2015
Musical Obits
Compiled by George Graham
Jan. 1 Jeff Golub, 59, guitarist, progressive supranuclear palsy.
Jan. 2 Little Jimmy Dickens, 94 country music singer ("May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose"), cardiac arrest.
Jan. 8 André Crouch, 72, Gospel singer, heart attack
Jan, 8 Curtis Lee, 75, vocalist ("Pretty Little Angel Eyes"), cancer
Jan. 8 Cynthia Layne, 51, jazz singer, cancer
Jan. 12 Clifford Adams, 62, trombonist with Kool & the Gang, liver cancer
Jan. 15 Kim Fowley, 75, record producer, band manager (The Runaways), impresario and musician, bladder cancer.
Jan. 18 Dallas Taylor, 66, drummer with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, kidney disease
Jan. 19 Ward Swingle, 87, musician, founder of The Swingle Singers
Jan. 20 Edgar Froese, 70, German musician (Tangerine Dream), pulmonary embolism
Jan. 25 Demis Roussos, Greek-born pop singer, undisclosed illness
Jan. 29 Rod McKuen, 81, poet, singer and songwriter ("Jean", "Seasons in the Sun"), respiratory arrest
Jan. 29 Danny McCulloch, 69, English bassist (The Animals), heart failure
Jan. 31 Don Covay, 76, R&B singer and songwriter ("Chain of Fools")
Feb. 12 Sam Andrew, 73, guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company), complication after open heart surgery
Feb. 12 Steve Strange, 55, vocalist for 80s band Visage, heart attack
Feb. 14 Keith Copeland, 68, jazz drummer
Feb. 16 Leslie Gore, 68, 60s pop singer ("It's My Party"), cancer
Feb. 21 Clark Terry, 94, jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist, bandleader
Feb. 22 Erik Amundsen, 78, Norwegian jazz musician
Feb. 22 Chris Rainbow, 68, Scottish rock musician (The Alan Parsons Project)
Feb. 24 Robert Belfour, 74, blues musician
Feb. 27 Leonard Nimoy, 83, actor, recorded two albums, pulmonary disease
Mar. 1 Orrin Keepnews, 91, jazz record producer, executive and writer
Mar. 8 Lew Soloff, 71, jazz trumpeter (Blood, Sweat & Tears), heart attack
Mar. 9 Wayne Kemp, 73, country music singer and songwriter
Mar. 11 Jimmy Greenspoon, 67, Three Dog Night keyboard man, melanoma
Mar. 13 Daevid Allen, 77, Australian musician (Soft Machine, Gong)
Mar. 15 Mike Poscaro, 59, Toto drummer, ALS
Mar. 16 Andy Fraser, 62, British musician (John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Free) and songwriter ("All Right Now", "Every Kinda People")
Mat. 18 Samuel Charters, 85, music historian and musician, myelodysplastic syndrome
Mar. 19 Michael Brown, 65, musician (The Left Banke) and songwriter ("Walk Away Renée")
Mar. 20 Paul Jeffrey, 81, jazz saxophonist
Mar. 20 A.J. Pero, 55, Twisted Sister drummer, heart attack
Mar. 21 Jørgen Ingmann, 89, Danish musician ("Apache"), 1963 Eurovision Song Contest winner
Mar. 26 John Renbourn, 70, British guitarist (Pentangle), heart attack
Mr. 27 Rick Chamberlain, 63, trombonist, COTA festival organizer, cancer
Mar. 31 Billy Butler, 69, soul singer
Mar. 31 Ralph Sharon, 91, English-born American pianist and bandleader (Tony Bennett)
Apr. 1 Dave Ball, 65, British musician (Procol Harum), colorectal cancer
Apr. 1 Cynthia Lennon, 75, John's first wife, cancer
Apr. 7 Stan Freberg, 88, Audio satirist, comedian, natural causes
Apr. 9 Tut Taylor, 91, bluegrass musician (The Great Dobro Sessions)
Apr. 14 Percy Sledge, 73, R&B Singer "When as Moan Loves a Woman")m natural causes
Apr. 17 Eric Doney, 62, Poconos pianist, composer, music director, cancer
Apr. 24 Frankie Lee, 73, blues singer-songwriter
Apr. 28 Jack Ely, 71, co-founder of Kingsmen ("Louie Louie")
Apr. 30 Ben E. King, R&B singer ("Stand By Me"), coronary problems
May 2 Guy Carawan, 87, folk singer and civil rights activist
May 6 Jerome Cooper, 68, jazz drummer, multiple myeloma
May 6 Erroll Brown, 71, Lead vocalist of band Hot Chocolate, liver cancer
May 9 Johnny Gimble, 88, American country music fiddler
May 14 B.B. King, 89, Hall of Fame blues guitarist, singer and songwriter ("The Thrill Is Gone"), complications from diabetes
May 19 Bruce Lundvall, 79, record executive (Blue Note Records), complications of Parkinson's disease
May 20 Bob Belden, 58, jazz musician, arranger, heart attack
May 21 Louis Johnson, 60, R&B bassist of Brothers Johnson
May 24 Marcus Belgrave, 78, jazz trumpeter, heart failure
May 26 Art Thieme, 73, folk musician
May 26 Rocky Frisco, 77, pianist (JJ Cale Band)
May 28 Ray Kennedy, 58, jazz pianist, multiple sclerosis
Jun. 1 Jean Ritchie, 92, Appalachian folk singer and song collector
Jun. 6 Ronnie Gilbert, 88, singer-songwriter (The Weavers) and actress (Running on Empty)
Jun. 8 Paul Bacon, 91, book and album cover designer and jazz musician
Jun. 9 James Last, 86, German composer and big band leader
Jun. 11 Ornette Coleman, 85, saxophonist and free jazz pioneer
Jun. 13 Buddy Boudreaux, 97, jazz saxophonist and band leader
Jun. 11 Jim Ed Brown, 81, country singer (The Browns), lung cancer
Jun. 15 Mighty Sam McClain, 72, soul and blues singer, stroke
Jun. 19 Phil Austin, 74, American comedian, writer, and musician (Firesign Theatre)
Jun. 19 Harold Battiste, 83, jazz and R&B composer, arranger and musician (Sam Cooke, Sonny & Cher, Dr. John)
Jun. 21 Gunther Schuller, 89, composer, conductor, historian and jazz musician, leukemia
Jun. 22 James Horner, 62, film composer ("Titanic")
Jun. 27 Chris Squire, 67, English bass guitarist (Yes), acute erythroid leukemia
Jun. 29 Bruce Rowland, 74, British rock drummer (Fairport Convention)
Jun. 30 Eddy Louiss, 74, French jazz organist
Jul. 19 Van Alexander, 100, big band leader, songwriter-arranger ("A-Tisket, A-Tasket"), film and television composer (I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, The Donna Reed Show), heart failure
Jul. 15 Howard Rumsey, 97, jazz double bassist, bandleader and nightclub owner (The Lighthouse)
Jul. 17 John Taylor, 72, British jazz pianist, heart attack
Jul. 21 Theodore Bikel, 91, Austrian-born American actor (The Defiant Ones, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof), folk singer and composer
Jul. 21 Buddy Emmons, 78, steel guitarist
Jul. 22 Eddie Hardin, 66, British rock musician (Spencer Davis Group) and singer-songwriter, heart attack
Jul. 26 Vic Firth, 85, musician and percussion mallet manufacturer, pancreatic cancer
Jul. 30 Lynn Anderson, 67, country singer ("Rose Garden"), heart attack
Aug. 1 Cilla Black, 72, British singer ("Anyone Who Had a Heart", "You're My World", "Step Inside Love") stroke following a fall
Aug. 10 David Shelley, 57, blues rock musician, cancer
Aug. 13 Harold Ousley, 86, jazz saxophonist
Aug. 30 Hugo Rasmussen, 74, Danish jazz musician
Sep. 5 Dennis Greene, 66, singer (Sha Na Na), actor, movie studio executive and law professor, esophageal cancer
Sep. 9 Guillermo Rubalcaba, 88, Cuban pianist, bandleader and composer (Buena Vista Social Club)
Sep. 13 Gary Richrath, 65, guitarist and songwriter (REO Speedwagon)
Sep. 16 Peggy Jones, 75, guitarist (Bo Diddley)
Sep. 21 Ray Warleigh, 76, Australian-born British saxophonist and flautist, cancer
Sep. 27 Wilton Felder, 75, saxophonist (The Crusaders) and session bassist (Motown)
Sep. 28 Frankie Ford, 76, Soul singer, had 1959 hit "Sea Cruise"
Sep. 29 Phil Woods, 83, jazz alto sax great, emphysema
Oct. 6 Billy Joe Royal, 73, pop and country singer ("Down in the Boondocks")
Oct. 8 Jim Diamond, 64, Scottish singer-songwriter ("I Should Have Known Better")
Oct. 9 Larry Rosen, 75, jazz producer, brain cancer
Oct. 11 Smokin' Joe Kubek, 58, blues guitarist, heart attack
Oct. 16 John Jennings, 61, musician and Nashville-based music producer, kidney cancer
Oct. 20 Cory Wells, 74, singer (Three Dog Night), complications from multiple myeloma
Oct. 22 Mark Murphy, 83, jazz vocalist, complications from pneumonia.
Oct. 23 Leon Bibb, 93, folk singer
Oct. 26 David Rodriguez, 63, singer-songwriter
Oct. 28 Michael Burgess, 70, Canadian singer & actor, sand as Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables"
Nov. 10 Allen Toussaint, 77, New Orleans musician, producer, songwriter ("Working in the Coal Mine", "Southern Nights") and arranger, heart attack
Nov. 2 Tommy Overstreet, 78, country singer
Nov. 7 Eddie Hoh, 71, rock drummer (The Mamas & the Papas, The Monkees, Donovan)
Nov. 9 Andy White, 85, British session drummer, played on Beatles "Love Me Do"
Nov. 15 P. F. Sloan, 70, singer/songwriter ("Secret Agent Man", "Eve of Destruction", "A Must to Avoid"), pancreatic cancer
Nov. 17 Al Aarons, 83, jazz trumpeter (Count Basie Orchestra)
Nov. 23 Cynthia Robinson, 69, trumpeter, member of Sly &the Family Stone
Nov. 26 Ronnie Bright, 77, bass singer (The Cadillacs, The Coasters, The Valentines)
Dec. 3 Scott Weiland, 48, musician (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver, The Wondergirls), accidental drug and alcohol overdose
Dec. 9 Rusty Jones, 73, jazz drummer
Dec. 14 Joe Carr, 63, bluegrass musician, stroke
Dec. 19 Peter Broggs, 61, Jamaican reggae musician
Dec. 24 William Guest, 74, R&B singer (Gladys Knight & the Pips), heart failure
Dec. 27 Stevie Wright, 68, Lead vocalist of 1960s Australian band The Easybeats, pneumonia
Dec. 28 “Lemmy” (Ian Kilmister), 70, rock musician, vocalist (Motorhead, Hawkwind), cancer
Dec. 31 Natalie Cole, 65, jazz and pop singer, congestive heart failure
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