Latest Posts

Ric Ocasek of The Cars died September 15, 2019

Ric Ocasek was an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and painter, and the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and songwriter for the rock band the Cars. He was born Richard Theodore Otcasek on March 23, 1944, and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. When he was 16 years old, his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where his father worked as systems analyst with NASA at the Lewis Research Center. Richard graduated from Maple Heights High School in 1963 and briefly attended Antioch College and Bowling Green State University, but dropped out to pursue a career in music (good choice!). Ric Ocasek…
Read more

Nipsey Hussle died March 31, 2019

Nipsey Hussle (often stylized as Nipsey Hu$$le) (August 15, 1985 – March 31, 2019), was born Ermias Joseph Asghedom and was an American rapper, entrepreneur, and community activist from Los Angeles, California. He emerged from the West Coast hip hop scene in the mid-2000s and independently released his first mixtape, Slauson Boy Volume 1, to moderate local success, leading him to be signed to Cinematic Music Group and Epic Records. Ermias Joseph Asghedom (Nipsey Hussle) was born to Angelique Smith, an African-American woman, and Dawit Asghedom, an Eritrean immigrant, on August 15, 1985. He was raised in the Crenshaw neighborhood…
Read more

Dr. John sadly died June 6 2019.

Dr. John (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019) was born Malcolm John Rebennack and was an American singer and songwriter. His music combined blues, pop, jazz, boogie-woogie and rock and roll. Malcolm (Mac) John Rebennack was born in New Orleans on November 20, 1941 of French heritage. Growing up in the 3rd Ward, he found early musical inspiration in the minstrel tunes sung by his grandfather and a number of family members who played piano. His father was the owner of an appliance store and record shop and exposed him as a young boy to jazz musicians King Oliver…
Read more

Scott Walker died March 22, 2019

Scott Walker was born Noel Scott Engel (January 9, 1943 – March 22, 2019) and was an American-born English singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He was known for his distinctive baritone voice and an unorthodox career path which took him from 1960s teen pop icon to 21st-century avant-garde musician. Scott Walker’s success was largely in the United Kingdom, where his first three solo albums reached the top ten, and where he lived from 1965 and became a UK citizen in 1970. Noel Scott Engel was born in Hamilton, Ohio, US, the son of Elizabeth Marie (Fortier), who was from Montreal,…
Read more

Dick Dale, The King of Surf Rock Guitar, died March 16, 2019

Dick Dale, The King of Surf Rock Guitar, died on March 16, 2019, after twenty years battling multiple illnesses and a lifetime of health issues. His unique and dynamic way of playing shaped a genre and inspired musicians including the Beach Boys and Jimi Hendrix. Dale was himself inspired and influenced by the Arabic scales and sounds he grew up listening to, and he combined the sounds of his father’s native Lebanon with a lot of reverb and wildly fast tempos. Dick Dale defined surf rock. Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), was known as Dick…
Read more

The Prodigy’s Keith Flint died March 4, 2019

Keith Flint (September 17, 1969 – March 4, 2019) was an English singer, musician and dancer for the electronic music band The Prodigy and sang on their two 1996 UK number one singles, “Firestarter” and “Breathe”. He was also the lead singer of his own band Flint. Keith Charles Flint was born in Redbridge, London, England, to Clive and Yvonne Flint, on September 17, 1969 and initially raised in East London before his parents moved the family to Springfield, Essex in the mid-1970s. He described his childhood as unhappy and he argued with his parents who separated when he was…
Read more

André Previn, composer and pianist, died February 28, 2019

André Previn, KBE (April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was born Andreas Ludwig Priwin and was an American musician, born in Germany. André Previn’s career in Hollywood, was as an arranger and composer, in jazz he was a pianist-interpreter and arranger of songs from the “Great American Songbook,” he was also a piano-accompanist to singers of jazz standards, a trio pianist, and a classical music pianist, conductor and as composer. Andreas Ludwig Priwin was born in Berlin into a Jewish family, the last of three children of Charlotte (née Epstein) and Jack Previn (Jakob Priwin), who was a lawyer,…
Read more

Talk Talk’s Mark Hollis died February 25, 2019

Talk Talk’s Mark Hollis was born in Tottenham in north London in 1955 and has died after a short illness aged 64. Mark David Hollis (January 4, 1955 – February 25, 2019) was an English musician and singer-songwriter and co-founder, lead singer and main songwriter of Talk Talk. He wrote or co-wrote most of Talk Talk’s music including their hits “It’s My Life” and “Life’s What You Make It”. Not much is known about his early life, as he was reluctant to be interviewed throughout his career and had a tendency to make up stories when he was interviewed. He…
Read more

James Ingram sadly died January 29, 2019.

James Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer. He was also a multi Grammy nominated artist, a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Oscar nominee for the Best Original Song. James Edward Ingram was born in Akron, Ohio, and attended Akron’s East High School and the University of Akron. Ingram was a promising enough athlete and was offered a track scholarship but he opted for music. At 18 year old he joined the Akron band Revelation Funk, whose achievements included playing as opening act for the Ohio Players, and in 1973 Ingram…
Read more

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…
Read more