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:
April 01
● Suki Lahav / (Tzruya Lahav) → Israeli violinist and singer originally with the Israeli band The Red House Ensemble, moved to New York in 1971 with husband, Louis, who became Bruce Springsteen‘s sound engineer in 1972 and introduced his wife to Springsteen; joined the E Street Band as backing vocalist and violinist in late 1972, sang the choir vocals on “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” (1974) and played violin on tours, most notably the live arrangements of “Jungleland” and “Lost in the Flood;” returned to Israel in 1975 but rejoined Springsteen onstage in Israel in 1988 for a performance of “The River;” enjoyed a two-decade career writing songs, screenplays and novels, penning hits for top Israeli artists, and winning the prestigious Yad Vashem Award for her literary work; died from cancer on 4/1/2026, age 74.
April 02
● James Gadson / (James Edward Gadson) → Renowned R&B/soul drummer, bandmember and top session musician; appeared on hundreds of recordings over a five-decade career starting in the mid-60s as a member of Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (“Express Yourself,” #12, 1970) before joining Bill Withers‘ backing band for Still Bill (1972), Live at Carnegie Hall (1973) and the hits “Lean on Me” (#1, 1972) and “Use Me” (#2, 1972); became one of the most prolific session musicians ever, anchoring the groove for Marvin Gaye (“Let’s Get It On,” #1, R&B #1, 1973), The Jackson 5 (“Dancing Machine,” #2, R&B #1, 1974), and Diana Ross (“Love Hangover,” #1, R&B #1, 1976) and scores of other soul hits; transitioned to disco and pop, contributing to The Bee Gees‘ Spirits Having Flown (1979) and later collaborating with modern artists like Beck, Amos Lee and Paul McCartney; remained an active force in the Los Angeles session scene through the 10s before retiring in 2021; suffered from health challenges following a fall and died recovering from back surgery on 4/2/2026, age 87.
April 03
● Fred Simon → Bass vocals and co-founder, alongside his brother Lowrell, of Chicago soul quintet The Lost Generation; the group scored five R&B hits on the Brunswick label, including the smooth crossover single “The Sly, Slick And The Wicked” (#30, R&B #14, 1970); following the group’s mid-70s dissolution and a short stint with vocal group Mystique, restarted as The New Lost Generation and continued to tour and perform the original group’s music for close to three decades; joined the touring lineup legendary The Chi-Lites in 2014 and contributed bass vocals to performances of timeless classics “Have You Seen Her” (#3, 1971) and “Oh Girl” (#1, 1972) until the final year of his life; died from undisclosed causes on 4/3/2026, age 74.
April 05
● Donn Landee / (Donn Edward Landee) → Sound engineer and record producer in Los Angeles beginning in the mid-60s at TTG and Sunwest studios; joined Warner Bros. Records in the late-60s as staff engineer and worked on dozens of albums by Little Feat, Van Morrison and many others, often alongside famed producer Ted Templmen; was primary engineer on seven straight albums by The Doobie Brothers from Toulouse Street (#21, 1972) to chart-topping Minute by Minute (#1, 1979); served as “fifth member” and engineer, and later co-producer for Van Halen on every album from the 1978 debut through 1984, designed and helped build Eddie Van Halen’s 5150 Studios next to his home in the Hollywood Hills and supervised the recording of 1984 (#2, 1984), 5150 (#1, 1986) and OU812 (#1, 1988) there at the peak of the band’s popularity; following a split with Van Halen in 1989 spent the ensuing decades remastering several Van Halen albums as well as other artists for reissues and retrospective collections; died from natural causes on 4/05/2026, age 79.
April 06
● Blondy / (Gwendolyn Yvonne Chisholm) → Grocery store worker and high school cheerleader turned pioneering hip-hop vocalist who helped lay the foundation for female emcees as a founding member of rap trio The Sequence; teamed with Cheryl “The Pearl” Cook and Angie B (Angela Brown) to form the first all-female group signed to the legendary Sugar Hill Records; the group’s debut “Funk You Up” (R&B #15, 1979) was the first rap single released by a female group and a foundational track in the genre’s history; continued to bridge the gap between disco, funk, and nascent hip-hop on tracks like “Funky Sound (Tear the Roof Off)” (R&B #39, 1981) and “I Don’t Need Your Love (Part One)” (R&B #40, 1981); disbanded in the late-80s but remained active in the background as a concert producer and artist manager, including as Stone’s personal assistant; died in a hospital from septic shock after a brief illness on 4/6/2026, age 66.
April 09
● Afrika Bambaataa / (Lance Taylor) → Pioneering DJ, producer, and cultural architect widely revered as the “Godfather of Hip-Hop” and the “Amen Ra of Universal Hip-Hop Culture”; former South Bronx gang leader who transformed the Black Spades gang into the Universal Zulu Nation in 1973, an international peace organization that codified the four elements of hip-hop (DJing, MCing, breaking, and graffiti); revolutionized hip hop music via the Kraftwerk-sampling “Planet Rock” (#48, R&B #4, 1982) with backing group Soulsonic Force, the track birthed the “Electro-Funk” movement and laid the foundation for techno, house, and freestyle music; continued to push musical boundaries through high-profile collaborations with punker John Lydon (“World Destruction,” 1984) and soul legend James Brown (“Unity,” R&B #87, 1984), bridging the gap between punk, soul, and hip-hop; his profound contributions to the development of hip-hop music and culture became overshadowed in the 10s by allegations of sexual abuse of young boys dating to the 80s and 90s and a civil suit by one accuser in 2025; died from prostate cancer on 4/9/2026, age 68.
● Ray Monette / (Raymond Curtis Monette) → Guitarist, songwriter and session musician in Detroit in the mid-60s; played on “Cool Jerk” (#7, R&B #2, 1966) by The Capitols and recorded with other artists before becoming a member of The Funk Brothers collective of studio musicians at Motown Records in 1967, appearing on dozens of hits by top Motown acts over four years; joined rock and soul group Rare Earth in 1971 and played on the big hit “I Just Want To Celebrate” (#7, R&B #30, 1971) plus eight other minor chart singles in the 70s; toured and recorded as a key member of Rare Earth for forty years, with a short break in 1977 and a return stint with The Funk Brothers in 2004-2009; retired in 2017 due to back trouble and died from undisclosed causes on 4/9/2026, age 79.
April 10
● Harry Kim / (Harry Dixon Kim) → Classically-trained Korean-American trumpeter; cut his teeth on tours with R&B revues, Big Bands and salsa groups in the 70s, and recorded with Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and other Motown acts before joining the Phenix Horns, Earth, Wind & Fire’s horn section, in 1986; was recruited to Phil Collins’ backing band for the …But Seriously album (#15, UK #1, 1989) and toured and performed with Collins for decades thereafter, including as the arranger and trumpeter for The Phil Collins Big Band in the late 90s and 00s; also toured and recorded with French pop superstar Johnny Hallyday in the 00s and 10s, and was horn section leader and arranger for TV music variety program American Idol and others in the late 00s; died from cancer on 4/10/2026, age 74.
April 13
● Patrick Campbell-Lyons → Irish singer-songwriter and co-founder, with Alex Spyropoulos, of the British psychedelic-pop duo Nirvana; the pair’s whimsical, baroque arrangements became a hallmark of the late-1960s London pop music scene; signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island Records as the label’s first non-reggae act and released The Story of Simon Simopath (1967), widely considered one of rock’s earliest concept albums; issued three charting singles, including the lush, orchestral hit “Rainbow Chaser” (#34 UK, 1968) featuring innovative studio phasing; after Spyropoulos’s departure in 1971, carried the Nirvana name forward for two more albums before releasing three solo albums by 1983; reformed the duo in 1985 and continued to tour and record into the 00s, along the way suing the Seattle-based grunge band of the same name and settling out of court, with both bands continuing to use the name; battled a form of melanoma for 12 years and succumbed to the disease on 4/13/2026, age 82.
● Al Gunn / (Alain Lefebvre) → Sound and guitar technician for Montreal-based New Wave synth-pop Men Without Hats (“The Safety Dance,” #3, 1982); promoted to and toured as bassist with the band in 1985 and appeared on the Live Hats concert film; left in 1991 to operate a luthier business for building and repairing guitars in Montreal for the next 35 years; died from undisclosed causes on 4/13/2026, age 68.
April 16
● Don Schlitz / (Donald Allen Schlitz, Jr.) → Grammy Award-winning country and pop music songwriter; wrote or co-wrote twenty-one Country #1 hits for a variety of artists, including “The Gambler” (#16, Country #1, 1979) for Kenny Rogers, “Forever and Ever, Amen” (Country #1, 1987) for Randy Travis, and “When You Say Nothing at All” (Country #1, 1988) for Keith Whitley; commissioned by then US President George H. W. Bush to write a theme song for his Points of Light program, the song “Point of Light” (Country #3, 1991) became another hit for Travis; issued solo albums in 1980, 2001 and 2010; inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017 and died in a Nashville hospital after an aneurysm on 4/16/2026, age 73.
April 17
● Craig Krampf / (Craig James Krampf) → Session drummer and sometime record producer in Los Angeles and then Nashville over a decades long career; worked with dozens of top acts from Alabama (five albums) to Kim Carnes (seven albums), Nick Gilder’s “Hot Child In The City” (#1, 1978), on “Only The Lonely” by The Motels (#9, 1982), Melissa Etheridge’s “Bring Me Some Water” (Mainstream #10, 1989) and others; co-composer of “Oh Sherrie” (#3, 1984) and “Strung Out” (#40, 1984) for Steve Perry’s debut album, and “I’ll Be Here Where the Heart Is” for the Flashdance soundtrack LP (#1, 1983); produced albums for rocker Ashley Cleveland (Big Town, 1991) and Americana group Disappear Fear (Bus Named Desire, 1994), among a handful of others; died in Nashville from undisclosed causes on 4/17/2026, age 80.
April 19
● Dave Mason / (David Thomas Mason) → Co-founder, guitarist, singer and songwriter for seminal English folk-rock Traffic; wrote the pop-psychedelia single “Hole In My Shore” (#22, 1967) and the oft-covered “Feelin’ Alright?” (#123, 1968) for the band; left in 1968 for a long and fruitful career as a solo artist and collaborator/session musician for Jimi Hendrix on “Along The Watchtower” (#20, UK #5, 1968), The Rolling Stones on “Street Fighting Man” (#28, 1968), Eric Clapton, Don Felder, Stephen Stills and dozens of other top rock acts over four decades; issued sixteen solo albums (one Platinum, three Gold) and nearly thirty singles, including the timeless hits “Only You Know And I Know” (#42, 1970) and “We Just Disagree” (#12, AC #19, 1977); toured with Fleetwood Mac in 1994-95 and with former Traffic bandmate Jim Capaldi in 1998, co-founded an award-winning sustainable electric guitar design business in 2004, and released albums and singles into the early 20s; retired from touring in 2024 due to health issues and died from a heart condition on 4/19/2026, age 89.
April 20
● Wayne Moss → Guitarist, songwriter, record producer, and owner of Cinderella Sound recording studio in Nashville; as a top session musician played on Tommy Roe’s “Sheila” (#1, 1962), Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman” (#1, 1964), Bob Dylan’s “I Want You” (#20, 1966), Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man” (#19, Country #1, 1968), Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” (#60, Country #1 1974) and on other hits and albums by dozens more top rock and country artists; co-founded progressive country-folk-rock Area Code 615 in the late 60s with ten other top sessionmen, and later fronted innovative country-rock Barefoot Jerry (“You Can’t Get Off with Your Shoes On,” #109, 1975) with three other 615 veterans; was the last original member of Barefoot Jerry at the band’s dissolution in 1980; continued to engineer and produce records at Cinderella until just before his death from undisclosed causes on 4/20/2026, age 88.
● Alan Osmond / (Alan Ralph Osmond) → Oldest sibling and de facto leader of 50s-60s mostly barbershop pop vocal quartet The Osmond Brothers, which became bumblegum pop quintet The Osmonds in the early 70s with the addition of youngest brother Donny; co-wrote many of the group’s songs and co-produced most of the recordings, including “Down By The Lazy River” (#4, CAN #1, 1972) and “Crazy Horses” (#14, CAN #12, UK #2, 1972); led the brothers’ shift to country music in the 80s and eleven mid-chart singles, with two reaching the Country Top 30; diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) in the early 80s and largely stopped performing in the 90s; reunited for a final show in Hawaii in 2013 and with two brothers for sister Marie’s 60th birthday celebration in 2019; published an autobiography, One Way Ticket in 2024 and died at home in hospice care after a long struggle with MS on 4/20/2026, age 76.
April 24
● Tony Wilson / (Anthony Wilson) → Trinidadian singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of predominately Black British R&B/soul-funk band Hot Chocolate co-wrote and sang alongside fellow co-founder Errol Brown on twelve of the group’s hit singles from 1970 to 1975, including “Emma” (#8, UK #3, 1974) and “You Sexy Thing” (#3, UK #2, 1975); left the group in late 1975 to resume a solo career from pre-Hot Chocolate days but found only moderate success; as a songwriter wrote songs recorded by Herman’s Hermits, Mark Hopkin and others in the 60s, and Bill Haley and others in the 70s; relocated to New York State and gigged in various bands in the 80s; returned to Trinidad in the 00s and died there from undisclosed causes on 4/24/2026, age 89.
April 26
● Nedra Talley → With her cousins, Veronica and Estelle Bennett, one-third of the Phil Spector-produced girl group The Ronettes; the beehive-haired trio released a single studio album but scored five Top 100 hits in 1963-1966, including the signature “Be My Baby” (#2, R&B #4, 1963); left in 1967 due to Spector’s controlling and abusive personality, married and became a born-again Christian, recorded several singles and two obscure albums of contemporary Christian music, and reunited as The Ronettes only for courtroom appearances in suits against Spector for back royalties; worked in later years as a real estate agent in Virginia and was inducted with her cousins into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007; was the last surviving original Ronette at her death at home from unspecified causes on /26/2026, age 80.
April 27
● Beverley Martyn / (Beverley Kutner Martyn) → Singer, songwriter and guitarist on the London folk scene in the 60s; fronted The Levee Breakers jug band and released several non-charting singles in the mid-60s as Beverley, one of which, “Happy New Year” (1966), was written by Randy Newman and featured Jimmy Page and Nicky Hopkins as session players; dated Paul Simon, appeared on Simon & Garfunkel’s album Bookends (1966) and performed at the legendary Monterrey Pop Festival in 1967; married folk singer/songwriter John Martyn in 1970 and released two albums with him that year, but divorced in 1980 and dropped from the music world to raise her children; returned with a first solo album, No Frills in 1998 and a second, The Phoenix and the Turtle, in 2014 which included the previously unreleased Nick Drake co-write “Reckless Jane;” died at home from undisclosed causes on 4/27/2026, age 79.
April 29
● David Allan Coe → Teenage reform school student, two-time 20-something prison inmate, and street busker before becoming a key figure in the “outlaw country” movement in Nashville in the 70s and 80s; never achieved the huge success of peers Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and others, but personified the genre through his rebellious attitude, wild image, and unconventional lifestyle; released over 50 singles, among them seven Top 30 country hits, including “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile” (Country #2, 1984), and over 40 albums in a recording career from 1970 to 2002; also wrote songs recorded by others, including and “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)” (Country #1, 1974) for Tanya Tucker and “Take This Job And Shove It” (Country #1, 1977) for Johnny Paycheck; from the 90s on continued to tour, write songs for others, collaborate with Kid Rock and heavy metal group Pantera, publish books, and have run-ins with the IRS over unpaid taxes; suffered from declining health in later years and died in a hospital intensive care unit on 4/29/2026, age 86.
April 30
● Bobby Murray → San Francisco then Detroit-area electric blues guitarist who recorded with A,lbert Collins, Albert King, Johnny “Guitar” Watson and a dozen other blues notables over the years; best known for playing in Etta James’ backing band for 23 years starting in 1988; also played on B. B. King’s Grammy-winning LP, Blues Summit and released five solo albums, the last, Love Letters From Detroit in 2021; continued to perform in Detroit clubs fronting his own bands until just before dying from undisclosed causes on 4/30/2026, age 72.
