2025

The Cure’s Perry Bamonte died December 24, 2025

Perry Bamonte was an English musician and visual artist whose work occupies a distinctive place in the history of alternative music. Best known as a guitarist and keyboardist for the Cure during two significant eras, first from 1990 to 2005, and later from 2022 to 2025. Bamonte played a crucial role in shaping the band’s evolving sound during periods of transition, experimentation, and renewal. Beyond his work with the Cure, he was also the bassist for Love Amongst Ruin, a project that highlighted his melodic sensibilities and understated emotional depth. Across decades of music-making, Bamonte remained a quietly influential figure:…
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Guitar Legen Chris Rea died on December 22, 2025

Chris Rea: The Quiet Power of Roads, Rain and the Blues Chris Rea was one of Britain’s most distinctive and understated musical voices with a career that spanned more than five decades, and a body of work that resisted trends, shunned spectacle, and prioritised atmosphere, emotional honesty, and craft. Chris Rea was best known for songs such as Driving Home for Christmas, The Road to Hell, On the Beach, and Josephine, he blended rock, blues, jazz, and folk influences into a sound that was immediately recognisable and deeply personal. His gravelly voice and lyrical slide guitar became signatures of a…
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Progressive Texas Country Legend Joe Ely died December 15, 2025

Joe Ely was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose restless musical spirit helped define—and continually expand—the boundaries of Texas and American roots music. Widely regarded as “one of the main movers” of Austin’s progressive country scene in the 1970s and ’80s, Ely forged a singular career that blended honky-tonk, rock and roll, folk, punk attitude, and border-town influences into a body of work that was both deeply regional and boldly cosmopolitan. Over more than five decades, he became not just a beloved Texas institution, but a revered figure among musicians worldwide, admired for his integrity, curiosity, and unflinching dedication…
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Everlasting Love singer Carl Carlton died on December 14, 2025

Carl Carlton was an American R&B, soul, and funk singer-songwriter whose music helped define multiple eras of popular Black music. With a career that spanned more than five decades, Carlton bridged classic soul, disco, funk, and contemporary R&B, earning his place as one of the genre’s most recognizable and enduring voices. He is best remembered for two landmark hits: the timeless love anthem “Everlasting Love” and the swaggering funk classic “She’s a Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked)”—songs that not only dominated the charts but became cultural touchstones. Though his career included periods of immense commercial success and quieter…
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One Direction Opener Camryn died December 5, 2025

Camryn Betsy Magness known mononymously as Camryn, was an American singer and musician whose early rise through social media and sustained presence on major international tours made her a distinctive figure in the evolving landscape of 21st-century pop music. Emerging at the intersection of YouTube-era discovery and traditional touring culture, Camryn’s career reflected a generation of artists who built their audiences organically online before stepping onto some of the world’s largest stages. Though her life and career were cut short, her influence endured through her music, her performances, and her role in shaping how young artists navigated fame in the…
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The Mavericks Raul Malo died December 8, 2025

Raul Malo was born Raul Francisco Martínez-Malo Jr. on August 7, 1965, in Miami, Florida, into a Cuban-American family. Growing up in Miami, a cultural crossroads of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the U.S. South. Malo was exposed from an early age to a rich and diverse musical environment. His childhood was steeped in a mix of sounds: Latin rhythms, Cuban music, classic pop, rock, and American country. This multicultural immersion would later become a defining element of his artistry. Raul Malo’s upbringing instilled in him an appreciation for music’s breadth — not just as a genre, but as a…
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Stax Legend Steve Cropper died December 3, 2025

Steve Cropper: The Soul of the Stax Sound Steve Cropper, widely known as “The Colonel,” was one of the most influential guitarists, songwriters, and producers in the history of American music. As a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s, the house band at Memphis-based Stax Records, Cropper helped shape the sound of Southern soul and rhythm and blues during the 1960s. His crisp, economical guitar style, his gift for arrangement, and his understated feel for groove placed him at the center of some of the most iconic recordings of the era. Over a career that spanned more than…
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Singer Judy Cheeks died November 26, 2025

Judy Cheeks was an American singer whose career spanned more than five decades, crossing genres, continents, and musical eras. Best known for her powerful, gospel-rooted voice and her ability to reinvent herself across blues, soul, disco, and dance music, Cheeks left behind a legacy of resilience, artistry, and creativity. Her journey—from the churches of Miami to European stages, from the disco charts of the 1970s to the club anthems of the 1990s—stands as a testament to her versatility and her unwavering dedication to her craft. Early Life: Gospel Roots and Musical Heritage Judy Cheeks was born on February 13, 1954,…
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Jimmy Cliff died November 24, 2025.

Jimmy Cliff stands among the most influential figures in Jamaican music and one of the most important ambassadors of Caribbean culture in the 20th and 21st centuries. A singer, multi-instrumentalist, actor, and songwriter, Cliff’s contributions helped push ska, rocksteady, and reggae from local Jamaican styles to global cultural forces. His voice—clear, emotional, and spiritually charged—became a symbol of resilience and hope, while his acting performances brought Jamaica’s stories to screens worldwide. His decades-long career, marked by reinvention, experimentation, and unwavering dedication to social consciousness, established him as a towering figure in international music history. Early Life and Childhood Jimmy Cliff…
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Jellybean Johnson died on November 21, 2025

Jellybean Johnson was born Garry George Johnson on November 19, 1956, and was an American drummer, guitarist, songwriter, record producer, and one of the most defining musicians to emerge from Minneapolis, Minnesota. His career spanned five decades, touching multiple generations of artists, and leaving an indelible imprint on the musical landscape of the United States. Known for his versatility, warmth, technical skill, and deep love for community, Jellybean became both a cornerstone and a custodian of the Minneapolis Sound — a cultural movement as much as a musical one. Early Life and Formative Years Garry Johnson was born in Chicago,…
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