Since 2016, I have been curating Spotify playlists consisting of songs by artists who have passed away this year. It makes for a very interesting and eclectic playlist, because it will contain oldies rock and country from musicians who’ve naturally passed away from old age; young hip-hop and metal musicians cut down in their prime by overdose, accident, or murder; and every particular genre and decade.
Some notable losses in 2021 include Gerry & The Pacemakers’ Gerry Marsden, Vanilla Fudge’s bassist Tim Bogert, 1950’s crooner Jimmie Rodgers, actor and metalhead Christopher Plummer, The Supremes founder Mary Wilson, groundbreaking jazz pianist Chick Corea, The Fat Boys rapper Prince Markie Dee, reggae legend Bunny Wailer, Arrested Development actress/Broadway singer Jessica Walter, rapper DMX, Meatloaf / Bonnie Tyler / Celine Dion hit songwriter Jim Steinman, rapper Shock G (aka Humpty Hump), classic “Stagger Lee” singer Lloyd Price, iconic MTV video vixen Tawny Kitaen, actor and comedian Paul Mooney, legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section drummer Roger Hawkins, and singer B.J. Thomas.
The musicians are listed in descending order (most recent to pass) here and in ascending order on the Spotify playlist (to listen to the year’s musicians in order).
[31 May 2021] Lil Loaded, 20, American rapper and internet personality.
[29 May 2021] B. J. Thomas, 78, American singer (“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head“, “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song“, “Hooked on a Feeling“), five-time Grammy winner, lung cancer.
[27 May 2021] Patrick Sky, 80, American singer-songwriter.
[26 May 2021] Kevin Clark, 32, American actor (School of Rock), traffic collision.
[25 May 2021] Rusty Warren, 91, American comedian and singer (Knockers Up!).
[24 May 2021] John Davis, 66, American singer (Milli Vanilli), COVID-19.
[24 May 2021] Samuel E. Wright, 74, American actor (The Little Mermaid, Dinosaur) and singer (“Under the Sea“), prostate cancer.
[23 May 2021] Lorrae Desmond, 91, Australian singer, television presenter (The Lorrae Desmond Show) and actress (A Country Practice, Arcade).
[20 May 2021] Roger Hawkins, 75, American drummer (Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section) and recording studio owner (Muscle Shoals Sound Studio).
[19 May 2021] Johnny Ashcroft, 94, Australian country singer.
[19 May 2021] Paul Mooney, 79, American actor (The Buddy Holly Story, Bamboozled), comedian (Chappelle’s Show) and writer, heart attack.
[16 May 2021] Patsy Bruce, 81, American country songwriter (“Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys“, “Texas (When I Die”).
[15 May 2021] Mario Pavone, 80, American jazz bassist.
[13 May 2021] Norman Simmons, 91, American pianist, arranger (“Wade in the Water“), and composer.
[13 May 2021] Jack Terricloth, 50, American musician (The World/Inferno Friendship Society).
[11 May 2021] Bernard Lachance, 46, Canadian singer-songwriter and conspiracy theorist, complications from AIDS.
[10 May 2021] Abdo Dagher, 85, Egyptian musician.
[08 May 2021] Curtis Fuller, 88, American jazz trombonist.
[07 May 2021] Tawny Kitaen, 59, American actress (The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak, Bachelor Party, Witchboard) and THE MTV video girl for Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again.”
[06 May 2021] Lloyd Price, 88, American Hall of Fame R&B singer (“Personality“, “Lawdy Miss Clawdy“, “Stagger Lee“).
[04 May 2021] Nick Kamen, 59, English model, singer (“Each Time You Break My Heart“) and songwriter (“I Promised Myself“).
[03 May 2021] Phil Naro, 63, American rock vocalist and theme song writer (6teen), tongue cancer.
[01 May 2021] Wondress Hutchinson, 56, American singer (“Got to Have Your Love“).
[29 Apr 2021] Ray Reyes, 51, Puerto Rican singer (Menudo, El Reencuentro), heart attack.
[29 Apr 2021] Will Mecum, 48, American rock guitarist and songwriter (Karma to Burn, Year Long Disaster), fall.
[29 Apr 2021] Tony Markellis, 68, American bassist (Trey Anastasio Band).
[29 Apr 2021] John Hinch, 73, British drummer (Judas Priest, Bakerloo).
[25 Apr 2021] Denny Freeman, 76, American blues guitarist and keyboardist.
[21 Apr 2021] Joe Long, 88, American bassist (The Four Seasons), COVID-19.
[20 Apr 2021] Les McKeown, 65, Scottish singer (Bay City Rollers)
[19 Apr 2021] Jim Steinman, 73, American musician and hit songwriter for Bonnie Tyler (“Total Eclipse of the Heart,” “Holding out for a Hero”), Meatloaf (Bat Out of Hell, albums I & II), Celine Dion (“It’s All Coming Back to Me Now“), and Air Supply (“Making Love Out of Nothing at All“).
[18 Apr 2021] Paul Oscher, 71, American blues singer.
[17 Apr 2021] Black Rob, 51, American rapper (“Whoa!“, “Bad Boy for Life“), kidney failure.
[14 Apr 2021] Rusty Young, 75, American musician (Poco) and songwriter (“Crazy Love“, “Shoot for the Moon“), heart attack.
[09 Apr 2021] DMX, 50, American rapper (“Party Up (Up in Here)“, “X Gon’ Give It to Ya“, “Where the Hood At?“) and actor (Cradle 2 the Grave), heart attack following drug overdose.
[04 Apr 2021] Ralph Schuckett, 73, American rock keyboardist (Utopia, Todd Rundgren) and composer (Pokémon: The First Movie)
[02 Apr 2021] Quindon Tarver, 38, American R&B singer, traffic collision.
[28 Mar 2021] Malcolm Cecil, 84, British musician (Tonto’s Expanding Head Band, Blues Incorporated) and record producer (Talking Book).
[26 Mar 2021] Brett Bradshaw, American drummer (Faster Pussycat)
[24 Mar 2021] Jessica Walter, 80, American actress (Arrested Development, Archer, Play Misty for Me), Emmy winner (1975)
[23 Mar 2021] Don Heffington, 70, American drummer (Lone Justice, Watkins Family Hour), leukemia.
[20 Mar 2021] Dan Sartain, 39, American rock and roll musician.
[18 Mar 2021] Paul Jackson, 73, American jazz bassist (The Headhunters, Azteca, Santana).
[17 Mar 2021] Matt Miller (American keyboardist for Titus Andronicus), 34
[17 Mar 2021] Corey Steger (American guitarist for Underoath), 42, traffic collision
[15 Mar 2021] Doug Parkinson, 74, Australian pop and rock singer (“Dear Prudence“, Fanny Adams, The Life Organisation).
[14 Mar 2021] Reggie Warren, 52, American R&B singer (Troop).
[11 Mar 2021] Ray Campi, 86, American rock double bassist.
[08 Mar 2021] James MacGaw (French guitarist for Magma), brain cancer
[07 Mar 2021] Lars Göran Petrov (Swedish singer for Entombed), 49, bile duct cancer
[05 Mar 2021] Michael Stanley, 72, American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter, lung cancer.
[04 Mar 2021] Alan Cartwright, 75, English rock bassist (Procol Harum), stomach cancer.
[02 Mar 2021] Mark Goffeney, 51, American guitarist.
[02 Mar 2021] Bunny Wailer, 73, Jamaican reggae singer (Bob Marley and the Wailers) and songwriter (“Electric Boogie“), Grammy winner (1991, 1995, 1997), complications from a stroke.
[01 Mar 2021] Ralph Peterson Jr., 58, American jazz drummer (The Jazz Messengers, Out of the Blue), cancer.
[28 Feb 2021] Ian North, 68, American punk and new wave musician (Milk ‘N’ Cookies), heart attack.
[26 Feb 2021] Bob James, 68, American rock singer-songwriter (Montrose), stomach ulcer complications.
[23 Feb 2021] Sean Kennedy (Australian bassist with Deez Nuts, I Killed the Prom Queen), 35, suicide.
[20 Feb 2021] Gene Taylor, 68, American pianist (Canned Heat, The Blasters, The Fabulous Thunderbirds).
[19 Feb 2021] James Burke (American singer with The Five Stairsteps), 70, pneumonia
[05 Feb 2021] Christopher Plummer, 91, Canadian actor (The Sound of Music, Beginners, All the Money in the World), Oscar winner (2012), complications from a fall.
[04 Feb 2021] Matt Harris (American bassist for The Posies)
[04 Feb 2021] Gil Saunders, 68, American soul singer (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes), lung cancer and multiple sclerosis.
[03 Feb 2021] Jim Weatherly, 77, American Hall of Fame singer-songwriter (“Midnight Train to Georgia“, “Neither One of Us“, “You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me“).
[02 Feb 2021] Aaron Wegelin (American drummer for Elf Power)
[01 Feb 2021] Dustin Diamond, 44, American actor (Saved by the Bell, Purple People Eater) and comedian, small-cell carcinoma.
[30 Jan 2021] Double K, 43, American rapper (People Under the Stairs).
[30 Jan 2021] Sophie, 34, Scottish singer-songwriter (“Bipp“, “Lemonade“) and record producer, accidental fall.
[23 Jan 2021] Jonas Gangwa (American trombonist), 83
[21 Jan 2021] Randy Parton, 67, American country singer-songwriter, cancer.
[18 Jan 2021] Jimmie Rodgers, 87, American pop singer (“Honeycomb“, “Kisses Sweeter than Wine“, “Secretly“).
[13 Jan 2021] Sylvain Sylvain, 69, Egyptian-born American guitarist (New York Dolls), cancer.
[13 Jan 2021] Tim Bogert, 76, American rock bassist (Vanilla Fudge, Beck, Bogert & Appice, Cactus), cancer.
[11 Jan 2021] Mark Keds, 50, English punk singer (Senseless Things).
[08 Jan 2021] Ed Bruce, 81, American singer-songwriter (“Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys“, “You’re the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had“) and actor (Bret Maverick).
[08 Jan 2021] Michael Fonfara, 74, Canadian keyboardist (The Electric Flag, Downchild Blues Band, Rhinoceros), cancer.
[07 Jan 2021] Jamie O’Hara, 70, American country musician and songwriter (“Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days)“, “Older Women“), Grammy winner (1987), cancer.
[04 Jan 2021] Alexi Laiho (Finnish guitarist with Children of Bodom), 41
[03 Jan 2021] Gerry Marsden, 78, English musician (Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Crowd), heart infection.
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