Please let me share with you, one fraction of my summary of rock musician deaths during 2022. I found it interesting to categorize this list by the generation they grew up in. This list of 26 names includes people who died aged 61-70 whom you may not recognize, but know the music. The other cohorts 80-102, 71-80, 41-60 and under 40 can be read in my previous posts. Those lists are quite a bit longer with more famous rockers simply because most of the great rockers aged 61-70 are still living.
Rockers who are over 60 were adults born 1952 to 1963 grew up during the introduction of color TV, portable radios and often had more than one record player per household. Cassettes replaced 8-track, so as young adults they invented the Mix Tape, embraced digital synthesizers and knew their way around computers (unlike society in general, of this generation, who did not see computers as anything but a necessity forced upon them). This age group developed Peer to Peer digital music after they invented personal computers and the internet, for that matter. Whilst these inventions didn’t really catch on until the later GenX’ers came of age in the nineties, rock musicians were among the early adopters. They know the internet as a choice, and still like to play their vinyl records and CD’s. All of the creativity of 60’s and 70’s music was amplified, diversified and over-the-top crucified by this age group. Most all of the musicians knew what their career was going to be after hearing The Beatles as pre-teens.
Terry Hall 63, the longtime voice of legendary ska group The Specials. The song “Ghost Town,” which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the U.K. singles charts in 1981, was a commentary on economic strife in Margaret Thatcher’s England and the social unrest of the era, including riots that year in Britain. Hall also co-wrote the Go-Gos 1981 debut single “Our Lips Are Sealed” with Jane Wiedlin. His next band, Fun Boy Three sang hit, “The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum),” in 1981 and was followed-up in 1982 with “It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It),” a duet with Bananarama. He collaborated with the likes of Dave Stewart, the Lightning Seeds, Sinéad O’Connor, Stephen Duffy, Dub Pistols, Gorillaz, Damon Albarn, D12, Tricky, Junkie XL, Leila Arab, Lily Allen, Shakespears Sister, Salad and Nouvelle Vague.
D.H. Peligro 63, (real name: Darren Henley) Drummer for The Dead Kennedys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, also had his own solo career as a front man, releasing three albums. Of those, the most notable was Sum of Our Surroundings, which was voted Rock Album of the Year by the American Independent Music Awards.
Tyrone Downie 66, a keyboardist and digi-dub producer who is best known for his work as a member of Bob Marley & The Wailers, also played with The Abyssinians, Beenie Man, Black Uhuru, Buju Banton, Peter Tosh, Junior Reid, Tom Tom Club, Ian Dury, Burning Spear, Steel Pulse, Alpha Blondy, Tiken Jah Fakoly and Sly & Robbie
Manuel Göttsching 70, influential musician in the Krautrock movement of the early 1970s and Berlin School of electronic music. Göttsching founded the group Ash Ra Tempel in 1970. “After 1945, the war didn’t destroy just the houses and the buildings, but the whole culture too, and most creative heads were either killed, gassed, or when they could, they moved away to America or to somewhere in the world. So, in the ’50s there was a very low level of German culture and then in the ’60s it began again”
Alec John Such 70, original bassist for 80’s rock band Bon Jovi, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Howard Stern in 2018.
Ric Parnell 70, drummer in This Is Spinal Tap. He also played with the bands Horse, Atomic Rooster, Nova, and other opportunities which resulted from being the son of a renowned British jazz drummer (Jack Parnell). He reportedly turned down invitations to play in Journey and Whitesnake, and was credited with playing the drums in Toni Basil’s hit “Hey Mickey.”
Hamish Kilgour 65, Drummer and co-founder of New Zealand indie rock band The Clean, whose motorik beats drove the group’s sound. He also co-founded Bailter Space in 1987 and later recorded as a solo artist
Chris Bailey 65, frontman of the Saints, whose ’70s single “I’m Stranded” was the one of the sparks that lit the punk scene
Keith Levene 65, guitarist and founding member of The Clash and Public Image Ltd (PiL) also worked with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a number of hip hop acts. Although he never played on any Clash albums, he did appear on the first three Public Image Ltd records
Gord Lewis 65, founding guitarist of the iconic punk rock band Teenage Head. Featured in 2013’s film The Last Pogo Jumps Again, which was a full-length documentary about riotous punk concerts in Toronto. Killed by his son inside his Hamilton Ontario Canada apartment- The son was plagued by schizoaffective disorder and has been found not criminally responsible in his father’s murder.
Maxi Jazz 65, (born Maxwell Fraser) a DJ and the lead singer for the electronic British band, Faithless
Mark Hitt 68, guitarist writing, recording and touring with bands like The Tubes, John Entwistle John Bonham, Robin Zander, Richie Havens, Brian Johnson, and the original 1968 Rat Race Choir
Jon “Jonny Z” Zazula 69, founder of Megaforce Records in the early 1980s with his wife, Marsha, helped jumpstart the career of the legendary Metallica when he signed them. He went on to manage Metallica and Anthrax for a time as well as other known metal acts.
Barry Benedetta 62, guitarist contributed to Cinderella’s debut album, Night Songs, playing lead guitar on the tracks “Back Home Again,” “Nothin’ for Nothin’” and “Push, Push.”
Guitarist Steve Grimmett, 62 known for his vocals in both Grim Reaper and later Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper (and a brief stint in Onslaught)
Randy Rand 62, the founding bassist for Autograph, which had a hair-metal hit with “Turn Up the Radio” in the mid-1980s. Autograph was Picked to open for fellow Pasadena-based rockers Van Halen on its massive 1984 tour after David Lee Roth heard their audition tape.
Howie Pyro 61, (born Howard Kusten) bassist who co-founded glammy New York punk act D Generation and played in Danzig. Before his time in D Generation, Pyro cut his teeth during the fecund 1970s punk explosion as the underage founder/bassist of The Blessed, choosing his stage name at 15. After that, he recorded with Ramones singer Joey Ramone, among others. Rolling Stone reports that he died from COVID-19 related pneumonia
Peter Joseph Turre 65, traveled the world as the drummer for the Ray Charles Orchestra for over 20 years.
Jimbeau Hinson 70, Singer-songwriter, known for penning several hits for The Oak Ridge Boys, David Lee Murphy, Kathy Mattea, Patty Loveless, John Conlee and more. Loretta Lynn brought Hinson to Nashville when he was 16 to sign a publishing deal with The Wilburn Brothers. Hinson released several albums, including 2013’s Strong Medicine which chronicled his journey living with HIV as well as his relationship with his wife of 42 years, Brenda Fielder. That album also led to a documentary film based on Hinson’s life, Beautiful Jim
Shirley Eikhard 67, songwriter of Bonnie Raitt‘s 1991 hit “Something to Talk About,” songs of Eikhard’s would go on to be covered by popular musicians, most notably Anne Murray and Cher.
Alokesh Lahiri 69, aka Bappi Lahiri, the popular Indian singer, composer and record producer, In 1986, he entered the Guinness Book of World Records for recording more than 180 songs for 33 films in one year. More recently, he voiced the character Tamatoa in the Hindi-dubbed version of Disney’s Moana, and provided the dubbing voice for Elton John’s character in the Hindi version of Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Steve Salas 69, a co-founder of the Los Angeles R&B band Tierra, former member of El Chicano and an activist in Chicano politics was part of the historic student walkout at Lincoln High School in 1968 that was part of the early stages of the Chicano power movement. After graduating, he received a full academic scholarship to Stanford University. Steve Salas was a featured vocalist on a cover of Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl” that hit No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. The band later was name-checked by Cheech Marin in the classic stoner comedy Up in Smoke
Julee Cruise 65, singer, songwriter perhaps best known for her song “Falling,” which was used as the theme for David Lynch series, Twin Peaks. She toured or recorded with Pharrell Williams, Bobby McFerrin’s and The B-52’s as Cindy Wilson’s touring stand-in. She released four albums beginning with 1989’s Floating into the Night, The Voice of Love in 1993, The Art of Being a Girl in 2002, and My Secret Life in 2011. Also an actress, Julee was known for her collaborations with composer Angelo Badalamenti 85. Cruise appeared on Saturday Night Live on May 12, 1990, filling in on short notice, when scheduled performer Sinéad O’Connor refused to appear on the same show as guest host Andrew Dice Clay. She chose suicide since she had systemic lupus, which caused her pain and prevented her from standing, as well as depression “They’re gonna spread my ashes across Arizona, and Arizona is going to turn blue. It is not gonna be a red state anymore”.
Cathal Coughlan 62, Irish singer-songwriter co-founded indie-pop band Microdisney in 1980 and formed the acclaimed Fatima Mansions eight years later. Neither band enjoyed mainstream success, but Coughlan was well respected for his eclectic, inventive and uncompromising approach.
Obituaries compiled from many sources including IMDB loudwire.com Guitar.com nypost.com Billboard Wikipedia rollingstone.com ihopeidiebeforeigetold.com Gregg Davidson’s MusicHistory101
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