On November 9, 2008, Zenzile Miriam Makeba died aged 76. She was singer, songwriter, actress, civil rights activist, and United Nations goodwill ambassador, nicknamed Mama Africa. She was the first African woman to win a “Grammy Award” (for “Best Folk Recording” in 1966 with Harry Belafonte for “An Evening with Belafonte and Makeba”). Makeba popularized African music among Western audience. Few of her popular songs were critical of apartheid, making her a symbol of opposition to the apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa. Upon her death, former Nelson Mandela said “her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us.”
Tag Archives: songwriter
Bap Kennedy
On November 1, 2016, Martin Christopher Kennedy aka Bap Kennedy died aged 54. He was songwriter, singer, and musician (guitar, harmonica), member of the band Energy Orchard, best known for his collaborations with Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Shane MacGowan, and Steve Earle.
Mike Terry
On October 30, 2004, Andrew Alexander “Mike” Terry died aged 68. He was songwriter, musician (baritone saxophone), producer, and musical director. He was member of the bands Popcorn and the Mohawks, Joe Hunter Band, and The Funk Brothers. From 1960 – 1967, with The Funk Brothers he performed on thousands of “Motown” recordings. Terry worked with Martha and the Vandellas, Jackie Wilson, Mary Wells, The Four Tops, The Supremes, Kim Weston, The Isley Brothers, Marvin Gaye, J. J. Barnes, Rose Batiste, The Capitols, John Lee Hooker, Johnny Robinson, Sandra Phillips, The Little Foxes, Junior Walker & the All Stars, Clarence Carter, The Dells, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Maxine Brown, The Parliaments, and Edwin Starr.
Johnny Nash
On October 6, 2020, John Lester Nash Jr. aka Johnny Nash died aged 80. He was a singer, songwriter, one of the first non-Jamaican artists to record reggae music in Kingston. He was best known for his 1972 song, the million-selling anthem “I Can See Clearly Now”. Nash recorded 17 albums.
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen
On October 6, 2020, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen died aged 65. He was a musician (guitar), songwriter, producer, and inventor, known for his work with Michael Jackson, Brian May, Sammy Hagar, and LL Cool J, but best known as a founding member, songwriter, and guitarist of band Van Halen. He was voted number one in the “Guitar World” magazine reader’s poll for “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
On August 27, 1990, Stephen Ray Vaughan died aged 35. He was songwriter, musician (vocal,, guitar), and record producer, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock band Double Trouble. He is regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, with a big influence on many guitarists. Vaughan released six albums (one released posthumously with ten previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1984 and 1989).
Jack Nitzsche
On August 25, 2000, Bernard Alfred Nitzsche aka Jack Nitzsche, died aged 63. He was a songwriter, composer, arranger, record producer, and musician, known for his work with Phil Spector, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, Earl Palmer, Leon Russell, Roy Caton, Willy DeVille, Glen Campbell, and Graham Parker. He also worked in film scores, for films such as “Performance”, “The Exorcist” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. Nitzsche released four solo albums and five OSR albums.
Scott McKenzie
On August 18, 2012, Philip Wallach Blondheim III aka Scott McKenzie died aged 73. He was singer, songwriter and musician (piano, guitar), co-founder and member of the bands The Abstracts and The Journeyman, and member of the new version of The Mamas and the Papas (in 1986), but was best known for his song “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)”, that became the anthem of the whole Hippie generation.
Willy DeVille
On August 6, 2009, William Paul Borsey Jr. aka Willy DeVille died aged 58. He was a singer and songwriter, founder of Mink DeVille, the house band at the New York club “CBGB”. With Mink DeVille, he released six albums and ten by his own name. DeVille collaborated with musicians from various music genres such as Jack Nitzsche, Doc Pomus, Dr. John, Mark Knopfler, Allen Toussaint, Eddie Bo, David Hidalgo, Efrain Toro, Mariachi Los Camperos, Jimmy Zavala, Zachary Richard, Jeff Baxter, Freebo, Jim Gilstrap, and Brian Ray.
Rick James
On August 6, 2004, James Ambrose Johnson Jr. aka Rick James died aged 56. He was a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, known as “The King of Punk-Funk”. He was a member of few bands, before starting a successful recording career after signing with Motown’s “Gordy Records”. James released twelve studio albums, plus one released posthumously in 2007. As a songwriter and producer, he worked with Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, Teena Marie, The Mary Jane Girls, and Eddie Murphy.
