a solo artist, her hits include "Killing Me Softly With His Song" and "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." She also did popular duets with Donny Hathaway ("The Closer I Get To You"), Peabo Bryson ("Tonight, I Celebrate My Love") and Maxi Priest ("Set The Night To Music").

January 10, 2025 Sam Moore, one of the soul men in the duo Sam & Dave, dies at 89.

November 3, 2024 Quincy Jones dies at 91. A musical visionary, his accomplishments include producing Michael Jackson's albums Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad; launching Vibe magazine; and scoring the movie The Color Purple.

October 25, 2024 Phil Lesh, the bass player in the Grateful Dead for their entire run (1965-1995), dies at 84. His bass was often a lead instrument in the band, creating a distinctive sound that meshed with Jerry Garcia's guitar work.

October 21, 2024 Paul Di'Anno, Iron Maiden's lead singer from 1978-1981, dies at 66. He sang on their first two albums before a cocaine addiction led to his departure and Bruce Dickinson took over.

October 16, 2024 Former One Direction star Liam Payne dies at 31 after falling from the third-floor balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires. Toxicology tests find traces of alcohol and cocaine in his system.

August 15, 2024 Great White lead singer Jack Russell dies of lewy body dementia at 63. The group was big in the '80s, with the MTV hit "Once Bitten, Twice Shy." In the 2010s, Russell broke from the band and led a different version called Jack Russell's Great White, which remained active until months before his death.

August 13, 2024 Rocker Greg Kihn dies at 75 after a battle with Alzheimer's disease. He had a hit with "Jeopardy" in 1983, and later became a novelist and also a longtime DJ on the San Francisco Bay Area radio station KFOX.

July 22, 2024 Duke Fakir, the last surviving founder of The Four Tops, dies of heart failure at 88. He toured with the group until the year before his death.

April 30, 2024 Duane Eddy, who developed a twangy guitar sound that led the way to surf rock, dies of cancer at 86. He had several instrumental hits from 1958-1963, including "Rebel Rouser" and "Forty Miles Of Bad Road."

April 24, 2024 Keyboard player Mike Pinder, the last living member from the original lineup of The Moody Blues, dies at 82.

April 18, 2024 Longtime Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts dies at 80 after years of health problems. Betts wrote many of their most popular songs, including "Blue Sky," written about his girlfriend, Sandy "Bluesky" Wabegijig.

February 5, 2024 Toby Keith dies at 62 after a battle with stomach cancer. He wrote or co-wrote most of his 20 #1 Country hits, including "How Do You Like Me Now!?" and "Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)."

January 23, 2024 Melanie, known for her #1 hit "Brand New Key" and her Woodstock-inspired "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," dies at 76.

January 23, 2024 German Producer Frank Farian, creator of the lip-synch acts Boney M. and Milli Vanilli, dies at 82.

November 30, 2023 Shane MacGowan of The Pogues dies of pneumonia at 65. He was known for his pithy lyrics, Celtic influence, and a lifelong drinking problem that took a severe toll on his health.

September 4, 2023 Gary Wright, known for his 1975 hit "Dream Weaver," dies at 80 after a battle with Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia.

September 4, 2023 Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell dies of liver failure at 56.

September 1, 2023 Jimmy Buffett dies at 76 from a rare form of skin cancer that was detected four years earlier but he didn't disclose to the public.

August 9, 2023 Robbie Robertson of The Band dies at 80.

August 8, 2023 Sixto Rodriguez, a mercurial singer-songwriter whose story is told in the documentary Searching For Sugar Man, dies at 81.

July 26, 2023 Eagles founding member Randy Meisner dies from health issues at 77. He co-wrote and sang lead on "Take It To The Limit."

July 21, 2023 Tony Bennett dies at 96 after a battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was still making music at 95, when he released his last album, Love For Sale, a collaboration with Lady Gaga.

July 16, 2023 French fashion icon Jane Birkin, who sang with Serge Gainsbourg on the racy number "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus," dies at 76. She's the namesake of the Birkin Bag, a symbol of luxury mentioned in many rap songs, most famously "'03 Bonnie And Clyde" by Jay-Z.

May 24, 2023 Tina Turner dies at 83 after a long illness.

May 1, 2023 Gordon Lightfoot ("If You Could Read My Mind," "Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald") dies at 84.

April 25, 2023 Harry Belafonte dies from heart failure at 96. He brought calypso music to the fore in the 1950s, most famously with "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)."

March 5, 2023 Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington dies at 71. He was last founding member of the band still alive.