2018

12 Musicians who died in 2018

Several excellent musicians passed away in 2018, here we celebrate some of their lives and contributions to the world of music January 11, 2018: Fast Eddie Clarke Edward Allan Clarke (known as Fast Eddie) (October 5, 1950 – January 10, 2018), the last remaining member of the classic Motörhead line-up, died aged 67. He began playing the guitar at an early age and by 15 had already played in several local bands. In 1973 he turned professional, joining blues prog rock band, Zeus, as lead guitarist. In 1974, Zeus and Fast Eddie recorded an album called The Second Coming. After leaving…
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Pete Shelley (The Buzzcocks) died December 6, 2018, aged 63

Pete Shelley (The Buzzcocks) died aged 63. He was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist who formed the Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976, and was the lead singer and guitarist from 1977 when Devoto left. The Buzzcocks released the classic “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)” in 1978. They broke up in 1981, and reformed in 1989.

Ray Owen from Juicy Lucy sadly Died October 31, 2018

Ray Owen died on October 31, 2018 from bone cancer and complications from it, aged 71. Ray Owen (July 14, 1947 – October 31, 2018) lived in London and first play in a band at a hospital where he worked. He was heard by a producer who put him with The Misunderstood, who were an American psychedelic rock band originating from Riverside, California in the mid-1960s. The band moved to London early in their career, and although they recorded only a handful of songs before being forced to disband, they are considered highly influential in the then-emerging genre. Juicy Lucy…
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Otis Rush sadly died September 29, 2018

Otis Rush Jr. (April 29, 1935 – September 29, 2018) was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. His distinctive guitar style featured a slow-burning sound and long bent notes. With qualities similar to the styles of other 1950s artists Magic Sam and Buddy Guy, his sound became known as West Side Chicago blues and was an influence on many musicians, including Michael Bloomfield, Peter Green and Eric Clapton. Rush was left-handed and played left handed, however, his guitars were strung with the low E string at the bottom, upside-down from typical guitarists. He often played with the little finger of…
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Aretha Franklin died August 16, 2018

Aretha Franklin (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. On March 25, 1942, Aretha Louise Franklin was born at 406 Lucy Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee, to Barbara (née Siggers) and Clarence LaVaughn “C. L.” Franklin. Her father was a Baptist minister and circuit preacher originally from Shelby, Mississippi, while her mother was an accomplished piano player and vocalist. The family moved to Buffalo, New York, when Aretha was just two, and then, before her fifth birthday, to Detroit, where her father took over the pastorship of the New Bethel Baptist Church. Aretha’s parents had a troubled marriage and in 1948, they separated, with Barbara moving back…
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Rapper XXXTentacion murdered in Florida June 18, 2018

XXXTentacion was shot and killed in Miami, Florida on June 18, 2018. Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy (XXXTentacion) (January 23, 1998 – June 18, 2018), was an American rapper, singer and songwriter. XXXTentacion was born Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy andon January 23, 1998, in Plantation, Florida, to Jamaican parents, Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy and Cleopatra Bernard, and was raised by his grandmother Collette Jones in Pompano Beach, Florida, and Lauderhill, Florida. When he was six years old, he tried to stab a man who was attacking his mother and was eventually put into a youth program. XXXTentacion’s interest in music started when his aunt…
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The Temptations Dennis Edwards died February 1, 2018.

Dennis Edwards Jr. (February 3, 1943 – February 1, 2018) was an American soul and R&B singer, and most famously a lead singer of The Temptations. Edwards was born in Fairfield, Alabama, which is about eight miles from Birmingham. His father was Reverend Dennis Edwards Sr and young Dennis started singing in his father’s church at just two years old. The Edwards family moved to Detroit, Michigan when Dennis Jr was ten years old, and he continued to sing in his father’s church there, eventually becoming its choir director. As a teenager, Dennis Edwards Jr studied music at the…
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Dolores O’Riordan from the Cranberries died suddenly on January 15, 2018

Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of The Cranberries, has died suddenly at the age of 46. Dolores Mary Eileen O’Riordan (September 6, 1971 – January 15, 2018) was an Irish singer, songwriter, musician and lead singer with The Cranberries. Dolores O’Riordan was born on September 6, 1971 in Ballybricken, County Limerick, and was the youngest of nine children, two of which sadly died in infancy. Her father, Terry O’Riordan (1937–2011), was a farm labourer and her mother, Eileen, a school caterer. In 1990 O’Riordan auditioned for a band called the Cranberry Saw Us and got the job of lead singer. The band…
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Motörhead’s Fast Eddie died January 10, 2018

Edward Allan Clarke (known as Fast Eddie) (October 5, 1950 – January 10, 2018), the last remaining member of the classic Motörhead line-up has died aged 67. He passed away peacefully in hospital after battling pneumonia. He was born in London, England on October 5, 1950 and began playing the guitar at an early age. By 15 he had already played in several local bands and in 1973 he turned professional by joining blues prog rock band, Zeus, as lead guitarist. In 1974, Zeus and Fast Eddie recorded an album called The Second Coming. After leaving Zeus, Fast Eddie played…
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