Tag Archive: dead musicians 2020

Mountain’s Leslie West died December 23, 2020

Leslie West

Leslie West (October 22, 1945 – December 23, 2020) was an American rock guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, best known as a founding member and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Mountain. Leslie West was born Leslie Weinstein, in New York City, and grew up in various parts of New York. He changed his surname to West after his parents divorced. His musical career began with the Vagrants, an R&B/soul-rock band influenced by bands like…
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Country Music Legend Charley Pride died December 12, 2020 from COVID-19 (coronavirus)

Charley Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and professional baseball player. His greatest musical success came in the early to mid-1970s, when he was the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis Presley. During the peak years of his recording career (1966–1987), he had 52 top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, including 30 which went to number one. Charley Pride won the Entertainer of the…
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Mr Bojangles writer Jerry Jeff Walker died October 23, 2020

jerry jeff walker

Jerry Jeff Walker (March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020) was an country music singer, songwriter and a leading figure in the outlaw country music movement. Jerry Jeff Walker was born Ronald Clyde Crosby in Oneonta, New York. His father, Mel, was as a sports referee and bartender and his mother, Alma, was a housewife. His grandparents played for square dances with his grandmother, Jessie Conroe, playing piano and his grandfather playing fiddle. During the late…
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Spencer Davis died October 19, 2020

spencer davis

Spencer Davis (July 17, 1939 – October 19, 2020) was born Spencer David Nelson Davies, and was a Welsh multi-instrument musician and founder of the Spencer Davis Group. Spencer Davis was born in Swansea, South-West Wales, and began learning to play the accordion and harmonica at the age of six. He attended Dynevor School and was very good at languages. When he was 16 he moved to London and started working for the UK Government…
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Johnny Nash died October 6, 2020

johnny nash

Johnny Nash (August 19, 1940 – October 6, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, best known for his 1972 classic hit “I Can See Clearly Now”. He was primarily a reggae and pop singer and was one of the first non-Jamaican artists to record reggae music in Kingston. Johnny Nash was born was born John Lester Nash Jr. in Houston, Texas, and sang in the choir at Progressive New Hope Baptist Church in South Central Houston as…
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Eddie Van Halen died October 6, 2020

eddie van halen

Eddie Van Halen was born Edward Lodewijk Van Halen (January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) and was a Dutch-American musician, songwriter and producer. He was the main songwriter and lead guitarist of the legendary rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded in 1972 with his brother, drummer Alex, bassist Mark Stone, and singer David Lee Roth. He was well known for popularizing the tapping guitar solo technique, allowing rapid arpeggios to be played with…
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Elvis songwrited Mac Davis died September 29, 2020

mac davis

Mac Davis (January 21, 1942 – September 29, 2020) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. During his early career wrote for Elvis Presley, providing him with the hits “Memories”, “In the Ghetto”, “Don’t Cry Daddy”, and “A Little Less Conversation”. A subsequent solo career in the 1970s produced hits such as “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me”. Scoot Mac Davis was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, the son of Edith Irene…
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I Am Woman singer Helen Reddy died September 29, 2020

helen reddy

Helen Reddy (October 25, 1941 – September 29, 2020) was an Australian-American singer, songwriter, author, actress, and activist. She was born in Melbourne, Victoria, to a show-business family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on radio and television and won a talent contest on the television program, Bandstand in 1966; her prize was a ticket to New York City and a record audition, which was unsuccessful. Helen Reddy pursued her…
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Uriah heep and Ozzy Osbourne drummer Lee Kerslake died September 19, 2020

Lee Kerslake (April 16, 1947 – September 19, 2020) was an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Uriah Heep and for his work with Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s. Lee Kerslake was born in Dorset, England, and at the age 11, he began playing drums and got his first professional gig with the Gods in 1969, going on to record three albums with the band. He…
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Toots and the Maytals Toots Hibbert died September 11, 2020 from COVID-19 (coronavirus)

toots hibbert

Frederick Nathaniel “Toots” Hibbert (December 8, 1942 – September 11, 2020) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter and the lead vocalist for the reggae and ska band Toots and the Maytals. A reggae pioneer, he performed for six decades and helped establish some of the fundamentals of reggae music. Toots Hibbert’s 1968 song “Do the Reggay” is widely credited as the start of the genre name reggae. His band’s album True Love won a Grammy Award in…
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