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Yahoo Music Staff

Music Stars We Lost in 2015

Yahoo Music Staff

December 30, 2015 at 3:21 PM

Jeff Golub was known for his work with Rod Stewart but also had 12 solo albums and three albums as the lead of the instrumental band Avenue Blue. He died Jan. 1 at the age of 59 of progressive supranuclear palsy.

James Cecil Dickens, aka Little “Jimmy” Dickens, was a country singer famous for his small stature and humorous novelty songs. Before his death on Jan. 2 at the age of 94, he was the oldest living member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Lance Diamond was a lounge singer and radio personality who often called himself “The Love Doctor.” He died Jan. 4, at age 72, a few days after being hospitalized due to heart complications.

Andrae Crouch was a gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer, and pastor often referred to as “the father of modern gospel music.” In secular music, he was known for his collaborative work during the 1980s with Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and Quincy Jones as well as conducting choirs that sang on the Michael Jackson hit “Man in the Mirror” and Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” He died Jan. 8 after suffering a heart attack five days earlier. He was 72.

Tim Drummond played bass for artists including Conway Twitty, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Ry Cooder, J. J. Cale, and many more. He also cowrote with many of the artists he played with. He died Jan. 10 at age 74; no cause of death has been given.

Clifford Adams was the trombonist for Kool & The Gang. He died Jan. 12 after battling liver cancer. He was 62.

Kim Fowley was a record producer, singer, and musician. He is best known for managing the Runaways in the 1970s. He died Jan. 15 after a long battle with bladder cancer. He was 75.

Sam Andrew was the founding member of Janis Joplin’s band Big Brother & The Holding Company. He died Feb. 12 due to complications from open-heart surgery after suffering a heart attack. He was 73.

A$AP Yams (real name: Steven Rodriguez) was the co-founder and mastermind behind A$AP Mob. He died Jan. 18 at the age of 26. No official cause of death has been given.

Dallas Woodrow Taylor Jr. was a drummer best known for his work on Crosby, Stills & Nash’s self-titled debut album. He died Jan. 15 after complications from viral pneumonia and kidney disease. He was 66.

Demis Roussos was a Greek musician who sold more than 60 million records worldwide. He died Jan. 25 at age 68.

Rod McKuen was a singer-songwriter, musician, and poet. He died Jan. 29 at the age of 81, of respiratory arrest after suffering from pneumonia.

Born Steven John Harrington, Steve Strange was best known as the lead singer and frontman of the 1980s new wave group Visage and a leader of the New Romantic movement. He died Feb. 12 after suffering a heart attack. He was 55.

Lesley Gore was a singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. She was best known for the songs “It’s My Party” and “You Don’t Own Me.” She died of lung cancer on Feb. 16. She was 68.

Clark Terry was one of the most popular and influential jazz trumpeters of his generation. He died Feb. 21 after being in hospice care to manage his advanced diabetes. He was 94.

Charmayne “Maxee” Maxwell was part of the 90s R&B group Brownstone. She died Feb. 27 at age 46 from a fall.

Orrin Keepnews was a jazz writer and record producer known for his work for Riverside Records and other labels. He died March 1 at the age of 91.

Albert Maysles was a documentary filmmaker best known in the music world for his Rolling Stones doc Gimme Shelter. He died March 5 at his home at age 88.

Mike Porcaro was the bass player for the band Toto. He died March 15 from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 59.

Andrew McLan “Andy” Fraser was a songwriter and bass guitarist best known as one of the founding members of the rock band Free. He died March 16 after battling cancer and AIDS. He was 62.

A.J. Pero was best known as the drummer for Twisted Sister. He died on March 20 from a heart attack at the age of 55.

Christopher Hardman, also known as Lil’ Chris, came to prominence after being on the series Rock School and hosted his own series, Everybody Loves Lil’ Chris. He committed suicide March 23 at age 24, after battling a period of depression.

John Renbourn was a guitarist and songwriter best known for his work with the folk group Pentangle. He died March 26 from a heart attack. He was 70.

Aaron Fletcher Owens was the guitarist of Hepcat and brother to Ikey Owens, who passed in late 2014. He died of congestive heart failure on March 29 at the age of 38.

Cynthia Lennon was the first wife of John Lennon and father to Julian Lennon. She died of cancer April 1, at the age of 75.

Bob Burns was the former drummer and founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. He died April 3 in a car crash at the age of 64.

Stan Freberg was an author, recording artist, and comedian best known for his voice-acting work. He died April 7 at the age of 88.

Barron Machat was the founder of the label Hippos in Tanks. He died in a car crash on April 8 at the age of 27.

Percy Sledge was a soul singer best known for the song “When a Man Loves a Woman.” He died of liver cancer on April 14 at age 74.

Johnny Kemp was a singer from the Bahamas. At age 55 on April 16, Kemp died of drowning, likely after losing balance on the rocks in Montego Bay.

Jack Ely (center) was a guitarist and singer, best known for singing the Kingsmen’s version of “Louie Louie.” He died April 28 at the age of 71 after a long illness.

Ben E. King was a soul/R&B singer best known for the song “Stand by Me.” He died April 30 after suffering from coronary problems. He was 76.

Guy Carawan was a folk artist and musicologist. He died May 2 at the age of 87.

Errol Brown was the frontman for the soul and funk band Hot Chocolate. He died of liver cancer on May 6 at the age of 71.

B.B. King was a Hall of Fame blues legend. He died May 14 after a series of small strokes as a result of type 2 diabetes. He was 89.

Lionel Pickens, aka Chinx, was a rapper from Queens, NY. He died May 17 from a fatal gunshot wound after a drive-by shooting. He was 31.

Louis Johnson was best known as the bass player for a number of Michael Jackson hits and his group the Brothers Johnson. He died May 21 at age 60.

Lynn Ripley, aka Twinkle, was a singer best known for the hit “Terry” in the 1960s. She died May 21 after a long battle with cancer. She was 66.

Marcus Belgrave was a jazz trumpet player who played with Ray Charles, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and others before settling in Detroit in the early 1960s and becoming a coach and conscience for that city’s jazz scene. He died May 24 of heart failure at age 78.

Jean Ritchie was an American folk singer-songwriter and Appalachian dulcimer player. She died June 1 at the age of 92.

Nick Marsh was the vocalist for the new wave/post-punk band Flesh for Lulu, which he reformed in 2013. On June 5, Marsh died of cancer. He was 53.

Ronnie Gilbert (Center) was a folk singer and political activist who was an original member of the Weavers with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and Fred Hellerman. Gilbert died June 6 at the age of 88.

Ornette Coleman was a Jazz saxophonist and composer known for being a powerful innovator in the history of jazz music. On June 11, Ornette died of cardiac arrest at age 85.

Jim Ed Brown was a prominent country artist from the ‘50s to the ‘80s. He died June 11 after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014. He was 81.

Chris Squire was a singer-songwriter best known as the bassist and founding member of the band Yes. He suffered from leukemia and died while being treated on June 27. He was 67.

Charanjit Singh was an Indian musician who became an accidental pioneer in acid house music. On July 5, Singh passed away in his sleep.

Joan Sebastian was a Mexico-based singer-songwriter and the most awarded Mexican performer in Grammy history. He died July 13 of bone cancer at the age of 64.

Daron Norwood was a country music singer. He quit the industry in ‘95 due to an alcohol addiction and later founded "Keep It Straight,” a program to help warn kids about the perils of drugs and alcohol abuse. He died July 22 at the age of 49. No cause of death was given.

Justin Lowe was the founding rhythm guitarist for the band After the Burial. He was discovered by a hiker near Somerset, Wisconsin, on July 22. Police said the cause of death was consistent with a fall. He was 32.

Bobbi Kristina Brown was the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. She was found unresponsive in a bathtub in late January and was kept in a medically induced coma until her death on July 26. She was 22.

Lynn Anderson was an award-winning country singer best known for her hit “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden.” She died July 30 from a heart attack at the age of 67.

Priscilla Maria Veronica White, known as Cilla Black, was an English singer and actress. She died Aug. 1 after a fall at her home. She was 72.

Billy Norris Sherrill was a record producer and songwriter who worked with artists such as Tammy Wynette and George Jones. He died Aug. 5 at the age of 78.

Sean Price was a rapper and half of duo Heltah Skeltah. He died Aug. 8 in his sleep. He was 43.

Bob Johnston (left) was a record producer best known for working with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, and Simon & Garfunkel. He died Aug. 14 at the age of 83.

Frederick “Dennis” Greene (left) was a member of Sha Na Na who went on to become a law professor at the University of Dayton, Ohio School of Law. He died Sept. 5 of esophageal cancer. He was 66.

Gary Richrath was best known as the guitarist from REO Speedwagon. He died September 13 at age 65.

Frankie Ford was a rock 'n’ roll and R&B singer best known for his 1959 hit “Sea Cruise.” He died Sept. 28 following a long illness. He was 76.

Phil Woods was a jazz saxophonist and composer who toured with Quincy Jones and Dizzy Gillespie. He died Sept. 29 at 83 years old.

Billy Joe Royal was a pop and country singer. He died in his sleep on Oct. 6, at the age of 73.

Carey Lander was the keyboardist for the indie-pop band Camera Obscura. She died Oct. 11 from an aggressive form of bone cancer. She was 33.

Cory Wells was one of the three lead singers of the band Three Dog Night. He died Oct. 20 due to an infection resulting from a form of blood cancer. He was 74. (Photo by: Fred A. Sabine/NBCU Photo Bank)

Tommy “T.O” Overstreet was a country singer with five top five hit singles on the Billboard country chart. He died Nov. 2 at the age of 78.

Allen Toussaint was a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame songwriter, producer, and influential New Orleans legend. He died Nov. 10 of a heart attack at the age of 77.

Phil Taylor, better known as “Philthy Animal” Taylor, was the drummer for Motörhead. He died after an illness on Nov. 11 at the age of 61.

Cynthia Robinson was best known as the trumpeter and vocalist for Sly & The Family Stone. She died of cancer on Nov. 23. She was 71.

Scott Weiland was the troubled lead singer of the bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, and also had his own established solo career. He died from accidental mixed drug toxicity Dec. 3 at the age of 48.

Marque “Tate” Lynche was a former Mickey Mouse Club star and contestant on American Idol. He died Dec. 6 at the age of 34. No cause of death has been provided.

Mary Joan Okum, known by her performing name Bonnie Lou, was a music pioneer, considered one of the first female rock 'n’ roll singers. She died in her sleep on Dec. 8 at the age of 91.

William Guest (left) was best known as a member of Gladys Knight & The Pips. He passed away on Dec. 24 from congestive heart failure. He was 74.

Stevie Wright, aka Little Stevie, was lead singer of the Sydney-based garage rock band the Easybeats. He died Dec. 27 at the age of 68.

Lemmy Kilmister was the frontman for the rock band Motörhead, and had previously served in Hawkwind. Four days after his 70th birthday, Lemmy died on Dec. 28, after learning of an extremely aggressive form of cancer.

John Bradbury was the drummer for the pioneering ‘80s ska group the Specials. He died on Dec. 28 at the age of 62.

Jeff Golub was known for his work with Rod Stewart but also had 12 solo albums and three albums as the lead of the instrumental band Avenue Blue. He died Jan. 1 at the age of 59 of progressive supranuclear palsy.

Jeff Golub was known for his work with Rod Stewart but also had 12 solo albums and three albums as the lead of the instrumental band Avenue Blue. He died Jan. 1 at the age of 59 of progressive supranuclear palsy.

Sadly, every year we lose some of our most talented and famous music figures. Let us pay tribute to those who have left the building. There are many more than those listed here. But this is a good start for pausing and reflecting.

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