On May 26, 2025, Richard Dean Zehringer aka Rick Derringer, died aged 77. He was musician (guitar), singer and composer, member of McCoys, DNA, Derringers, Derringer Bogert and Appice, recorded and performed with Edgar Winter, Steely Dan, Cyndi Lauper, Ringo Starr, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Johnny Winter, Richie Havens, Thomas Jefferson Kaye, Dan Hartman, Bette Midler, Todd Rundgren, Eddie Schwartz, Donald Fagen, Eye to Eye, Kiss, Bonnie Tyler, Barbra Streisand, Neil Sedaka, Rosie Vela, Grayson Hugh, Peter Frampton, Joe Bonamassa, Ronnie Montrose and Jon Anderson. As leader, Derringer released fourteen studio and two live albums.
Tag Archives: composer
Simon House
On May 24, 2025, Simon House died aged 76. He was musician (violin, keyboards) and composer, performed and recorded with High Tide, Third Ear Band, Thomas Dolby, David Sylvian, Japan, Alan Davey, Nektar, Spiral Realms, Rod Goodway, Denny Gerrard, Robert Calvert, Anubian Lights, Michael Moorcock & The Deep Fix, Adrian Shaw, Earth Lab, Magic Muscle, Bedouin, Astralasia, Spirits Burning, Judy Dyble, Ambient Time Travelers, Mike Oldfield, and David Bowie, but was best known as member of Hawkwind. As leader, House released two albums.
Zakir Hussain
On December 15, 2024, Ustad Zakir Hussain died aged 73. He was musician (tabla, percussion), composer, music producer and film actor, considered as one of the greatest tabla players of all time.Hussain recorded and performed with number of famous musicians, among the others with John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Mickey Hart, Ravi Shankar, Bill Laswell, Shankar Lakshminarayana, Pat Martino, Shakti, John Handy, Pharaoh Sanders, Ali Akbar Khan and Charles Lloyd. For his work he was awarded the “Govt of India’s Sangeet Natak Akademi Award “, “Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship”, “Ratna Sadsya”, and the “United States National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship”. Hussain won four “Grammy Awards”.
Quincy Jones
On November 3, 2024, Quincy Delight Jones Jr. died aged 91. He was musician (trumpet), music producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and producer, with career spanned over 70 years. He was named one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century by magazine “Time”.
For his work he received the following awards and honors:
- Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music (1983)
- Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Ray Charles in 1984.
- Grammy Legend Award in 1992
- Garfield High School in Seattle named a performing arts center after him.
- Quincy Jones Elementary School, located in South Central Los Angeles, is named after him.
- Humanitarian Award at the BET Awards in 2008.
- John F. Kennedy Center Honors in 2001.
- National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama on March 2, 2011.
- Los Angeles Press Club Visionary Award in 2014.
- Honorary doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music, London, in 2015.
- Ahmet Ertegun Award in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.
- In 2021, Jones was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame as a “foundational inductee”.
- He won 28 Grammy Awards (third in the list of all-time Grammy award wins).
Quincy Jones was producer of “Thriller” by Michael Jackson (1982), the best sold album in music history (more than 51.3 million copies sold).
As leader, Quincy Jones released 40 albums.
Kriss Kristofferson
On September 28, 2024, Kristoffer Kristofferson died aged 88 years. He was musician (guitar, harmonica), singer, composer and actor. His best known songs are “Me and Bobby McGee”, “For the Good Times”, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”, and “Help Me Make It Through the Night”. Kristofferson has won three “Grammy Awards” and received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2014. As leader he released twenty-one albums.
Sérgio Santos Mendes
On September 5, 2024, Sérgio Santos Mendes died aged 83. He was musician (piano), bandleader, composer and arranger, founder and leader of the bands Sexteto Bossa Rio and Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’65, known for playing bossa nova crossed with funk. He won three “Grammy Awards and as leader released 44 albums.
Tore Ylvisaker
On August 16, 2024, Tore Ylvisaker died aged 54. He was musician (piano, keyboards), composer and record producer, member of bands Origami Republika, Jungle Medics, and Sadomaoistan, but was best known as member of Ulver.
Carla Bley
On October 17, 2023, Lovella May Borg, aka Carla Bley died aged 87. She was composer, musician (piano, organ) and bandleader, one of the most important figures in the free jazz movement of the 1960s. Bley started the record label “JCOA “, who recorded over two dozen important albums between 1966 and 2019, and became a pioneer in the development of independent artist-owned record labels. As leader, she released 29 albums, including her magnum opus, the jazz opera “Escalator over the Hill”.
Mo Foster
On July 3, 2023, Michael Ralph “Mo” Foster died aged 79. He was multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, author, and public speaker. In his career spanning over half a century, Foster recorded and performed with dozens of artists, including Jeff Beck, Gil Evans, Phil Collins, Ringo Starr, Joan Armatrading, Gerry Rafferty, Brian May, Scott Walker, Frida (of ABBA), Cliff Richard, Van Morrison, Dr John, Hank Marvin, Heaven 17, the London Symphony Orchestra, Peter Green, Micheal Schenker, Gary Moore, Sting, Cher, Olivia Newton John, Elkie Brroks, Neil Innes, Judie Tzuke, Sheena Easton, Meat Loaf, Trevor Rabin, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Luka Bloom, Tim Rice, Nigel Kennedy, Affinity, Mike d’Abo, Roger Glover, Jimmy Helms. Fancy, Veronique Sanson, Mike Smith, Cerrone, Ray Russell, Andy Bown, The Walker Brothers, Chris Rainbow, Dollar, Dennis Waterman, Eric Clapton, RMS, Bob Geldof, Joe Walsh, Tony Banks, Leo Sayer, Russ Ballard, Claudio Baglioni, Kenny Rogers, Howard Jones, Tanita Tikaram, Georger Martin, Nancy Griffith and Maggie Bell. As leader, Foster released several albums, and authored a humorous book on the history of British rock guitar. In 2014, he was awarded with the “BASCA Gold Badge Award”.
Gordon Lightfoot
On May 1, 2023, Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. died aged 84. He was musician (guitar), composer and singer, regarded as the greatest Canadian songwriter. He is one of the artists who helped in defining of the folk-pop sound of the 60’ and 70’. As leader he released 20 studio and 3 live albums.
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