Musicians and singers who died in April 2020

State-owned Radio Nepal’s first female singer and freedom fighter Ranudevi Adhikari passed away on Thursday night. She was 86.
Ranudevi died while undergoing treatment at Sinamangal-based KMC Hospital
… via nepal24hours.com

Tony Allen, the pioneering drummer who helped define Afrobeat during his tenure with Fela Kuti, died Thursday evening. He was 79.
Allen’s manager, Eric Trosser, confirmed the musician’s death to Rolling Stone, adding that Allen was taken to Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris, where he died of abdominal aortic aneurysm.
… via rollingstone.com

Singer Óscar Chávez died at the age of 85 on Thursday, after his hospitalization was made public after presenting symptoms of the COVID-19 Coronavirus.
Yesterday the team of the Mexican composer announced that he had had health complications, so he was admitted to the 20 November to the National Medical Center.
… via radioformula.com

The English cellist Martin Lovett, best known as a member of the Amadeus Quartet, has died aged 93.
Lovett was born into a musical family; his father was a cellist with the Hallé and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Aged 15, Lovett won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music.
… via gramophone.co.uk

Stezo, aka Steve Williams, the iconic rapper and dancer, has died. He was 51 years old. His cause of death has not been confirmed. Stezo is best known for his 1989 hit singles, “To the Max” and “It’s My Turn.”
… via heavy.com

Original He Is Legend guitarist and former member of Bloodjin, McKenzie Bell, has died at the age of 35. A cause of death was not revealed.
Bloodjinn broke the sad news to fans with the following, “We are extremely saddened today to find out that our great friend and former guitarist, Mckenzie Bell, has passed away.
… via antimusic.com

This afternoon, I received word on the Pat St. John Show on SIRIUS XM 60s on 6 (weekdays at 3pm ET/12pm PT) that R&B artist Bobby Lewis passed away on Tuesday, April 28, 2020.
He was 95 years of age.
… via cbslocal.com

David S. Boe, Professor of Organ at Oberlin Conservatory and Dean of its Conservatory, died yesterday of Covid-19. He was 83.
An organist and scholar, Boe was a leader in the drive to perform organ music with historically informed performance practices, on organs that were built to historic specifications.
… via nzherald.co.nz

Luminary American cellist Lynn Harrell has passed away – aged 76. “We have lost a wonderful father, husband, mensch …” Lynn’s wife Helen Nightengale has today said.
… via theviolinchannel.com

Prominent Greek soprano Jeannette Pilou, whose career included performances at international stages and the Greek National Opera, died on Monday at the age of 83, state-run news agency ANA-MPA reported.
… via ekathimerini.com

Troy Sneed, a Grammy Award-nominated gospel singer from the Jacksonville area whose career has spanned decades, has died from the coronavirus.
The 52-year-old singer died Monday morning at a Jacksonville hospital from complications of COVID-19, according to a news release.
… via actionnewsjax.com

Then Jerico guitarist Scott Taylor has died of a brain tumour after battling ill health for the last couple of years.
The “Big Area” musician, who was best known for his work with the rock group during the 1980s and after reforming in 2012, died this week after recently being discharged from hospital.
… via independent.co.uk

Originally from Texas, Young Jessie made his debut on a very active music scene in Los Angeles, where her family settled in his early teens, notably alongside future legends Richard Berry (the creator of Louie Louie) and Cornell Gunter (future member of the Coasters).
… via soulbag.fr

Philip Douglas Broadhurst passed away at age 70 surrounded by family.
Broadhurst was one of new Zealands leading jazz musicians, much loved by colleagues and students alike.
… via nzherald.co.nz

New Orleans blues singer “Big” Al Carson, a longtime Bourbon Street fixture who belted out songs on the city’s most famous drag for decades, died Sunday afternoon at the age of 66
… via nola.com

Bijay Mishra, noted lyricist and screenwriter of Odisha, passed away at age of 83 at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar, said sources on Sunday.
A pioneer of modern theatre movement and playwright in Odia film industry, Bijay Mishra was a recipient of Odisha Sahitya Akademi and Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards.
… via updateodisha.com

Ray Repp, the celebrated singer-songwriter considered “the father of the guitar mass,” his “Mass for Young Americans” selling millions of copies in the 60s and 70s, died April 26, 2020 after battling both lymphoma and metastatic melanoma, the latter the cause of his death
… via legacy.com

The Lithuanian Composers’ Union announced on Saturday that composer Vytautas Barkauskas had died. Barkauskas’ works have been incorporated into Lithuanian music since the 1970s, and he became one of the most active pioneers of the avant-garde
… via lrt.lt

Newnan music legend Hamilton Bohannon passed away Friday at the age of 78. No official cause of death has been released and arrangements are pending, according to family members.
… via times-herald.com

Harold Reid, who sang bass for the Grammy-winning country group the Statler Brothers, has died after a long battle with kidney failure. He was 80.
… via whsv.com

Mike Huckaby has died, according to various sources close to the Detroit artist.
Last month, Delano Smith launched a GoFundMe to help Huckaby overcome an unnamed medical setback.
… via residentadvisor.net

Music composer Andy Ayunir died today, Wednesday (4/23/2020).
The news was first spread from the tweet of Addie MS and Andien Aisyah on Twitter.
… via kompas.com

One of the founders of the Дос-Мукасан (Dos-Mukasan) group, Kamit Sanbaev, died after a long illness. This was reported by another founder of the team Murat Kusainov.
… via informburo.kz

New York rapper Fred the Godson (born Fredrick Thomas) has died at age 35 from COVID-19.
The news was confirmed by friend DJ Self
… via billboard.com

Robert “Bootsie” Barnes, 82, the widely respected tenor saxophone player whose hard-driving sound and restless creative spirit become synonymous with Philadelphia jazz over a six-decade career, died Wednesday, April 22. His wife said he died from the coronavirus.
… via inquirer.com

The actor, singer and dancer Enrique Castellón Vargas, known artistically as the El Príncipe Gitano (‘Gypsy Prince’), has died this Wednesday at the age of 88 due to Covid-19
… via diarioinformacion.com

Marcos Mundstock, the greatest ingenuity of puns in the Spanish language, a member of the group Les Luthiers, has died this Wednesday in Buenos Aires at the age of 77
… via elpais.com

Derek Jones, longtime guitarist for Falling in Reverse, has passed away at the age of 35. The tragic news was reported by the band’s frontman, Ronnie Radke, on Twitter. A cause of death was not immediately known.
… via consequenceofsound.net

Breton guitarist Jacques Pellen died this Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. of the Covid-19 after three weeks. Pellen released Celtic Procession in 1988, he had worked with many Breton artists such as Kristen Noguès, Dan Ar Braz, or Soïg Sibéril.
… via francebleu.fr

Musician Ebow Graham has died at the age of 41.
The band’s official Twitter account shared: “It’s with the heaviest heart to inform you we lost our brother Ebow Graham aka Metropolis aka Elliott Yorke last Night..
… via mirror.co.uk

The musician and actor Horacio Fontova died. According to what Teleshow could know, his death occurred this Monday morning in the Sanatorium Finochietto in the city of Buenos Aires, where he was fighting cancer.
… via infobae.com

Grapefruit‘s manager, Terry Doran, has died. Doran, a longtime associate of the Beatles in various capacities – from supplying them with sports cars via the dealership he co-owned with their manager Brian Epstein to providing a key word to their song “A Day in the Life” to managing their publishing arm
… via bestclassicbands.com

One of the largest contemporary Russian composers, Alexander Vustin, died in Moscow.
According to REN TV, six days ago he was hospitalized with bilateral pneumonia.
… via rg.ru

The Soft Boys’ Matthew Seligman, who played bass on the group’s 1980 masterpiece Underwater Moonlight, has died.
Seligman also played bass with the likes of David Bowie (“Dancing in the Street”), Chrissie Hynde, Morrissey (“Ouija Board Ouija Board”), the Thompson Twins, Peter Murphy, and more
… via pitchfork.com

Giuseppi Logan, a saxophonist, clarinetist and flutist whose esteemed career in free jazz bracketed a mysterious absence of almost 40 years, died on Friday. The cause was related to the coronavirus.
… via wbgo.org

Jazz great Henry Grimes has died at age 84. A renowned bassist (but skilled at many other instruments), Grimes played with just about everyone in the ’50s and ’60s, including Don Cherry
… via brooklynvegan.com

Detroit radio and television personality Robin Seymour has died at 94.
He was known for “Swingin’ Time with Robin Seymour,” a show similar to “American Bandstand.”
… via clickondetroit.com

The singer Christophe died Thursday April 16 in the evening. He was hospitalized on March 26 in Paris before being transferred to Brittany. He had been suffering from emphysema for a long time.
… via nouvelobs.com

Canadian harpsichordist and organist Kenneth Gilbert has just died at the age of 88, a recognized interpreter of François Couperin whose harpsichord he recorded for Harmonia Mundi, but also of d’Anglebert (HM), Rameau and Bach (Archiv Produktion).
… via resmusica.com

At the age of 82, Dušan Vančura, singer and double bass player of the Spirituál kvintet, suddenly died.
… via idnes.cz

Venezuelan humorist, singer, and ventriloquist Carlos Donoso, recognized throughout Latin America by characters such as ‘Kini’ and ‘Lalo’, died this Thursday
… via eltiempo.com

Arrangements were incomplete at Berry and Gardner Funeral Home for Mr. Eddie Cooley, 87, of Rose Hill, who died Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at Anderson Regional Medical Center.
… via meridianstar.com

Influential saxophonist Lee Konitz died on April 15th in Greenwich Village. His son confirmed the cause was pneumonia after a recent diagnosis of Covid-19, he was 92.
… via syncopatedtimes.com

Gary McSpadden had a long and illustrious vocal career, performing with the Statesmen, Oak Ridge Boys, Imperials, Bill Gaither Trio, and Gaither Vocal Band. He was also a soloist, songwriter, producer, television host, speaker and pastor of the Faith and Wisdom Church in Branson, Missouri.
… via sgnscoops.com

Professor Olatunji Akin Euba, a Nigerian composer, musicologist and pianist, is dead. He died two weeks to his 85th birthday.
According to Dr Albert Oikelome, head of Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos, “I got a message from Prof. Bode Omojola, a
a close friend of his, that he passed on Tuesday evening.
… via guardian.ng

Veteran Congolese musician Kasongo wa Kanema has passed away at the age of 73. The musician reportedly collapsed from a stroke at his home in Lang’ata, Nairobi, according to the BBC. Known for having been the lead vocalist of the popular Orchestra Super Mazembe group back in the 80s
… via okayafrica.com

The mezzo-soprano singer Kerstin Meyer has passed away.
Meyer debuted at the Royal Opera in 1952 in the role of Azucena in Verdi’s “Trubaduren”.
… via ystadsallehanda.se

The SA entertainment industry suffered yet another loss of talent over the long weekend when veteran Afro-pop music group Mina Nawe announced the death of their lead songstress, Zanele “Mazet” Maseko.
… via sowetanlive.co.za, thanks to Leon M

Ryo Kawasaki, a Japanese guitarist, composer and programmer, sound director, producer and record company owner living in Estonia, died this morning. Born in Japan, Kawasaki arrived in New York in 1973, where he recorded his first album for Polydor at the age of 22.
… via kultuur.err.ee

Singer and songwriter Moraes Moreira passed away on Monday morning (13), at the age of 72, in Rio de Janeiro.
The cause of death has not yet been reported.
… via jornaldebrasilia.com.br

Tim Brooke-Taylor dead: Goodies co-stars lead tributes as actor dies aged 79 after contracting coronavirus
… via standard.co.uk

Pianist Louis van Dijk passed away on Sunday at the age of 78, his daughter, television presenter Selma van Dijk, confirms to De Telegraaf.
… via nu.nl

On the afternoon of April 11, Liu Dehai, a generation of pipa master, died in Beijing at the age of 82.
Born in Shanghai on August 13, 1937, Liu Dehai began to learn folk instruments such as pipa, erhu, flute, and sanxian since childhood.
… via bjd.com.cn

The actress and singer Lucie Dolène, who also marked the 80s with the children’s program Vitamine, died at the age of 88.
Mythical voice that rocked several generations, the actress Lucie Dolène died on Friday April 10 at the age of 88.
… via gala.fr

Jymie Merritt, a bassist who anchored some of the leading groups of jazz’s postwar era, like Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, before establishing his own sphere of influence as a composer and theorist in Philadelphia, died on Friday. He was 93.
… via wbgo.org

Big George Brock — one of the last of the great Mississippi Delta bluesmen — died Friday morning at his home in St. Louis after an extended illness, his family confirmed
… via newsbreak.com

Renowned Hindustani classical singer and Padma Shri awardee Shanti Hiranand Chawla passed away at a Gurgaon hospital early morning Friday.
The singer was trained in thumri, Dadra and ghazal singing by Begum Akhtar, and was world-renowned for keeping the legendary ghazal singer’s style alive in her performances
… via siasat.com

Marc Engels, who notably worked as a sound recorder for Le Bureau des légendes, died of Covid-19 disease at the age of 54.
… via lepoint.fr

Andy González, a New York bassist who both explored and bridged the worlds of Latin music and jazz, has died. The 69-year-old musician died in New York on Thursday night, from complications of a pre-existing illness
… via npr.org

Richard Teitelbaum, an electronic artist, keyboardist and composer who combined an interest in non-western musical languages with a focus on experimental practice, died on Thursday at HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston, N.Y.
… via npr.org

a Russian composer, poet, translator Dmitry Smirnov died of coronavirus in a London hospital.
Dmitry Nikolaevich Smirnov was born on November 2, 1948 in a family of opera singers.
… via classicalmusicnews.ru

Andrzej Adamiak of Rezerwat has died, according to his song.
Rezerwat’s biggest hit was “Zaopiekuj się mną”.
… via onet.pl

Singer Glenn Fredly died at Setia Mitra Hospital, Fatmawati, South Jakarta, Wednesday (04/08/2020).
The news of the passing was confirmed by his fellow musicians, Teuku Adifitrian of Tompi.
… via kompas.com

Philadelphia model-turned-rapper Chynna Rogers died on Wednesday, her family said. She was 25 years old.
“Chynna was deeply loved and will be sorely missed,” the family said in a statement to NBC News.
… via nbcnews.com

Steve Farmer 71, of Redford, Michigan, formerly of Union Co. KY passed away at his home on Tuesday April 7, 2020. Steve was an American guitarist, composer, and lyricist, best known for his composition with Ted Nugent in 1968 “Journey to the Center of the Mind”, performed by their group the Amboy Dukes.
… via townsendfuneralhomeinc.com

The murder of Oleksandr Datsyuk, band leader of Lesyk-Band, occurred at 9 p.m. on April 7 at 9 p.m. at the stop of the former Кинескоп plant.
Police said a homeless person stabbed Datsyuk with two penetrating wounds with a knife in the area of the heart.
… via fakty.com.ua

Eddy Davis, a banjoist and bandleader who enjoyed a sprawling career in traditional jazz, most visibly through a decades-long association with Woody Allen, died on Tuesday … the cause was complications from the coronavirus.
… via wbgo.org

Veteran Somali musician Ahmed Ismail Hussein (Xudeydi/Hudeydi) known as “King of Oud” has passed away at the age of 92 according to reports by the BBC. Considered one of the founding fathers of contemporary Somali music, the musician passed away in London, England, after having tested positive for the coronavirus.
… via okayafrica.com

John Prine, who for five decades wrote rich, plain-spoken songs that chronicled the struggles and stories of everyday working people and changed the face of modern American roots music, died Tuesday at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The cause was complications related to COVID-19
… via rollingstone.com

Nathaniel Valentine, a Richmond gospel singer and well-known choir member at New Life Deliverance Tabernacle, died from complications related to the coronavirus.
… via wric.com

Hal Willner — the respected producer who worked with Lou Reed and Marianne Faithfull, died Monday at the age of 64. While a cause of death has yet to be announced, a source close to Willner tells Rolling Stone he was suffering from symptoms consistent with the coronavirus.
… via rollingstone.com

The rapper, Black the Ripper, whose real name was Dean West, found fame in the early noughties with mix tapes Holla Black and Afro Sumurai.
… via mirror.co.uk

Veteran music composer MK Arjunan, known for his evergreen melodies in Malayalam cinema, died in Kochi on Monday. Among those who paid moving tributes was A R Rahman, who got his first break in films from the Malayalam music director.
… via indiatimes.com

Rwanda’s prominant disc jokey DJ Miller, aka Virgile Karuranga, succumbs to stroke this Sunday morning at 29 years old.
… via ktpress.rw

Timothy Brown, the Eagles running back and returner who was one of the franchise’s signature players of the 1960s, has died at age 82.
Prior to his football career, Brown released music under the name Timmy Brown.
… via inquirer.com

Songwriter Alex Harvey, whose hits included Tanya Tucker’s “Delta Dawn” and Kenny Rogers & The First Edition’s “Reuben James,” died Saturday (April 4)
… via cmt.com

Patrick Gibson, vocalist and drummer for the group Gibson Brothers has died, reportedly from the coronavirus. The France-based trio scored on charts around the world in the late 70s with the dance hits “Cuba” and “Que Sera Mi Vida”.
… via soultracks.com

Luis Eduardo Aute has died this Saturday at the age of 76 in a Madrid hospital, as confirmed by TVE the artist’s agent ..
Poet, painter, sculptor and film director, he stood out above all as a singer-songwriter
… via rtve.es

West Coast rap artist Tweedy Bird Loc, and co-founder of Bangin On Wax, passed away at the age of 52, in the morning of April 3rd.
… via siccness.net

Vaughan Mason died. The New York-native penned the definitive roller disco hit, “Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll,” in 1979 after reading a Wall Street Journal article on the skate craze.
… via residentadvisor.net

Liedjes van Smeets, aka Guus Smeets, formerly of Ezzebleef, died of the corona virus.
Smeets won the KVL twice, the regular songs song contest for primary schools and ended up three times in the LVK final.
… via 1limburg.nl

Former Hazoori Ragi of the Golden Temple, Nirmal Singh Khalsa, died of cardiac arrest around 4:30 am on Thursday.
According to the Amritsar Civil Surgeon, he had tested posted for coronavirus on Wednesday.
… via tribuneindia.com

John Paul “Bucky” Pizzarelli, the stalwart jazz guitarist and icon of the New Jersey music scene, died Wednesday from complications due to the coronavirus, according to multiple reports. He was 94.
… via nj.com

Adam Schlesinger, a musician and songwriter highly regarded for his work as a member of Fountains of Wayne and an Emmy-winning songwriter for TV’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” has died as a result of coronavirus complications, Variety has confirmed.
… via variety.com

Clarinetist Harold Rubin died Wednesday at the age of 87. Rubin, who was also a painter and architect, was one of the free jazz pioneers in Israel and the most recognizable figure with the sound and spirit of the Free Jazz in the country.
… via haaretz.co.il

Ellis Marsalis Jr., the jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of one of New Orleans’ great musical families has died.
The 85-year-old jazz piano legend was hospitalized with symptoms of COVID-19.
… via nola.com

The new-wave pop singer Cristina has reportedly died at age 61 after being diagnosed with coronavirus.
The singer, whose full name was Cristina Monet-Zilkha, is believed to have died of complications from Covid-19
… via theguardian.com