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Bluesman Lucky Peterson died May 17, 2020.

Judge Kenneth Peterson (December 13, 1964 – May 17, 2020), KNOW AS Lucky Peterson, was an American singer and musician who played contemporary blues guitar and keyboards, fusing soul, R&B, gospel and rock and roll. Lucky Peterson’s father James Peterson, who was also a bluesman, owned a nightclub in Buffalo, called The Governor’s Inn, which was a regular stop for fellow bluesmen including Howlin Wolf and Willie Dixon, who saw five-year-old Lucky Peterson performing at the club and took him under his wing. A few months later, Lucky Peterson performed on The Tonight Show, The Ed Sullivan Show and What’s…
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Soul and R&B singer Betty Wright died May 10, 2020

Bessie Regina Norris (December 21, 1953 – May 10, 2020), was known as Betty Wright, and was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and backing vocalist. Born in Miami, Florida, Betty Wright was the youngest of seven children of Rosa Akins Braddy-Wright and her second husband, McArthur Norris. Betty Wright began her professional career at the age of two when her brothers and sisters formed a gospel group called “the Echoes of Joy”, and she contributed to the vocals on the group’s first album which was released in 1956. “The Echoes of Joy” performed together until 1965, when Betty…
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Rock n Roll Legend Little Richard died May 9, 2020

Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), better known as Little Richard, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia, and was the third of 12 children to Charles “Bud” Penniman and Leva Mae. His father was a church deacon, a brick mason, sold bootlegged moonshine and owned a nightclub called the Tip In Inn. As a child Richard Penniman was nicknamed “Lil’ Richard” by his family because of his small and skinny frame. Little Richard’s family was very religious and joined various churches, with several family members becoming ministers….
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Kraftwerk’s Legendary Florian Schneider died May 6, 2020

Florian Schneider-Esleben (known as Florian Schneider) (April 7, 1947 – May 6, 2020) was a German musician best known as one of the founding members of the legendary electronic band Kraftwerk and performed with them until November 2008. Florian Schneider-Esleben was born in the French occupation zone in southern Germany, in what would, in 1952, become the state of Baden-Württemberg. His family then moved to Düsseldorf, Germany when he was 3 years old. Florian Schneider played in the group Pissoff from 1967 to 1968 with future Kraftwerk band member Eberhard Kranemann. From 1968 to 1969, Florian Schneider played flute, with…
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Bad Company frontman Brian Howe died May 6, 2020

Bad Company‘s Brian Howe was born Brian Anthony Howe on July 22, 1953 and was an English rock singer and songwriter, best known for replacing Paul Rodgers as the lead singer of Bad Company. Brian Howe was born in Portsmouth, England in 1953. He sang with a local band called Shy, then joined White Spirit, replacing singer Bruce Ruff, but the band quickly collapsed, and Brian Howe never recorded an album with them. In 1983 Howe’s career was jump-started when singer-songwriter, guitarist, and political activist Ted Nugent recruited him to sing lead vocals for his “Penetrator” album and to front…
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My Boy Lollipop singer Millie Small died May 5, 2020

Millie Small was a Jamaican singer and songwriter, best known for her 1964 recording of “My Boy Lollipop”, which reached number two in both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100. Millicent Dolly May (Millie) Small (October 6, 1946 – May 5, 2020) was born in Clarendon, Jamaica, the daughter of a sugar plantation overseer and was one of seven brothers and five sisters. Millie’s music career began by winning the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour talent contest, at the age of 12. Wanting to follow a career as a singer, she moved to live with relatives Kingston,…
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R&B singer Sweet Pea Atkinson died May 5, 2020.

Sweet Pea Atkinson (September 20, 1945 – May 5, 2020) was an American R&B singer known as one of the vocalists for the band Was (Not Was). Hillard “Sweet Pea” Atkinson was born in Oberlin, Ohio, and moved to Detroit as a child. He worked at the Chrysler factory, and sang with work colleagues in a local band called Hi Energy. He met Don Was in the late 1970s, when he was rehearsing at the same studio that Don Was was using. Sweet Pea Atkinson joined Was (Not Was) as joint lead vocalist alongside Harry Bowens and they featured on…
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The Stranglers Dave Greenfield died May 3, 2020 from COVID-19 (coronavirus)

David Paul Greenfield (March 29, 1949 – May 3, 2020) was an English keyboardist, singer and songwriter who was a member of rock band The Stranglers. Dave Greenfield was born in the south coast seaside resort of Brighton, UK. Prior to the Stranglers, he played in local progressive rock band ‘Rusty Butler’. The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene and have had 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning four decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving and most “continuously successful” bands…
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Country and Pop singer songwriter Cady Groves died May 2, 2020

Cady Groves (July 30, 1989 – May 2, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter from Marlow, Oklahoma. Cady Groves was born to Carol Pettit and Larry Groves and was the youngest of seven. After her parents divorced, she would turn on Christina Aguilera’s “Genie In A Bottle” and sing along from the inside of her closet, because she didn’t want any of her family members to hear her attempts to match Christina. One day, when her mother was outside cleaning the family’s pool in the backyard, Cady marched outside and told her mother she was going to be the…
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Tony Allen Drummer and co-creator of Afrobeat died April 30, 2020

Tony Allen was a Nigerian drummer, composer and songwriter who lived and worked in Paris, France. Tony Allen was born Tony Oladipo Allen in Lagos, Nigeria on August 12, 1940, and began playing drums at the age of 18, while working as an engineer for a radio station. He was influenced by the music his father who listened to Jùjú, a popular Yoruba music from the 1940s, but also American jazz, and the growing highlife scene in Nigeria and Ghana. Tony Allen worked hard to develop a unique and distinctive style on the drums, feverishly studying records and magazine articles…
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