In Memory Of Recently Departed Artists |
Major Harris
February 9, 1947 to November 9, 2012 Major Harris was a soul singer, solo one hit wonder, and member of many soul vocal groups including The Delfonics, after the group was already famous. His most popular song came with solo one hit wonder Love Won't Let Me Wait. |
Walk Right Up To The Sun |
Dec 1971 |
Love Won't Let Me Wait |
Jun 1975 |
Cleveland Duncan, The Penguins singer
July 23, 1935 to November 7, 2012 Cleveland Duncan was lead singer of The Penguins, a 1950's soul vocal group most famous for classic Earth Angel. |
1955 |
Pledge Of Love |
May 1957 |
Mitch Lucker, Suicide Silence singer
October, 1984 to November 1, 2012 Mitch Lucker was lead singer in California hardcore band Suicide Silence, most famous for Wake Up off album No Time To Bleed. According to his wife, Mitch Lucker insisted on driving his motorcycle while drunk, and crashed. |
Wake Up |
Aug 2009 |
You Only Live Once |
Jul 2011 |
Frank E Wilson,
Motown soul song writer
December 5, 1940 to September 27, 2012 Frank E Wilson wrote songs for top Motown acts including Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Eddie Kendricks. Frank Wilson also made The World's Rarest Record. |
Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) |
1965 |
Frank Wilson |
Love Child |
Nov 1968 |
Boogie Down |
Feb 1974 |
RB Greaves
November 28, 1943 to September 27, 2012 R.B. Greaves was a soul and dance singer and writer. He came to fame with the song Take A Letter To Maria. This was a top 20 one hit wonder. He also had some soul hits and a few remakes. |
Take A Letter To Maria |
Nov 1969 |
Oct 1971 |
Andy Williams
December 3, 1927 to September 25, 2012 Andy Williams was a longtime star on TV with his own The Andy Williams Show. In 1962, he sang Moon River on the Grammy Awards, and made it his staple song. There was never a single record released. He died after a battle with cancer. |
Moon River |
Apr 1962 |
Can't Get Used To Losing You |
Apr 1963 |
Dorothy McGuire, The McGuire Sisters
February 13, 1928 to September 7, 2012 In the 1950s, The McGuire Sisters was a female vocal group, with TV show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, and recording many songs. Sisters Phyllis, Dorothy and Christine were best known for Sugartime and Sincerely. Dorothy was first to pass away, from natural causes. |
Sincerely |
1955 |
Sugartime |
1 |
Feb 1958 |
17 |
Jan 1959 |
Joe South
February 28, 1940 to September 5, 2012 Joe South wrote songs for many groups and singers, played guitar on many records, and had his own hits such as classic song Games People Play. Joe South died of a heart condition. |
The Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor |
Jul 1958 |
Games People Play |
Feb 1969 |
Hush |
Dec 1970 |
Mark Abrahamian,
Starship With Mickey Thomas
guitarist
February 23, 1966 to September 2, 2012 Mark Abrahamian was with Starship from 2001 to the night he died of a heart attack after a show. He had played professionally with members of AC/DC, Kansas, The Knack, Night Ranger, Quiet Riot, Rainbow, Survivor, Three Dog Night, and many others. |
We Built This City |
Nov 1985 |
Hal David,
extraordinary song writer
May 25, 1921 to September 1, 2012 Hal David was generally a lyricist who wrote some of the most famous lines of the rock music era. He was best known for his long-time collaboration with Burt Bacharach. He also worked with Sherman Edwards, Albert Hammond, and others. |
Broken-Hearted Melody |
8 |
Sep 1959 |
Sarah Vaughan |
Walk On By |
Jun 1964 |
Jan 1970 |
To All The Girls I've Loved Before |
May 1984 |
Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson |
Max Bygraves
October 16, 1922 to August 31, 2012 'I wanna tell you a story.' Max Bygraves brought generations of singing, dancing, comedy, and acting to audiences. Max Bygraves lived for a while with Alzheimers Disease. |
Tulips From Amsterdam |
Jul 1958 |
Scott McKenzie
January 10, 1939 to August 18, 2012 Scott McKenzie song San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) was a theme for the 60's generation. He wrote Kokomo for The Beach Boys. He had Guillain-Barre Syndrome. |
Jul 1967 |
Like An Old Time Movie |
Nov 1967 |
Marvin Hamlisch
June 2, 1944 to August 6, 2012 Marvin Hamlisch was a top movie score writer and producer. He was most famous for his score in the movie The Sting which produced a top 20 tune. He also co-wrote hit songs for Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, and others. He died after a "brief illness." |
May 1974 |
Oct 1977 |
Jimmy Jones
June 2, 1930? to August 2, 2012 Jimmy Jones co-wrote and performed Handy Man, a 1960 number 2 song and a classic redone by many others. He followed-up with Good Timin', which made it up to number 3. |
Feb 1960 |
Good Timin' |
May 1960 |
Tony Sly, No Use For A Name, lead singer
November 4, 1970 to July 31, 2012 Tony Sly joined No Use For A Name in 1989. The group had a large underground following, playing on stage with top acts. He had recently worked on a solo career. The cause of death was not announced. |
Dumb Reminders |
Aug 2002 |
Devonshire And Crown |
Oct 2011 |
Tony Martin
December 25, 1913 to July 27, 2012 Although he had already been in movies, Tony Martin had his first big hit in 1938, Now It Can Be Told. His 1950 trademark song There's No Tomorrow was a rewriting of O Sole Mio, which later became It's Now Or Never. |
This is the end of an era. Tony Martin was the last living singer famous in the 1930s. He died of natural causes at 98 years old. |
Now It Can Be Told |
1938 |
1950 |
Larry Hoppen, Orleans, founding member
January 12, 1951 to July 24, 2012 Larry Hoppen, far left in album cover picture, was a singer, writer, and guitarist in band Orleans. Larry Hoppen sang all the biggest hits by the 70s dance-rock group. The group had concerts scheduled at the time of death. The cause was not disclosed. |
Dance With Me |
Oct 1975 |
Still The One |
Oct 1976 |
Kitty Wells August 30, 1919 to July 16, 2012 Kitty Wells burst onto the scene in 1952 with It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels, a women's perspective answer song to Hank Thompson, and a huge country hit despite airplay bans. Kitty herself was banned for a time |
from the Grand Old Opry. Kitty Wells became a darling of TV and a major country singer for decades. Her popular song list is well over 100 songs. She died after a stroke. |
It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels |
1952 |
One By One |
1954 |
Kitty Wells And Red Foley |
Jealousy |
Jul 1958 |
Jon Lord,
Deep Purple
keyboardist
June 9, 1941 to July 16, 2012 Jon Lord was the keyboardist for Deep Purple from inception in the 60s to the 90s. He co-wrote some of the most famous progressive band songs. Jon Lord was also a touring member of The Flower Pot Men. He died of cancer. |
Hush |
Sep 1968 |
Smoke On The Water |
Jul 1973 |
Knocking At Your Back Door |
Feb 1985 |
Jimmy Elledge
January 8, 1943 to June 10, 2012 Jimmy Elledge was a country singer and one hit wonder with the first famous recording of Funny How Time Slips Away , a top 20 near-miss. He followed-up with a string of popular country songs. Jimmy Elledge died after a stroke. |
Jan 1962 |
Bob Welch
August 31, 1945 to June 7, 2012 Bob Welch was a song writer, singer, and guitarist. He was a member of Fleetwood Mac in the early 1970s. Bob Welch was best known for his solo version of Sentimental Lady. Facing health issues, Bob Welch took his own life. |
Dec 1977 |
Precious Love |
Apr 1979 |
Herb Reed, The Platters founder
August 7, 1928 to June 4, 2012 Herb Reed put the original group The Platters together. He sang bass on all the famous songs by The Platters. In 2011, Herb Reed won the right to the name The Platters. He remained active until he died, apparently from heart disease. |
Only You (And You Alone) |
1955 |
The Great Pretender |
1956 |
Twilight Time |
1 |
Apr 1958 |
Robin Gibb,
Bee Gees
member
December 22, 1949 to May 20, 2012 Robin Gibb was one of the three 'Brothers Gibb' in Bee Gees. Robin Gibb was a major force for writing and singing Bee Gees hit songs, and writing for others. Bee Gees soundtrack double album Saturday Night Fever was one of |
most popular disks of all time. Robin Gibb solo was a US one hit wonder with his remake of The Beatles song Oh Darling. Robin Gibb died of Cancer. |
Aug 1971 |
Jan 1978 |
Boys Do Fall In Love |
Jul 1984 |
Donna Summer
December 31, 1948 to May 17, 2012 Donna Summer was known as the 'Queen of Disco.' In 1979, Donna Summer had four number one songs. Donna Summer continued to make popular dance music until shortly before her death from cancer. |
Last Dance |
Jul 1978 |
She Works Hard For The Money |
Jul 1983 |
To Paris With Love |
Nov 2010 |
Chuck Brown and Soul Searchers
August 22, 1936 to May 16, 2012 Chuck Brown was a funk and soul writer, singer, and guitarist with his band Soul Searchers. Chuck Brown was most famous for Bustin' Loose, and earlier song, We The People became a soul classic. He died of heart failure. |
We The People |
Aug 1972 |
Adam Yauch,
Beastie Boys
rapper
August 5, 1964 to May 4, 2012 Adam Yauch aka 'MCA' was a founder of Beastie Boys in 1981. Beastie Boys crossed barriers, becoming a superstar rock, rap, hip-hop and punk group. From 2009, he had cancer, but still made an album 2011. |
(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!) |
Jan 1987 |
Girls |
Jan 1987 |
Intergalactic |
Aug 1998 |
Whitney Houston
August 9, 1963 to February 11, 2012 Whitney Houston was a pop and soul singer and actress with a long string of number one songs. Her remake of Dolly Parton song I Will Always Love You is the Tunecaster number 10 song of all time. Whitney Houston died from cocaine-induced response. |
May 1986 |
Dec 1992 |