Tag Archive: dead musicians
Robert J. (Bob) Kulick (January 16, 1950 – May 29, 2020) was an American guitarist and record producer, best known for his studio work with KISS and shock-rock heavy metal band W.A.S.P. Robert J. (Bob) Kulick was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was the older brother of another former KISS lead guitarist Bruce Kulick. In late 1972 Bob Kulick took a chance and auditioned for the lead guitar spot in a new band called KISS. KISS founding members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss were very impressed by Bob’s performance, but the glitzier showman Ace Frehley, who auditioned…
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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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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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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‘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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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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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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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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Troy Sneed (December 14, 1967 – April 27, 2020) was an American gospel musician. Troy Sneed was born Troy Lenard Sneed Jr. on December 14, 1967, in Perry, Florida. He played football in college at Florida A&M University, but an injury on the field put an end to his playing days. He joined the choir at the university, and after graduating he became teacher at Jax Beach Elementary School in Jacksonville, Florida. Troy Sneed married Emily Frances Ianson on July 2, 1993, and they started their own record label Emtro, which is a blend of their first names. Their label…
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Lee Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist. He performed in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Lee Konitz’s association with the cool jazz movement of the 1940s and 1950s included him playing in the legendary Miles Davis’s “Birth of the Cool” sessions, and working with pianist Lennie Tristano. He was one of only a few alto saxophonists of his era to retain a distinctive style, when Charlie Parker exerted a massive influence on most others. Like other students of Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz…
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