2025

Legendary Bassist Anthony Jackson died October 19, 2025

Anthony Jackson was an American bassist whose career reshaped the sound and concept of the electric bass guitar. Widely regarded as one of the “masters of the instrument,” he performed as both a session musician and live artist across a wide spectrum of styles, from soul and funk to jazz fusion and pop. Beyond his prodigious playing, Jackson is credited with conceiving and developing the modern six-string bass guitar, which he called the electric contrabass guitar. His legacy rests on his musicianship, innovation, and unrelenting pursuit of musical depth. Early life and musical beginnings Anthony Jackson was born Anthony Claiborne…
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Limp Bizkit Sam Rivers dies October 18, 2025

Sam Rivers was an American musician and singer best known as the bassist, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the nu-metal band Limp Bizkit. His passing at the age of 48 marked the end of a chapter in a genre he helped define, but his influence and legacy are far from over. In this profile I’ll explore his life and work in detail: his early years, rise to fame with Limp Bizkit, musical style and contributions, personal struggles and triumphs, final years, and his enduring legacy. Early Life and Musical Beginnings Sam Rivers was born on September 2, 1977, in Jacksonville, Florida….
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Kiss’ Ace Frehley died October 16, 2025

Ace Frehley (1951–2025): The Spaceman Who Took Rock to the Stars Early Life and Beginnings Ace Frehley was born Paul Daniel Frehley on April 27, 1951, in the Bronx, New York. The youngest of three children in a working-class family, he grew up surrounded by music. Both of his parents played piano, and there was always a sense of rhythm in the household. His father, an electrical engineer, encouraged curiosity about how things worked — an influence that would later surface in Frehley’s fascination with customizing guitars and creating onstage special effects. Ace was a bright but restless child. School…
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Soul Legend D’Angelo died October 14, 2025

Michael Eugene Archer (D’Angelo): A Life in Soul Introduction D’Angelo was born Michael Eugene Archer on February 11, 1974, in Richmond, Virginia, and died on October 14, 2025, he left behind a compact yet monumental body of work that reshaped R&B and influenced generations of artists. As a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, D’Angelo fused the sacred with the sensual, the past with the future, crafting a sound that transcended genre. His three studio albums—Brown Sugar (1995), Voodoo (2000), and Black Messiah (2014)—each marked a new chapter in the evolution of soul music. Despite long silences between releases and a…
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Moody Blue John Lodge died October 10, 2025

John Lodge (1943–2025): A Life in Music Early Life and Musical Beginnings John Lodge was born John Charles Lodge on July 20, 1943 in Birches Green, near Erdington in Birmingham, England. Growing up in a working-class family during the closing years of World War II, he was surrounded by the energy and industriousness of post-war Britain. From an early age, he showed both curiosity and passion for music. The new sounds coming from America—rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and the early stirrings of pop—captured his imagination and would shape his artistic direction. Lodge attended Birches Green Infant and Junior…
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Jazz Legend Jim McNeely died September 26, 2025

Jim McNeely: A Life in Jazz Early Life and Musical Roots Jim McNeely was born on May 18, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois, into a family where music was always close at hand. His mother sang in the church choir, his father played piano by ear, and his siblings were also musically inclined. Growing up in that environment, McNeely developed a natural affinity for sound, rhythm, and melody. He began piano lessons at the age of six, and by eight he was already studying both technique and music theory in more structured settings. These early lessons provided him not only with…
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Bassist Danny Thompson died September 23, 2025

Danny Thompson was an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. Across more than six decades he became one of the most respected and widely admired accompanists in British music. His bass sound — resonant, melodic, and always sympathetic to the musicians around him — anchored records and concerts by a dazzling variety of artists, from John Martyn and Richard Thompson to Pentangle, Nick Drake, Kate Bush, and Toumani Diabaté. Thompson’s playing was never about virtuosity for its own sake: it was about listening, responding, and bringing a song to life. Early life and beginnings Danny Thompson was born…
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Jazz Pianist Mike Wofford died September 19, 2025

Michael (Mike) Wofford — A Life at the Keyboard Michael Wofford — usually billed as Mike Wofford — carved a singular path through American jazz: a pianist whose acute musical sensitivity made him a musician’s musician, and whose work as an accompanist placed him in the rare company of singers and instrumentalists who demanded both technical command and empathetic restraint. Born February 28, 1938, in San Antonio and raised in Southern California, Wofford’s career spanned more than six decades. He died September 19, 2025, at the age of 87. Early Life and Musical Formation Mike Wofford grew up in San…
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Sonny Curtis died on September 19, 2025

Sonny Curtis: A Life in Song Early Years Sonny Curtis was born on May 9, 1937, in the small farming community of Meadow, Texas. He grew up in a large family, the son of cotton farmers who knew the value of hard work. Music, though, was his first love. Even as a small child he gravitated toward the guitar, picking up songs by ear and learning from relatives who played traditional country and bluegrass. By the time he was in grade school he could already play competently, and music quickly became both an escape from the demands of farm life…
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Grammy Winning Songwriter Brett James died September 18, 2025

Brett James: A Life in Song Brett James was one of the most prolific and respected songwriters in modern country music, as well as a singer and record producer. Over his nearly three-decade career in Nashville, he went from hopeful recording artist to one of the go-to writers behind dozens of Number One country hits. His compositions were recorded by hundreds of artists, and his impact on the sound of contemporary country music was immense. Early Life and Education Brett James was born Brett James Cornelius in Columbia, Missouri, on June 5, 1968 and grew up in Oklahoma. From an…
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