Musicians and singers who died in February 2020
The great French organist Odille Pierre died on Saturday February 29, February, when she was going to be 88 years old on March 12. “She was the last pupil of Marcel Dupré [pedagogue and composer himself who died in 1971], had pupils all over the world and had given 2,000 recitals on all continents”, declared Pierre Aubé, AFP husband of the musician. |
Apparently, Mike Somerville, the lead guitarist, songwriter and classic lineup member of Head East passed away on Friday, February 28, 2020. He was the composer of the hits “Never Been Any Reason” and “Love Me Tonight” off of the Gold Certified album, “Flat As A Pancake”. |
Simon Posthuma, the father of singer Douwe Bob, died at the age of 81. Posthuma was a Dutch designer, musician and artist who collaborated with The Beatles and The Hollies, among others. In the past, Posthuma was an extravagant man within the hippie movement who, as the founder of the legendary designer duo The Fool |
National artist crooner Suthep Wongkamhaeng died at his residence in Watthana district on Thursday morning, aged 86. |
The entertainment fraternity has lost veteran William “Smokey” Burke. The 69-year-old passed away today, two days after he was hospitalised |
Eduardo Bort was one of the Spanish musicians who more accurately embodied the inspired virtuosity of the best progressive rock of the 1970s. |
The clarinetist and professor of clarinet died in February at the age of 86. |
Nick “Apollo” Forte briefly gained national fame as a leading character in Woody Allen’s 1984 hit film “Broadway Danny Rose,” but lived his entire life like a star. |
Lionel Eguienta aka Lionel D was one of the pioneers of the hip-hop movement in France. IHH Magazine sources say he died of cardiac arrest in a London hospital on Wednesday morning (February 26) at the age of 60 |
Emerson “Ray” Abshire, the noted Cajun accordionists and vocalist who performed with the Balfa Brothers band, died on Tuesday. He was 68. |
People’s Artist of the RSFSR Sergei Dorensky died on Wednesday at the age of 89. This was reported by TASS Rector of the Conservatory Alexander Sokolov. |
Claude Flagel (1 July 1932 – 25 February 2020) was a French contemporary musician. He produced music for Mamady Keïta, Ibrahima Sarr, Foofango, Mint Aichata, Tartit, and Momo Wandel Soumah. |
David Roback, the co-creative team behind Mazzy Star has died. This is pretty tragic, given that Mazzy Star’s drummer Keith Mitch died in 2017. |
Jahn Teigen’s manager, Trond Lie, broke the news that the musician has died. |
Singer, composer and musician from Brazil. |
John Corcoran, a well-known Irish folk singer and children’s entertainer who had a second career as a movie stuntman, died Feb. 21, 2020, at his Peabody home. He was 72. |
In 1948 Zoe Gail played a nightclub singer in the notoriously brutal film No Orchids for Miss Blandish, wearing a diaphanous dress as she belted out a suggestive What Shall I Do with This Mamma? |
Pop Smoke, an up-and-coming rapper, was shot and killed Wednesday morning in what appears to be a home invasion robbery … |
Thavil Vidwan Thiruvalapputhur DA Kaliamoorthy passed away from a heart attack in Mayiladuthurai. He was 72 years old. |
Drummer Jon Christensen was, in the jazz context, an international musician, who has participated in a number of recordings. |
Lindsey Lagestee, lead singer of Chicago-based country band Dixie Crush, killed in crash. Lindsey Lagastee,25, of South Holland, was struck and killed by a vehicle on February 14 as she made her way to a concert in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood. |
Ja’Net Dubois, who played the nosy, wise-cracking neighbor Willona Woods on the iconic 1970s sitcom “Good Times,” died Tuesday at the age of 74, according to multiple news reports. |
Henry Gray, the Grammy-nominated Baton Rouge blues singer-pianist, died about 9 p.m. Monday at 95. |
Andrew Weatherall, the British musician, DJ and record producer known for helming Primal Scream’s Screamadelica, has died aged 56. |
Rwandan gospel musician Kizito Mihigo who was arrested last week for allegedly trying to leave the country illegally has been found dead in a police cell. |
New Zealand-born French singer Graeme Allwright, best known for adapting many songs by American folk artists into French, died on Sunday February 16 at the age of 93, his family said. |
Before Pearl Carr’s marriage to Teddy Johnson in 1955 (as singing duo Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson), she was the lead singer of The Keynotes |
Joe Gordon was one of the last surviving stars of the iconic Scottish television show The White Heather Club – and a direct influence on Billy Connolly, according to no less an authority than Pamela Stephenson, Connolly’s wife and biographer. |
Crazy Cavan and the Rhythm Rockers‘s singer “Crazy” Cavan Grogan has died, according to his band |
Prince Kudakwashe Musarurwa who shot to fame after his collabo with Pah Chihera on “Runonzi Rudo” has passed away at Chinhoyi Hospital. |
Country singer Daniel Lee Martin, who was accused of child sex crimes, has died by suicide, at the age 54 from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at his Florida home |
Sonam Sherpa, the “backbone” of the popular Indian band Parikrama, died on Friday. He was 48. Sonam Sherpa was the founding member and the lead guitarist of Parikrama. |
Dutch conductor, pianist, and composer Reinbert de Leeuw died today, February 14, at the age of 81. De Leeuw was the conductor on all of the recordings Nonesuch Records has made of composer Louis Andriessen’s music |
The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the homicide of a well-loved northern Colorado musician, 53-year-old Stanley “Scott” Sessions. |
Singer-songwriter-musician Buzzy Linhart died Feb. 13, according to various comments on his Facebook page. Linhart, 76, had been in ill health since he suffered a heart attack in 2018. |
Jacob Thiele, formerly the keyboardist for the Faint, has died. |
Darryl Braxton (aka Chrloo), one of Trinidad and Tobago’s most prolific soca producers has died. |
Christophe Desjardins, the former violin soloist of the Ensemble Intercontemporain (EIC) and the Théâtre de la Monnaie Orchestra, has died. |
Willie Nelson’s drummer for over 50 years, Paul English, passed away at the age of 87, due to pneumonia. |
Victor Olaiya, a veteran Nigerian highlife musician, has passed away at the age of 89. |
Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Dr Joseph Shabalala died on Feb 11 at a hospital in Pretoria after a long illness. |
Jazz keyboardist for Pat Metheny Group, Lyle Mays, died Monday in Los Angeles, to a “long battle with a recurring illness,” according to Pat Metheny’s website. |
The Belgian singer Giovanna Adamo has indeed lost his sister, Délizia, who was also a singer. Born in 1952, she had recorded a first single at the age of 14: “Prends Le Chien” (Take the Dog). Her brother wrote her many songs, including this first. |
Marvin P. Feinsmith, principal bassoon of the Israel Philharmonic who returned to the US to play in the Indianapolis and Denver orchestras, has died after a long illness. |
Mirella Freni has died. The Italian operatic soprano sang for over fifty years, and shared a special stage with Luciano Pavarotti |
Russian composer for the The Republic of ShKID, Sergey Slonimsky, has died at the age of 88, said executive secretary of the St. Petersburg Composers Union. |
Sudanese artist, Abdulaziz Al-Mubarak, died at the age of 69, in a private hospital in Cairo, after a struggle with diabetes and acute pneumonia. His most famous songs are “Tareek Al Shouq”, “Ahla Jarah”, and “You Say No” |
The soprano and opera singer Margareta Hallin died on Sunday at the age of 88, says her son Nils Ekerot. |
Actor Robert Conrad, famous for Wild Wild West, has died. In Mexico, Conrad signed a recording contract with the Orfeon label, releasing two albums under the name Bob Conrad. |
Actor and comedian Orson Bean was hit by a car and killed on February 7th. In addition to his comedy album, Bean also voiced and sang as Charlie Brown in 1966’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown |
Steve Weber, the guitarist of the Holy Modal Rounders, a cult psychedelic folk group that grazed the pop-culture mainstream with a song featured in the 1969 film “Easy Rider” and influenced generations of underground musicians, died on Feb. 7 |
“The Nightingale of Kosov”, Nexhmije Pagarusha, had passed away on Friday. Pagarusha is known for re-interpreting both folk and classical works |
Budka Suflera band leader, Romuald Lipko, died on Thursday. The funeral will take place on Feb 12 in Lublin, according to the band |
Diego Farias, founding Volumes guitarist dies one week after exiting band. He was only 27 |
Singer and songwriter Ola Magnell has died at his home in Österlen. He was 74 years old. |
Italian conductor, Nello Santi, has died on Wednesday, at the age of 88. He’s performed at the Zurich Opera House for over 60 years – longer than any other artist at the Opera House. |
Kirk Douglas is famous for being an actor, but in 1954, he recorded some songs for Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The songs were “A Whale Of A Tale” and “And The Moon Grew Brighter” |
Pedal steel player psychedelic country rock band New Riders of the Purple Sage, Buddy Cage, passed away on Feb 4th from multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer |
The violist Volker David Kirchner is dead after “a short, serious illness” in Wiesbaden. In addition to 13 stage works, Kirchner leaves behind an extensive catalog of works with two symphonies, many other orchestral works, chamber and vocal music. |
Former Yugoslav and current Serbian singer Ljiljana Petrović had died. She first came to fame for participating in Eurovision in 1961 |
Dunedin musician Andrew Brough, a former guitarist and songwriter for bands including Straitjacket Fits, has died. Brough started out as the singer of The Blue Meanies |
Grammy Award winning musician and producer, Mario Vigil, died on Feb 2, after a two year battle with colon cancer. Vigil was a member of Ruben Ramos and the Mexican Revolution, but also played with with Gary Hobbs, Jay Perez, and others |
Czech rock guitarist and producer Ivan Král played with Patti Smith (he co-wrote “Dancing Barefoot”), Blondie, Iggy Pop, John Cale, U2 and others in the 1970s. |
Ghanaian highlife musician, Kofi B (real name Kofi Boakye Yiadom), has died on Sunday, February 2. He’s not been well for some time now. |
Josh Pappé, Punk rock bassist who played on Crossover for Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (D.R.I.) has died |
Lieutenant General Viktor Afanasyev, the Senior Director of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Russia from 1993–2002, has died. |
Isaac Hayes and Funkadelic‘s guitarist, Harold Beane, has died. As you can read via the link, he’s worked with just about everyone, from Little Richard to Rufus Thomas. |
Gang of Four‘s press rep, Reybee, announced that guitarist Andy Gill had passed away at the age of 64, in a central London hospital after a short respiratory illness … via reybee.com |
Conservative of Curtis Institute of Music, Peter Serkin, has died at his home in Red Hook, NY, at the age of 72 |
Little Richard of blessed memory is a classical music legend. Richard has been my music mentor. Each time I listen to his songs I knew someday I gonna be a great artist.
May his blessed soul and memory always rest in perfect peace. Amen.
Withers died in March 2020: https://weheartmusic.typepad.com/blog/musicians-and-singers-who-died-in-march-2020.html
Bill Withers also passed away from heart complications. He is a music legend. Much respect.
Pop Smoke death is extremely painful. He’s very young to pass away from the earth. Pop Smoke always remain a music legend.
It’s listed at #42 [10 Feb 2020] Lyle Mays (American jazz pianist and composer for Pat Metheny Group), 66
Don’t overlook Lyle Mays pianist / composer with the Pat Metheny.Group
Don’t forget Robert Cobert, composer for film & TV — notably for Dark Shadows — who passed away on Feb 19, 2020.
I just found out that Brazlian singer, composer and musician Claudia Telles passed away on Feb 21, 2020 in Rio de Janeiro caused by heart failure.
sources: https://www.discogs.com/artist/205933-Claudia-Telles
https://starswiki.net/claudia-telles/5820/