On January 31, 2026, William “Billy Bass” Nelson Jr. died aged 75. He was musician (bass, guitar), recorded and performed with The Commodores, Chairmen of the Board, Fishbone, Jermaine Jackson, Parlet, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, and Lenny Williams, but was best known as the original bassist for Funkadelic. In 1997, he was inducted in to the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” (together with the other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.)
Tag Archives: 2026
Sly Dunbar
On January 26, 2026, Lowell Fillmore “Sly” Dunbar died aged 73. He was musician (drums, percussion), best known as one half of the Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie. Sly performed and recorded with The Aggrovators, The Upsetters, The Revolutionaries, Peter Tosh, Bob Dylan, Grace Jones, Herbie Hancock, Joe Cocker, The Rolling Stones, Joan Armatrading, Serge Gainsbourg, Larry McDonald, Gary Barlow, Dennis Brown, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Cliff, Bootsy Collins, Carlene Davis, Ian Dury, Gwen Guthrie, Nona Hendryx, Mick Jagger, Garland Jeffreys, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, Jenny Morris, Yoko Ono, Sinéad O’Connor, Barry Reynolds, Carly Simon and Simply Red.
Ralph Towner
On January 18, 2026, Ralph Towner died aged 85. He was musician (guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion, trumpet, and French horn), composer, arranger and bandleader. He was member of the bands Paul Winter Consort, Atmosphere, but was best known as founding member of Oregon. Towner has performed and recorded with Azimuth, Bill Bruford, Salvatore Bonafede, Horace Arnold, Jerry Granelli, Vince Mendoza, Maria Pia De Vito, Gary Burton, Larry Coryell, Pino Daniele, Cyrus Faryar, Robben Ford, David Friesen, Jan Garbarek, Charlie Haden, Egberto Gismonti, Gerri Granger, Trilok Gurtu, Tim Hardin, Keith Jarrett, Maria Joao, Joseph LoDuca, Andy Middleton, Duke Pearson, Terry Plumeri, Michael Portal, Kenny Wheeler and Weather Report. As leader he released 27 albums.
Terry Sullivan
On January 9, 2026, Terry Sullivan died aged 87. He was musician (drums, percussion) and singer, member of the bands Dry Ice, Good ‘ol Boys, but was best known as drummer of Renaissance.
Bob Weir
On January 10, 2026, Robert Hall Weir died aged 78. He was musician (guitar), singer and songwriter, member of the bands The Other Ones, Kingfish, The Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, Furthur, Dead & Company, but was best known as founding member and guitarist of Grateful Dead. As leader he released four albums.
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