Country music icons. The “leader” of a 1960s girl group. Songwriting gurus. This year ended with inescapable and irreplaceable losses within the music industry.
At the top of the year, Melanie Safka, the folk-pop singer and songwriter known as the artist Melanie, performed at Woodstock in 1969 and topped the pop chart in the early ’70s with her hits “Brand New Key” and “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain),” died on January 23 at the age of 76. Luis Vasquez, the mastermind behind the post-punk, darkwave project The Soft Moon, died at the age of 44 on January 18. Tony Award-winning stage and screen singer and actress Chita Rivera, who created the role of Anita in West Side Story in 1957, on January 30 at 91.
In March, singer, actor, and comedian Steve Lawrence, one half of the pop duo Steve and Eydie with his wife Eydie Gormé, died at age 88. Keith LeBlanc, drummer on early rap classics by Sugar Hill Gang and Grandmaster Flash, died at 69 on April 4. Keyboardist Mike Pinder, the last surviving original member of the 1960s British band the Moody Blues, was 82 when he died on April 24.
Later in the year, Johnny Neel of the Allman Brothers Band left this world, several months after former bandmate Dickey Betts, and former My Chemical Romance drummer Bob Bryar, who was with the band from 2004 through 2010, died at age 44 on November 24.
During 2024, the country music world was also hit hard by losing more greats from Toby Keith, who lost his battle with cancer at age 62 in February, outlaw and Highwayman Kris Kristofferson died at 88, and the Oak Ridge Boys lost Joe Bonsall (79), among many more.
Though the list of artists lost throughout the past year seems endless, here is an abbreviated tribute remembering 20 more singers, songwriters, and musicians who left us in 2024.
David Soul
August 28, 1943 — January 4, 2024
Actor and musician David Soul, known for his role as Detective Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson in the 1970s TV series Starsky & Hutch died at 80 on January 4. Soul started his music career opening for The Byrds, Frank Zappa, and the Lovin’ Spoonful during the ’60s and went on to release his self-titled debut and No. 1 hit “Don’t Give Up on Us” in 1976. Soul released four more albums, including Leave a Light On… in 1997, along with seven compilations, and more singles throughout the decades. “My music was the most important thing to me,” said Soul. “I started to write my own music and sing and play in all kinds of places. I even wore a ski mask on TV so that people would listen to my music rather than look at me.” Read more here.
Mary Weiss
December 28, 1948 — January 19, 2024
Born in Queens, New York in 1948, as the lead singer of the 1960s girl group the Shangri-Las, vocalist Mary Weiss led them through hits “Give Him a Great Big Kiss,” “Remember (Walking in the Sand),” and their No. 1 from 1965, “Leader of the Pack.” The Shangri-Las broke up in 1968 and reunited briefly in ’77 and played their final concert together in 1989. Weiss, who released her sole solo album Dangerous Games in 2007, died at age 75 at her home in Palm Springs, California from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Read more here.
Toby Keith
July 8, 1961 — February 5, 2024
Known for his breakthrough hit “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” which reached No. 1 in 1993, Toby Keith went on to release more country chart toppers within the next decades of his career, including “How Do You Like Me Now?” “Who’s Your Daddy?” “I Love This Bar,” “As Good As I Once Was,” “My List,” “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” and more. Toby Keith died at age 62 on February 5, weeks before he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Read more here.
Eric Carmen
August 11, 1949 —March 11, 2024
Co-founder and fronted the Raspberries in the early 1970s and ’80s hitmaker, Eric Carmen wrote “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again,” and his first hit from 1975, “All By Myself,” which later reemerged on the charts in 1996 with Celine Dion‘s cover. By 1984, Carmen was having some success on film co-writing the Footloose hit “Almost Paradise” with Dean Pitchford, which peaked at No 7. In 1987, Carmen hit big again with “Hungry Eyes,” which got its kick on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. He died on March 11 at age 74. Read more here.
Richard Tandy
March 26, 1948 — May 1, 2024
Keyboardist for the band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), Richard Tandy, helped shape the band’s more futuristic and orchestral pop sound. Richard, who joined ELO a year after the release of the band’s eponymous debut in 1972, initially played bass guitar before becoming the group’s keyboardist. Tandy, along with ELO singer Jeff Lynne and drummer Bev Bevan remained through the band’s ever-changing lineups before they disbanded in 1986. He died on May 1 at 76 years old. Read more here.
Dickey Betts
December 12, 1943 — April 18, 2024
After Duane Allman died in a motorcycle crash in 1971, guitarist Dickey Betts helped lead the band writing and singing their biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” which went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, along with “Blue Sky” and the 1973 instrumental “Jessica,” named after his daughter. “I’m the famous guitar player,” Allman once said, “but Dickey is the good one.” Betts died at his home in Osprey, Florida on April 18 at age 80. Read more here.
Steve Albini
July 22, 1962 — May 7, 2024
Though Steve Albini preferred to be called a “recording engineer,” he was leagues beyond it, producing everyone from Cheap Trick, Manic Street Preachers, The Stooges, The Breeders, Mogwai, Veruca Salt, Joanna Newsom, Bush, and Chevelle, among many others. Albini also produced the Pixies’ 1988 album Surfer Rosa, and by ’93 helmed Nirvana’s In Utero, and PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me. Read more here.
Francoise Hardy
January 17, 1944 – June 11, 2024
With a career spanning nearly six decades, singer, songwriter, and fashion icon, Françoise Hardy released 28 albums, including her final Personne D’autre in 2018 along with her memoir In The Despair of Monkeys and Other Trifles that same year. Seesawing between French and English throughout her career, Hardy also left an early impression on Bob Dylan, who wrote the poem “Untitled 2 (For Françoise Hardy)” in the liner notes of his 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan. Hardy died on June 11, 2024, at 80. Read more here.
John Mayall
November 29, 1933 – July 22, 2024
Singer, songwriter, and producer John Mayall released his first singles “Crawling Up a Hill” and “Mr. James” in 1964 and released John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, with Eric Clapton by ’66. He left his mark on the British blues scene and on everyone from the Rolling Stones, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, the Animals, and more early on in their careers. Mayall died aged 90 at his home in California on July 22. Read more here.
Maurice Williams
April 26, 1938 – August 5, 2024
As singer and writer of his group the Zodiacs’ 1960 hit “Stay,” later covered by the Hollies, Jackson Browne, and the Four Seasons, Maurice Williams took the group to No. 1 on the pop chart. “It took me about 20 minutes to write ‘Stay,’ then I threw it away,” recalled Williams. While over at his girlfriend’s house playing some of the songs he had written, her little sister told Williams “Please do the song with the high voice in it.” Willaims said, “I knew she meant ‘Stay.’ She was about 12 years old and I said to myself, ‘She’s the age of record buying,’ and the rest is history. I thank God for her.” Read more here.
Jack Russell
December 5, 1960 – August 7, 2024
Founding member and frontman of Great White, Jack Russell died at age 63 after battling Lewy body dementia. In 1989, the band had their biggest hit with a cover of Ian Hunter‘s “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” which went to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 6 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and earned them a Grammy nomination. Read more here.
Tommy Cash
April 5, 1940 – September 13, 2024
Johnny Cash‘s younger brother Tommy died at age 84. Early in his career, Cash worked as a DJ for the Armed Forces Radio Network and released his debut Here’s Tommy Cash in 1968. His 1969 single “Six White Horses” was dedicated to political icons Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy, who lost their lives. Cash later played with Hank Williams Jr. and starred in the 2016 film The River Thief. Read more here.
Liam Payne
August 29, 1993 – October 16, 2024
With One Direction, Liam Payne often partnered with bandmate Louis Tomlinson as his co-writer for many of the group’s songs. Along with writing on One Direction’s 2013 album Midnight Memories, Payne also co-wrote three songs on the group’s 2011 debut Up All Night—” Taken,” “Everything About You,” and “Same Mistakes,” with Styles, Horan, Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik. Payne and his bandmates also co-penned “Last First Kiss,” “Back for You,” and “Summer Love” from their follow-up Take Me Home in 2012. Payne died at age 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Read more here.
Sérgio Mendes
February 11, 1941 —September 6, 2024
In the 1960s, Sérgio Mendes and his band Brasil ’66 helped bring bossa nova music to the mainstream. Mendes won a Grammy for Best World Music Album for Brasileiro in 1993 and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2011 for his song “Real in Rio” from the animated film Rio. Mendes died from complications of long COVID at 83 on September 5. Read more here.
Tito Jackson
October 15, 1953 – September 15, 2024
Founding member of the Jackson 5, and the older brother of Michael Jackson, Tito Jackson died at the age of 70 after suffering a heart attack. from 1969 through 1970, the Jackson 5 had four successive No. 1 singles in the U.S.—”I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save,” and “I’ll Be There.” Throughout his solo career, Jackson also released two solo albums, Tito Time in 2016 and Under Your Spell in 2021. Read more here.
JD Souther
November 2, 1945 – September 17, 2024
Along with writing songs for and producing albums by Linda Rondstadt, including “Faithless Love,” which was later covered by Glen Campbell and hit the Top 10, JD Souther also co-wrote a mall collection of songs for the Eagles including “Heartache Tonight,” James Dean,” “New Kid in Town,” “Doolin-Dalton,” and “Best of My Love.” Souther also released his own music as a solo artist with his 1979 hit “You’re Only Lonely” and a duet with James Taylor, “Her Town Too,” in 1981. “There was definitely a period of time where people would occasionally say to me, ‘Doesn’t it piss you off that the Eagles have these big hits off your songs?’” said Souther in 2019. “I would usually start saying, ‘Would you like to see the checks?’” Souther released his final album, Tenderness, in 2015 and starred in the ABC series Nashville years earlier as Watty White. Read more here.
Kris Kristofferson
June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024
Always known for his part in the outlaw supergroup the Highwaymen and for writing “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” and “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down,” country icon Kris Kristofferson died on September 28 at his home in Maui, Hawaii at age 88. Born on June 22, 1936, in Brownsville, Texas, Kristofferson wrote his first song at 11 (“I Hate Your Ugly Face“) and by 1966, Kristofferson had his first charting hit with “Viet Nam Blue,” recorded by Dave Dudley and peaked in the Top 20 of the country chart. Read more here.
Phil Lesh
March 15, 1940 — October 25, 2024
Born March 15, 1940, in Berkeley, California Phil Lesh started out playing violin before switching to the trumpet in high school. He was also a lover of avant-garde classical music and free jazz, which he studied at school, and by 1964, Lesh had joined the Warlocks as bassist with Jerry Garcia before they shifted to San Francisco two years later and were calling themselves the Grateful Dead. Lesh was 84. Read more here.
Quincy Jones
March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024
Producer, songwriter, composer, and musician Quincy Jones died at his home in Bel Air, California on November 3 at age 91. In a career spanning more than 70 years, Jones became one of the most influential figures in music, first as a musician throughout the 1950s, then as a composer and an arranger, first working with artists like Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, and Count Basie. Along with producing albums and co-writing songs with Frank Sinatra (“L.A. is My Lady”), Aretha Franklin (Hey Now Hey – The Other Side of the Sky), and Michael Jackson (Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad) Jones was also a television and film producer. He was nominated for 80 Grammy Awards and won 28 of them, along with a Grammy Legend Award in 1992. Read more here.
Slim Dunlap
August 14, 1941 – December 18, 2024
After joining the Replacements in 1987, guitarist Slim Dunlap left an indelible mark on the band’s sound. Dunlap remained with the Replacements until they disbanded in 1991, and played on their final two albums Don’t Tell a Soul (1989) with its alt-rock radio hit “I’ll Be You,” and All Shook Down (1991), which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. Dunlap continued playing with the band in between brief reunions and released his final solo album—and first in nearly 24 years—Thank You Dancers! in 2020. Dunlap died at age 73. Read more here.
Photo: Liam Payne attends the World Premiere of ‘I Am Bolt’ at Odeon Leicester Square on November 28, 2016, in London, England. (Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage)
