Tag Archives: Obituary
-
Obituary: Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins dead at 50
Taylor Hawkins performs with Chevy Metal at BottleRock Napa Valley at the Napa Valley Expo on May 25, 2019. Shawn Robbins/STAFF. The first time I saw Taylor Hawkins, I was stunned. It was 1997, and the Foo Fighters were playing Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium in Oakland on The Colour…
-
OBITUARY: Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan dead at 57
Mark Lanegan of the Screaming Trees and Queens Of The Stone Age performs at Koko in London on June 22, 2017. Photo by Alberto Pezzali/NurPhoto. Mark Lanegan died at his home in Killarney, Ireland on Tuesday. As vocalist for The Screaming Trees, Lanegan was part of the grunge explosion…
-
Obituary: Ventures guitarist Don Wilson dead at 88
Don Wilson of The Ventures performs during the 23rd Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City on March 10, 2008. Photo by Kevin Kane/WireImage. Don Wilson, who founded the influential surf rock group The Ventures in the late 195os,…
-
Obituary: Meat Loaf had a career that had to be heard and seen to be believed
Meat Loaf performs at Wembley Arena in London on the ‘Dead Ringer’ tour, on April 27, 1982. Photo: Pete Still/Redferns. Meat Loaf died Thursday at the age of 74. That surely robs the world of one of its great, unique talents and is truly sad for those of us…
-
Obituary: Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes dead at 78
Ronnie Spector, courtesy Winston Vargas/RonnieSpector.com Singer Ronnie Spector, who with The Ronettes recorded a string of Brill Building pop hits like “Be My Baby,” “Walking In The Rain” and “Do I Love You,” has died at the age of 78 of cancer. She had Her family shared the news…
-
Bay Area hip-hop producer Traxamillion, progenitor of hyphy, dies from cancer
Traxamillion performs at Hot Import Nights in Pleasanton, California, on July 25, 2009. Courtesy Wikicommons. South Bay hip-hop producer and artist Sultan Banks, better known as Traxamillion, died Sunday morning in Santa Clara. The 42-year-old passed away after a years-long battle with cancer. His manager, Prashant “PK” Kumar, told the The…
-
Obituary: Michael Nesmith of the Monkees dead at 78
Michael Nesmith, courtesy. When I last spoke to the Monkees’ Micky Dolenz, just a few months ago, he’d told me that rumors of the band’s “farewell tour” were overblown; that he and Michael Nesmith would go on until they couldn’t go on any more. That statement seems more powerful…
-
Obituary: The singular genius of Stephen Sondheim
Composer Stephen Sondheim speaks at the Great Writers Thank Their Lucky Stars annual gala hosted by The Dramatists Guild Fund on Oct. 21, 2013 in New York. Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for Dramatists Guild Fund. Editor’s note: We at RIFF wanted to address the passing of theater genius…
-
Obituary: Lee “Scratch” Perry dead at 85 in Jamaica
Lee “Scratch” Perry, courtesy. Artist and producer Lee “Scratch” Perry, a reggae pioneer, inventor of dub music, whose use of recording techniques also made significant gains for hip-hop, dance and rock music, died Sunday at 85 in his home country of Jamaica. His passing, first reported by the Jamaican Observer,…
-
Obituary: Charlie Watts, the bedrock of The Rolling Stones, dead at 80
Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones with performs with his other band, The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie, at the Casino in Herisau, Switzerland on Jan. 13, 2010. Photo: Poiseon Bild & TextWikicommons. Much has been said about the magic that was Charlie Watts’ drumming—his combination of a…
