Dickey Betts, on his 80th birthday, with Devon Allman (L) and son Duane Betts, Dec. 12, 2023 (Photo: Chris Brush; used with permission)
The year 2024 is now one-third over as we write this, but already we’ve lost numerous luminaries within the wide sphere of the music community. Below are many of the artists and music industry influencers who passed in the first four months of 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 2024.
We will miss all of these great talents. RIP.
Steve Albini—5/7—Producer/engineer for Nirvana, the Pixies and others
John Barbata—5/8—Drummer for the Turtles, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship
Aston “Family Man” Barrett—2/3—Bassist for Bob Marley and the Wailers
Jim Beard—3/2—Keyboardist for Steely Dan, John McLaughlin, others
Casey Benjamin—3/31—Saxophonist and keyboardist with the Robert Glasper Experiment
Ernest “Bilbo” Berger—3/1—Drummer for Heatwave (“Boogie Nights”)
Dickey Betts—4/18—Founding guitarist of the Allman Brothers Band
Watch DIckey Betts with the Allmans in 1973
Dean Brown—1/26—Jazz guitarist
Debra Byrd—3/5—Lead vocalist of Lady Flash, Barry Manilow’s background singers
Eric Carmen—3/?—Raspberries singer and solo star (“All By Myself”)
Ruth Ellsworth Carter—1/4—Songwriter for Stevie Ray Vaughan, Fabulous Thunderbirds and others
Hank Cicalo—1/31—Engineer for Carole King’s Tapestry, the Monkees and others
W.C. Clark—3/2—Blues and soul artist
Tony Clarkin—1/7—Guitarist and songwriter of U.K. band Magnum
Larry Collins—1/5—Rockabilly guitarist with the Collins Kids
Gerry Conway—3/29—Drummer for Cat Stevens
Chris Cross—3/25—Bassist for the British band Ultravox
Michael Cuscuna—4/19—Jazz producer and co-founder of Mosaic Records
Nick Daniels III—4/26—Bassist for New Orleans band Dumpstaphunk
Eugene ED Denson—4/12—Manager of Country Joe and the Fish, John Fahey
Duane Eddy—4/30—Early rock guitar pioneer, known for his “twangy” sound
Henry Fambrough—2/7—Singer with R&B group the Spinners
Frank Farian—1/23—Founder of the ’70s disco-pop group Boney M and the pop band Milli Vanilli
Shelley Ganz—1/24—Co-founder of the garage-rock band the Unclaimed
Steve Harley performing “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)” with Cockney Rebel on TopPops in 1975
Steve Harley—3/17—Frontman of U.K. band Cockney Rebel
Alex Hassilev—4/22—Last remaining member of the folk group the Limeliters
Bill Hayes—1/12—Singer and actor whose recording of “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” was #1 for five weeks in 1955
Albert “Tootie” Heath—4/3—Jazz drummer
Bob Heil—2/28—Audio engineer
Clarence “Frogman” Henry—4/7—New Orleans R&B singer/pianist (“Ain’t Got No Home,” “But I Do”)
Malcolm Holcombe—3/9—Singer-songwriter
Byron Janis—3/14—Classical pianist
Gylan Kain—2/7—Founding member of the Last Poets proto-rap group
Chris Karrer—1/2—Guitarist and composer with Amon Düül II
Toby Keith—2/5—Country singer
James Kottak—1/9—Drummer with the Scorpions
Daniel Kramer—4/29—Photographer known for his photos of mid-’60s Bob Dylan, including the album covers for Bringing it All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited
Wayne Kramer in MC5
Wayne Kramer—2/2—Lead guitarist of the MC5
Paul Lacques—1/17—Guitarist/songwriter with I See Hawks in L.A., other bands
Steve Lawrence—3/7—Pop singer (“Go Away Little Girl”) and half of an entertainment duo with his wife, Eydie Gormé
David Libert—2/20—Member of the Happenings (“See You in September,” “I Got Rhythm”), road manager for Alice Cooper, manager of Parliament-Funkadelic
John “Duff” Lowe—2/22—Member of the Quarrymen, the Liverpool skiffle band that also included John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison
Tony Middleton—2/7—Lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Willows (“Church Bells May Ring”)
Peter Morgan—2/25—Lead singer of reggae band Morgan Heritage
Mojo Nixon—2/7—Irreverent roots-rockin’ singer of novelty songs
Paul Nelson—3/10—Blues guitarist, producer and manager, known primarily for his work with Johnny Winter
Seiji Ozawa—2/6—Groundbreaking Japanese conductor
Larry Page—4/19—English producer/manager/label owner who worked with the Kinks, Troggs
Del Palmer—1/4—Bassist for Kate Bush
Tony Pigg—4/?—Radio announcer best known for his 15-year tenure on New York’s WPLJ
Mike Pinder—4/24—Moody Blues founding member who introduced the Mellotron to the group’s sound
Listen to “A Simple Game,” written and sung by Pinder
George Ed Powell—3/30—Founding guitarist/vocalist with Pure Prairie League
Chita Rivera—1/30—Broadway singer and actress
Pete Rodriguez—3/11—Latin boogaloo pianist and bandleader
Chan Romero—4/21—Singer known for “Hippy, Hippy Shake”
Dexter Romweber—2/16—Rockabilly guitarist, member of Flat Duo Jets
Tawl Ross—1/3—Rhythm guitarist of Funkadelic from 1968-71
Melanie performing at Woodstock
Melanie Safka—1/23—Singer/songwriter, whose hits included “Brand New Key” and “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)”
David Sanborn—5/12—Alto saxophonist who spanned several genres, including jazz, pop and R&B
Peter Schickele—1/16—Composer and parodist best known for his work under an alter-ego, P.D.Q. Bach
Marlena Shaw—1/19—Jazz, blues and soul singer
John Sinclair—4/2—Activist, poet/writer, White Panther Party co-founder, manager of the MC5, subject of John Lennon song
C.J. Snare—4/5—Vocalist for pop-metal group FireHouse
Jo-El Sonnier—1/13—Cajun/country accordionist and singer/songwriter
David Soul—1/4—Co-star of TV’s Starsky & Hutch; singer of #1 hit “Don’t Give Up on Us”
Randy Sparks—2/11—Founder of the New Christy Minstrels folk ensemble; entrepreneur who discovered Kenny Rogers, John Denver and Steve Martin
Gale Sparrow—3/31—Director of Artist Relations at MTV
Toni Stern—1/17—Carole King’s songwriting collaborator on some Tapestry songs
Dick Summer—5/14—Disc jockey on Boston’s WBZ in the ’60s and ’70s
Damo Suzuki—2/9—Lead singer of the German group Can
Richard Tandy—5/1—Longtime keyboardist for Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)
Arthur Tavares—4/15—Singer with soul group Tavares
Bobby Tench—2/19—English guitarist/vocalist/songwriter who worked with Jeff Beck, Van Morrison, Freddie King, Humble Pie and others
Dennis Thompson—5/9—Drummer of the MC5
Kevin Toney—3/18—Pianist for the Blackbyrds (“Walkin’ in Rhythm”)
Brit Turner—3/2—Drummer for Southern rock band Blackberry Smoke
Jimmy Van Eaton—2/9—Drummer on Sun Records recordings by Jerry Lee Lewis, others
Frank Wakefield—4/?—Bluegrass mandolinist
Karl Wallinger—3/10—Founder and sole constant member of World Party (“Ship of Fools”)
Michael Ward—4/1—Guitarist with the Wallflowers
Dick Waterman—1/26—Writer and photographer who chronicled the blues
Mary Weiss (right) with the Shangri-Las
Mary Weiss—1/19—Lead singer of the ’60s girl group the Shangri-Las (“Leader of the Pack”)
Melinda Wilson—1//30—Wife and manager of Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson
Non-Music
Roger Corman—5/9—Director renowned for low-budget films of the ’60s (The Wild Angels, The Trip)
Herbert Coward—1/24—Actor in Deliverance
Louis Gossett Jr.—3/29—Actor in Roots, An Officer and a Gentleman
Norman Jewison—1/20—Canadian filmmaker (In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck)
Glynis Johns—1/4—Actress (Mary Poppins)
Richard Lewis—2/28—Comic actor (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
Joyce Randolph—1/13—Actress who portrayed Trixie Norton on the pioneering sitcom The Honeymooners
Watch Joyce Randolph (at left in video) in The Honeymooners
OJ Simpson—4/11—Football star and actor acquitted of murder
Carl Weathers—2/1—Actor who played Apollo Creed in the Rocky films
Best Classic Bands would like to extend our gratitude to those readers who’ve informed us of names we had overlooked.
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