We note with sadness the following contributors to rock and pop music of the 50s through the 80s – the BEST music ever made! – who passed on last month:
June 02
● Colin Jerwood → Founding member, frontman and lyricist for anarcho-punk band Conflict, the band advocated for veganism, animal rights and anti-capitalism, issuing nine full albums and 11 EP’s from 1982 to 2025, with several early 80s recordings reaching the Top 10 on the UK Indie Charts for albus and singles, the band’s concerts were often followed by rioting and general mayhem by fans clashing with police, continued to perform until suffering from an undisclosed illness in early 2025 that led to his death on 6/2/2025, age 63.
June 05
● Wayne Lewis / (Wayne Isaac Lewis) → Co-founder, vocalist and keyboardist in 80s-90s nine-member R&B/urban contemporary soul Atlantic Starr, the group had 14 charting R&B singles before scoring three Top 10 crossover hits, “Secret Lovers” (#3, R&B #4, 1985), “Always” (#1, R&B #1, 1987) and “Masterpiece” (#3, R&B #3, 1991), all co-written by him, continued to perform with the band through the 10s, died from undisclosed causes on 6/5/2025, age 68.
● Bob Andrews / (Robert Charles Andrews) → English keyboardist and record producer with pub-rock Brinsley Schwartz in the 60s and 70s, following break-up in 1975 joined New Wave rock Graham Parker & The Rumour, over five ensuing years recording three albums as The Rumour and five with Parker, left in 1980 to pursue a career as a producer and session musician, worked with Carlene Carter, The Bluebells, The La’s (“There She Goes,” #49, UK #3, 1990) and others, and played on tracks by Maxine Nightingale, Nick Lowe and Sam Brown, died at home from cancer on 6/5/2025, age 75.
June 09
● Sly Stone / (Sylvester Stewart) → Founder, vocals, guitar and keyboards for R&B/funk legends Sly & The Family Stone and writer of five enduring Top 10 singles, “Dance To The Music” (#8, R&B #9, 1967) “Everyday People” (#1, R&B #1, 1968), “Hot Fun In The Summertime” (#2, R&B #3, 1969), “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” (#1, R&B #1, 1969) and “Family Affair” (#1, R&B #1, 1971), the group and its leader are generally credited with creating the “psychedelic soul” amalgamation of funk, soul and psychedelic rock, but drug problems and internal bickering caused a break-up in 1975, went on the release five solo albums through 1986, three of which were billed as Sly & The Family Stone in name only, but drug arrests in 1983 and 1987 ended matters, spent the next three decades in recluse with occasional appearances and died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other underlying health issues on 6/9/2025, age 82.
June 10
● Jonathan Mayers → Music promoter and co-founder of the Bonnaroo music festival, the annual jam-band music fair held on a Tennessee farm, and Outside Lands, a three-day music fest in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, and later the Clusterfest comedy festival from 2017-20198, left his partners and sued over breach of contract but was dismissed in 2023, died from undisclosed causes on 6/10/2025, age 51.
June 11
2025 ● Douglas McCarthy / (Douglas John McCarthy) → Electronic music frontman and vocalist in several groups, most notably with electronic body music (EBM) band Nitzer Ebb (“Fun To Be Had,” Dance #5, UK #99, 1990) from 1982 to 20924, also recorded with Terence Fixmer as Fixmer/McCarthy, with Cyrus Rex as DJM/REX, and with several others in the music collective Buckline, along the way releasing a solo album, Kill Your Friends (2012) and collaborating in numerous side projects, developed alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver in 2021 and stopped touring with Nitzer Ebb in 2024, died from the disease on 6/11/2025, age 58.
● Brian Wilson / (Brian Douglas Wilson) → Leader, keyboards, bass guitar, vocals and chief songwriter for surf-pop-rock The Beach Boys (“Good Vibrations,” #1, 1966), referred by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as “one of the few undisputed geniuses in popular music,” struggled with mental illness and drug use for decades but created a deep catalog of songs that still resonate after 60s years, including the Pet Sounds collection (1966) that appears at or near the top of greatest-albums-of-all-time lists, suffered from dementia in his last years and died from undisclosed causes on 6/11/2025, age 82.
June 13
● Honest John Plain / (John Splain) → Rhythm guitarist and vocalist for Brit punk rockers The Boys from 1976 to 1981 and again from 1999 to 2025, appeared on all five of the band’s studio albums plus several annual Christmas albums as The Yobs, as a side solo artist released eight solo albums, the last “Acoustic Menopause” in 2016, died after a long, unspecified illness on 6/13/2025, age 73.
June 16
● Patti Drew → With her two sisters, Lorraine and Emma, in R&B vocal group The Drew-Vels and the first charting version of “Tell Him” (#90, 1964), following dissolution in 1966 started a solo career and re-recorded “Tell Him” (#85, R&B #22, 1967), with her sisters’ backing vocals, along with three other charting singles in 1968-69, left the industry in 1971 and occasional performed in clubs before dying from unspecified causes on 6/16/2025, age 80.
June 17
● Lou Christie / (Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco) → Solo pop singer and songwriter with a three-octave voice and three Top 10 hits in the 60s, including his signature falsetto in “Two Faces I Have” (#6, 1963) and “Lightnin’ Strikes” (#1, 1966) – both co-written with Twyla Herbert – before switching to a county sound and a lone, unremarkable album in the 70s, performed on the oldies circuit for three decades and died from a brief, unspecified illness on 6/17/2025, age 82.
June 18
● Marcia Resnick / (Marcia Aylene Resnick) → Fine arts photographer in the 70s turned chronicler of rock music’s New York nightclub scene in the 80s and beyond, best known for her “Bad Boys” collection of images of Iggy Pop, Joey Ramone, John Belushi, Mick Jagger, and others included in her Punks, Poets, and Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys, 1977-1982 (2015), died from lung cancer while in hospice care on 6/18/2025, age 74.
June 19
● James Prime / (James Miller Prime) → Session musician for Altered States and John Martyn in the 80s, then keyboards for revered Scottish indie pop-rock Deacon Blue, played with the band for forty years and on all 17 of their UK Top 40 ingles, including “Real Gone Kid” (UK #8, 1988) died following a short bout with cancer on 6/19/2025, age 64.
● Ronnie “Shorty Rogers” Woodbridge / (Ronald Woodbridge) → Original lead singer for Merseybeat legends The Searchers in 1959, left in 1960, relocated to Edinburgh and performed in residency in front of the 11-piece Nat Allen Orchestra at the famed Palais de Danse under the stage name Shorty Rogers, formed his own band in the late 60s and blended rock, country and pop ballads with comedy and showmanship on the Scottish club scene over the next 50 years, died from undisclosed causes on 6/19/2025, age 84.
● Cavin Yarborough / (Cavin Leon Yarborough) → One-half of the 80s urban contemporary duo Yarborough and Peoples alongside Alisa Peoples, the pair first met at grade school piano lessons and began singing professionally as a twosome in Los Angeles in the late 70s, their debut single, “Don’t Stop The Music” (#19, R&B #1, 1980) was the first of seven total R&B Top 10 hits through the 80s, married in 1987 and started a production company in Dallas, Texas in the late 80s, continued to write and produce music into the 10s, died from heart disease on 6/19/2025, age 72.
June 23
● Mick Ralphs / (Michael Geoffrey Ralphs) → Guitarist and songwriter with two influential rock bands, early glam-rockers Mott The Hoople (“All The Young Dudes,” #37, UK #3, 1972) and hard-rock Bad Company, wrote the band’s first big hit “Can’t Get Enough” (#5, UK #15, 1974) as well as the classic rock radio staple “Ready For Love” (1974), after Bad Company’s first dissolution in 1982 toured with David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and issued the first of three solo albums before reuniting with Bad Company in 1986 through 1998, spent the next 18 years playing in various Mott The Hoople and Bad Company concert reunions and fronting the Mick Ralphs Blues Band, suffered a stroke in 2016 and remained bedridden in a care facility until his death from unspecified causes on 6/23/2025, age 81.
● Lalo Schifrin / (Boris Claudio Schifrin) → Argentine-American, Grammy-winning composer best known for writing the theme to the TV series Mission: Impossible (1966-1973) among over 100 other film and TV scores, including the Dirty Harry film series (1971-1988), The Amityville Horror (1979), the Rush Hour trilogy (1998-2007) and the Paramount Pictures fanfare score used from 1976 to 2004, co-wrote a symphonic tribute to his native Argentina in 2024 using nearly 100 musicians, died from complications from pneumonia on 6/23/2025, age 93.
June 24
● Bobby Sherman / (Robert Cabot Sherman Jr.) → Singer in the house band for the 60s music variety program Shindig!, cast member in the TV series Here Come The Brides (1968-1979), guest star on multiple other TV shows, and teen idol pop crooner with four gold records and seven Top 40 hits, the most memorable being “Little Woman” (#1, 1969), left the entertainment industry in the 80s for a career as a paramedic and medical training officer at the Los Angeles Police Academy, retired as a deputy sheriff in the San Bernadino County (California) Sheriff’s Department in 2010, died from Stage 4 kidney cancer on 6/24/2025, age 81.
June 26
● Walter Scott → With his identical twin brother, Wallace “Scotty”, founding member and vocals in award-winning R&B/soul quartet The Whispers with “And The Beat Goes On” (#19, AC #1, R&B #1, 1979) and “Rock Steady” (#7, R&B #1, 1987) among 15 total R&B Top 10 singles plus eight Top 10 R&B albums, continued to perform with the group until dying from cancer on 6/26/2025, age 81.
June 27
● Jim Parkinson / (James Thornley Parkinson) → Lettering artist and type designer responsible for the hand-drawn logos to Rolling Stone, Esquire, Newsweek and dozens of other magazines in the days before computers, as well as logos for rock bands the Doobie Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, plus over 40 printer typefaces designed on computers starting in 1990, died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease on 6/27/2025, age 83.
