I have written plenty of obits to legends at this point. But I never looked back on an entire year before and taken the entirety of music icons we’ve lost in a single year. And this year I decided to put together a video to shout out as many artists as possible.
Putting this together was rather sobering and bittersweet. But unexpectedly made my passion for music even stronger. These musicians may have left this life but the music remains.
And as sobering as it is in this process I also learn of legendary musicians new to me like avant-garde Brasilian composer Hermeto Pascoal, pioneering harmonica player Will Scarlett, or Filipino “Queen of Song” Pilita Corrales.
Every year there is so much great new music vying for attention that the older stuff can get pushed aside in favor of one’s personal musical growth and the youth having their turn. I mean we’ve all heard Bohemian Rhapsody a million times produced by the legendary Roy Baker, maybe give that young local rocker a slot, right?
And while I play many of these folks all year long these kinds of posts are a great way tip the hat and acknowledge we got here because of what these musicians put down in previous eras. And it is a great way for me to help people discover new music and go on a deep dive into many genres around the world.
This year I also created my first En Memoriam video and yes, I am sure somebody got left off that should be there. I can’t catch them all as they fall but you will find just a small sample of 200 icons from across the globe.
One thing in my many many years as a music fan and historian I was reminded of as I put this together is that it doesn’t matter how big or small the musician is. In the grand scheme of sales, charts, common knowledge, or history there is always at least one and likely many more super fans. I see it every time a musician passes; whether it is a lead singer, a session player, songwriter, keyboardist or producer somebody will leave a comment on a post or video about how that artist changed their lives and made them want to write songs or play saxophone or percussion or inspire them to make album and poster art or saved them when times got tough. Every. Single. One.
So a toast and post of remembrance to those who left us.
That said I do have my picks for the most, “sobering” losses of the year. It’s not a competition but these are what I think are the ten giant losses of the year. In no order and some have links to my obituaries I did at the times of their passing.
Roy Baker: This is a name you don’t know you know. We can start with his production work on, “Bohemian Rhapsody” and go from there. He worked a lot with Queen but he also produced the seminal debut record from The Cars, as well as worked with Journey producing the Infinity album for Journey and the iconic single “Lights” one of my favorite rock songs ever. He produced records for Cheap Trcik, Devo, Foreigner, Ozzy Osbourne, Smashing Pumpkins, and T’Pau but it is his seminal work with Queen and the prefect debut record from The Cars that to this day you hear on radio, at clubs, karaoke nights, and just coming out an open car window.
Eddie Palmieri: Salsa aficionados and Latin folks who grew up in New York City know this name for sure but so should everyone else. Palmieri known as, “The Madman Of Salsa” helped birth the worldwide phenomenon we know as salsa and ushered in the Golden Age of salsa in the New York in the 1970s. He was a pioneering pianist fusing, jazz, rock, funk and even classical music on such iconic albums Vamonos Pa’l Monte and The Sun of Latin Music. His album, Eddie Palmieri and His Conjunto ‘La Perfecta’ is regarded as ground zero for salsa. His composition “Azúcar” from 1965 clocked in at over eight minutes and radio listeners would call the station and complain if the DJ did not play the entire song. He was an ambassador for the working class of New York City and many of his songs featured lyrics regarding social injustice which was rare salsa at the time. He also went head to head with label executives and institutions he found unfair fighting for unpaid royalties. In his later years he would fight for greater inclusion of Latin music and artists at the Grammy’s. Eddie was a fiery force to be reckoned with on stage and off MAYBE second only to The Queen of Salsa herself Celia Cruz.
Jimmy Cliff: Before Bob Marley was breaking down borders with The Wailers Jimmy Cliff was logging reggae hits in the US and in Europe. A singer and songwriter with a very optimistic yet very real world view. My generation of 90s teens knew him best for his cover of, “I Can See Clearly Now” from the film Cool Runnings. But because I was a precious teen I was listening to oldies radio so I heard songs like like, “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” and “You Can Get It If You Really Want It”. But it is his role in the heist film, The Harder They Come and his contributions to that soundtrack that cemented his legacy beyond Jamaica. Much like the film Scarface The Harder They Come became a cornerstone of cinema of minorities in the US and elsewhere and them song an anthem for overcoming the struggles of the ghetto. His song, “Many Rivers To Cross” also from the film soundtrack and has been cover by people as diverse as; Linda Ronstadt, Annie Lennox, Elvis Costello, and Heather Nova. His song, “Vietnam” released in 1969, no less than Bob Dylan called, “The best protest song ever written”. Cliff once said, “The essence of my music is struggle. What gives it the icing is the hope of love.”
Marianne Faithful: Marianne Faithful is one of those musicians, musicians. When ask you favorite singer who is the best, they will likely pull out their copy of Broken English. Marianne started out in the UK as one of several teen beat girls serving up dance floor boppers for the youth crew. Her first single in 1964, “As The Tears Go By” was the first song ever penned by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. And it was a hit in both the UK and the US. Not long after that she would become a muse to Mick Jagger inspiring the songs, “Wild Horses” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. She also co-wrote the song, “Sister Morphine”, with Jagger and recorded it first. But it was her descent into heroine addiction and homelessness and the resurrection from those ashes that would ultimately make her legendary as a cabaret singer of “dark songs”. In 1979 she took a the poem, “Why’d You Do It” by Heathcote Williams and recorded an epic new wave screed that would make Alanis blush. That along song with the title track, “Broken English” off the album of the same name would go on to be major club hits in the US. She worked with everyone from David Bowie, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker, Emmylou Harris and even Metallica. But ultimately it was her work as singer of dark cabaret songs delivered with unflinching force that artists site as influential.
Sly Stone: An icon of soul, funk, and rock and a bay area legend who fell into obscurity in the later 70s. But whose impact never left. Among the many classics that have been covered and sampled by hip-hop throughout the years nothing persists more than that iconic bass-line from, “Thank You”. You can read my full obituary here.
Connie Francis: Connie Francis was one of deaths that hit me harder than others because I am a student specifically of women in music and because I have been working on my Pop 40 Project, which has shown me just how much of a force she was in rock ‘n’ roll. And how, no surprise, the history books ignored her trailblazing contributions regardless of her being a woman. She logged over 30 top 40 hits in the late 50s and Early 60s both in the US and UK and recorded in no less than six languages. You can read my full write up here.
Lalo Schifrin: Classical trained with an ear for popular music Lalo Schifrin defined much of the sound of TV and film in the 60s and 70s. He music is the kind of stuff that might be front of your your mind but in the back of the house it is there informing your tastes and inspiring you. He broke the mold from old Hollywood combining classical music with Latin, jazz, and funk into his scores, making film music that made you want to dance along with the action. Using “world instruments” like Tabla for the Dity Harry was revolutionary at the time. His work has been sampled by countless hip-hop and trip-hop artist mostly notably the piece, “Danube Incident” sampled for Protishead’s “Sour Times”. Early in his career he worked with many jazz icons as composer and arranger including Jimmy Smith and Gizz Gillespie. But he is probably most well know for his film and TV work composing themes for many TV shows including; The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Medical Center, Mannix, Starsky & Hutch, and of course Mission Impossible a song so swinging and groovy it became a hit in the 60s and again in the 90s when the Mission Impossible film franchise launched. To this day that theme remains one of the most iconic pieces of music of the last 100 years. But he also scored dozen of iconic films including the aforementioned Dirty Harry and it’s sequels, Cool Hand Luke, The Amityville Horror, Bullit, and 70s cult classic Enter The Dragon. Personally, I must emphasize that while these are film scores, they are loaded with so much grease you could have a BBQ.
Steve Cropper: Steve “The Colonel” Cropper is another death that hits me more personally than other because the Blues Brothers was a film that dominated my youth. When I was young session musicians never really factored into what I thought about music but The Blues Brothers film named everybody in the band and that gave each person more life and prominence in my head. Like these were not just extras but actual important parts of the whole. And whether by accent or my own curiosity I discovered that to oldies radio he was part of Booker T and the Mgs and that opened up a whole new world of music to me. Steve and the rst of the Mgs formed the legendary house band at Stax Records in Memphis, which in the 60s was interracial at time when that wasn’t the norm. While Booker T & The MGs had classic funky hits like “Green Onions” and “Time Is Tight” it was their work behind the scenes that laying down so many damn hits for other acts. Songs like, “Knock on Wood” by Eddie Floyd, “Tramp” by Otis and Carla Thomas, “Soul Man” and “I Thank You” by Sam & Dave. But probably his three best know hits are, “Tonight’s The Night” recorded by Rod Stewart, “Try A Little Tenderness” and the iconic “Dock Of The Bay” both by Otis Redding. I came across a reddit post recently asking why Steve Cropper never gets mentioned on these lists of greatest guitarist. The genral consensus was because he was session player and rhythm guitarist and didn’t have flashy solos. Nobody went a bought a guitar because of Steve Cropper. We so often focus on the name on the album cover that we lose sight of the fact there really are VERY FEW true solo artists. But one comment on that post summed my thoughts on Steve Cropper perfectly:
“I realized last night while going through his catalog that many of those songs were staples of my childhood, as my mother would be blasting them on repeat. I started guitar when I was 8 because I heard Crazy Train and wanted to do that, but now decades later, I realized my entire style of playing that I’ve developed is directly influenced by him. You play what you know and his music is a huge part of my life, so it’s how I play and I love that it was him and not some wanker like Clapton or Jimmy Page.”
Though I don’t play guitar I relate to t hat statement so much. The flashy stuff don’t impress me much.
Brian Wilson: Founding member and front man for The Beach Boys who came to define the west coast pop sound, especially the LA sound. A trouble genius of create masterworks like the album Pet Sounds considered on the greatest album of all music history. Plus iconic single like “Good Vibrations”, “Don’t Worry Baby”, “I Get Around”, and “Do It Again”. Highly influential to so many artists you can my full obituaryhere.
Ozzy Osbourne: Look, Ozzy is a god. He along with his band Black Sabbath invented heavy metal. And heavy metal has rocked every sector of globe. But I would like to add that along with inventing Heavy Metal also came the culture that grew up around it. I’m not a die hard metal head but the metal fandom is one of the most welcoming, least pretentious, and chill (despite the slam pits) sub-cultures I have ever had the chance to partake in.
\m/ oVo \m/
I wrote about my experience with Ozzy’s music here.
Below I have included a few mixes on different themes honoring many of these musicians beyond the slideshow. There is a mix for artists that directly impacted my life personally, a mix for worldwide superstars that shaped music beyond my western English speaking borders, and a mix for what I feel are then ten most “sobering” losses this year in terms of overall musical impact (at least in the western English speaking world). As always check them out and then go and do a deeper dive.
Ten Big Ones Of 2025