We have already lost many luminaries within the wide sphere of the music community during the early months of 2026. Below are some of the artists and music industry influencers who have passed thus far this year. They are arranged alphabetically, the person’s name followed by the death date and a brief description of who they were.

If an artist’s name is underlined, you can click on it to be taken to Best Classic Bands’ full obituary.

Below the list of musical artists, we’ve also noted several other prominent figures whose lives were lost in 2026.

We will miss all of these great talents. RIP.

Brad Arnold—2/7—Frontman of 3 Doors Down

Afrika Bambaataa—4/9—Rapper, DJ, producer

Richie Beirach—1/26—Jazz pianist

Asha Bhosle—4/12—Indian “playback” singer whose music appeared in countless Bollywood films. With 12,000 songs to her credit, she is said to have been the most recorded artist in history

Roy Book Binder—3/3—Blues guitarist and singer-songwriter

Lynn Blakey—2/6—Member of Tres Chicas

Andrew Bodnar—1/5—Bassist for Graham Parker’s band the Rumour

Moya Brennan—4/13—Singer and harpist with Irish group Clannad

David Brigati—3/7—Sometimes called the “Fifth Rascal,” he served as a background singer with the group, which included his brother Eddie; also a member of Joey Dee and the Starliters

Greg Brown—2/7—Founding guitarist of Cake

Francis Buchholz—1/22—Bassist of Scorpions and Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock

Phil Campbell—3/13—Guitarist in Motörhead from 1984-2015

Stephanie Chernikowski—4/1—Photographer best known for chronicling the New York City punk scene

David Allan Coe—4/29—Outlaw country singer; writer of “Take This Job and Shove It”

Willie Colón—2/21—Salsa musician and vocalist

Stephen “Cat” Coore—1/19—Founder and musical director of reggae band Third World

Terry Cox—3/19—Drummer of British folk-rock group Pentangle

Dash Crofts—3/25—Member of soft-rock duo Seals and Crofts

Tommy Crook—2/4—Guitarist who worked with J.J. Cale, Chet Atkins, Merle Haggard and Leon Russell, as well as solo

Tommy DeCarlo—3/9—Lead singer of Boston

Pete Dello—2/21—Lead singer of ’60s British band Honeybus (“I Can’t Let Maggie Go”)

Jack Douglas—5/11—Producer/engineer who worked with John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Double Fantasy), Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and others

Sly Dunbar—1/26—Reggae drummer who also worked with rockers such as Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger

Naomi Ruth Eisenberg—3-17—Singer with Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks

Greg Elmore—3-29—Drummer of Quicksilver Messenger Service

Pete Finney—2-7—Pedal steel guitarist for Michael Nesmith, Dixie Chicks, the Judds and others

John Forté—1/12—Producer for the Fugees, member of Refugee All-Stars

Ross “The Boss” Friedman—3/26—Guitarist, founding member of the Dictators and Manowar

James Gadson—4/2—Drummer who played with R&B artists including Bill Withers and Diana Ross, and with rockers such as Paul McCartney and Leonard Cohen

Vic Garbarini—2/7—Music journalist who worked with Musician magazine, Guitar World, Rolling Stone and others

Len Garry—3/2—Bassist for the Quarrymen, John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s pre-Beatles band

Paul Geremia—3/14—Country blues singer/guitarist

Jon Dee Graham—3/27—Texas singer-songwriter/guitarist

Oliver “Power” Grant—2/23—Co-founder and executive producer of Wu-Tang Clan

Garland Green—2/9—Soul singer (“Jealous Kind of Fella”)

John Hammond—2/28—Blues singer-guitarist who recorded more than 30 albums over a six-decade career

Roscoe Harring—2/3—Bassist for the Rascals, Laura Nyro and others

Rob Hirst—1/20—Midnight Oil drummer

Parthenon Huxley—1/30—Singer-songwriter who also led an ELO tribute band

Doug Irwin—3/30—Luthier who built Jerry Garcia’s guitars

Jerry Kennedy—2/11—Producer, songwriter and guitarist who worked with Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Ringo Starr, Kris Kristofferson and others

Craig Krampf—4/17—Drummer for Steve Perry, Alabama, Kim Carnes, Flo & Eddie, Alice Cooper, Melissa Etheridge and others; co-composer of Perry’s “Oh Sherrie”

Suki Lahav—4/1—Violinist in the E Street Band from 1974-75

Johnny Legend—1/2—Rockabilly singer who also served as film producer, actor and wrestling manager

James “Mingo” Lewis—1/27—Drummer and percussionist with Santana, Al Di Meola, the Tubes and others

Alex Ligertwood—4/30—Singer, drummer and guitarist; longtime member of Santana who also worked with Jeff Beck, the Dregs and others

Tristram Lozaw—3/5—Musician and music journalist; former editor of Boston Rock

Walt Maddox—3/30—Member of doo-wop group the Marcels (“Blue Moon”)

Beverly Martyn—4/27—English folk singer-songwriter-guitarist

Dave Mason—4/18—Co-founder of Traffic and solo artist; his best known songs include “Feelin’ Alright,” “Only You Know & I Know” and “We Just Disagree”

Jim McBride—1/7—Country songwriter (“Chattahoochee” for Alan Jackson)

“Country Joe” McDonald—3/7—Co-founder, singer-songwriter of Country Joe and the Fish; solo artist

LaMonte McLemore—2/3—Founding member of the 5th Dimension

Augie Meyers—3/7—Keyboardist with the Sir Douglas Quintet and Texas Tornados

Bill Millar—4/30—British music historian, recording compiler and writer

Bill Minkin—2/26—Host of the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio series; founding member of the Ace Trucking Company; member of the Hardly Worthit Players, who had a 1967 hit (as Senator Bobby) with a cover of the Troggs’ “Wild Thing” in an impression of the voice of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy

Kenny Morris—1/15—Drummer for Siouxsie and the Banshees

James Moschello—2/2—Member of doo-wop group the Elegants (“Little Star”)

Wayne Moss—4/20—Nashville-based guitarist, bassist, record producer and songwriter; co-founder of Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry

Bobby Murray—4/30—Guitarist for Etta James

Chuck Negron—2/2—Founding member and lead vocalist of Three Dog Night

William “Billy Bass” Nelson—1/31—Original bassist for Funkadelic

Christopher North—3/30—Founding keyboardist of Ambrosia (“Biggest Part of Me”)

Alan Osmond—4/21—Oldest member of singing group the Osmonds

Billy Parker—1/19—Country music singer and DJ

Ken Peplowski—2/2—Jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist

Wayne Perkins—3/16—Session guitarist who worked with Bob Marley, Joni Mitchell and Leon Russell, and auditioned for the Rolling Stones

Andrew Ranken—2/10—Founding drummer of the Pogues

Brenda Reid—4/29—Lead singer of the Exciters, who sang the #4 1962 hit “Tell Him” and the original “Do Wah Diddy Diddy”

Roscoe Robinson—2/26—Gospel singer with the Blind Boys of Mississippi and other groups

Monti Rock III—2/23—Disco artist with Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes  (“Get Dancin'”)

Don Schlitz—4/16—Country songwriter whose hits included “The Gambler” (Kenny Rogers), “Forever and Ever, Amen” (Randy Travis) and “When You Say Nothing at All” (Keith Whitley and Alison Krauss & Union Station”)

Neil Sedaka—2/27—Singer-songwriter whose hits included “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “Laughter in the Rain” and “Calendar Girl,” as well as songs for many other artists

Fred Smith—2/5—Bassist of Television

Billy Steinberg—2/16—Songwriter behind hits for Madonna (“Like a Virgin”), Cyndi Lauper (“True Colors”), the Bangles, Whitney Houston, Heart and the Pretenders

Terry Sullivan—1/9—Drummer with Renaissance

Nedra Talley (Ross)—4/26—The last surviving member of the original Ronettes (“Be My Baby”)

Chip Taylor—3/23—Songwriter whose compositions included “Wild Thing” (Troggs, Jimi Hendrix Experience) and “Angel of the Morning” (Merrilee Rush)

Tim Thomas—1/24—Guitarist/vocalist in Babe the Blue Ox

Michael Tilson Thomas—4/22—Conductor who led the San Francisco Symphony for 25 years

Ralph Towner—1/18—Jazz guitarist

Travis Wammack—2/27—Guitarist who recorded under his own name (“Scratchy,” from 1964) and worked with other artists including Little Richard and Billy Lee Riley

Mike Vernon—3/2—British record producer who worked with David Bowie, Eric Clapton, John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After and many others; also co-founder of Blue Horizon label

Georg Wadenius—5/1?—Guitarist for Blood, Sweat and Tears (1972-75), Saturday Night Live Band (1979-85); session player and solo artist

David Wagner—3/18—Co-founder and singer of Crow (“Evil Woman,” 1969, which he co-wrote)

Gary Walker—3/1—Drummer with the Standells and the Walker Brothers

Bob Weir—1/10—Founding guitarist/vocalist of the Grateful Dead

Margaret Ross Williams—1/23—Singer with the R&B girl group the Cookies (“Chains”)

Tony Wilson—4/24—Co-founder of Hot Chocolate; co-wrote their 1975 hit “You Sexy Thing”

Tracy Zamot—2/3—Music industry publicist for record labels (Atlantic, Virgin) and artists (Rush, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant)

Lee Allen Zeno—5/3—New Orleans bassist who played with Buckwheat Zydeco, Irma Thomas, the Neville Brothers and others

Tucker Zimmerman—1/17—Singer/songwriter

Non-Musicians

Bud Cort—2/11—Actor in Harold and Maude, Brewster McCloud, M*A*S*H and other films

Robert Duvall—2/15—Actor (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, To Kill a Mockingbird)

Catherine O’Hara—1/30—Actress (Home Alone, Schitt’s Creek, SCTV)

Rex Reed—5/12—Film critic

Ted Turner—5/6—Founder of CNN, TCM and TBS

Florio “Uncle Floyd” Vivino—1/22—TV, film and stage performer who hosted The Uncle Floyd Show from 1974-98; mentioned in songs by David Bowie, the Ramones and others

Demond Wilson—1/30—Co-star of Sanford and Son TV sitcom