In Memoriam: Musicians We Lost In 2020
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Collecting the names of musicians who die in any single span of time, as NPR does at the end of each year, can be an occasion for tribute or reflection or an exercise in collapsing days, a gateway to a specific moment of pain or gratitude. The truth at the end of 2020 is that the tremendous and overwhelming volume of loss nearly renders the need for that kind of reminder irrelevant. Throughout this relentless year it has been constantly renewed.
We lost icons in every genre: founders and innovators and steadfast traditionalists. The world of jazz, so reliant upon elders to anchor its constantly developing notion of history and legacy, bore an especially heavy burden. (Our colleagues at Jazz Night In America have spent much time already remembering and paying tribute to those lost this year.) What follows is a memorial to musicians we lost in 2020. They are listed below in chronological order by the date they left us.
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Jaap Schröder
Dutch violinist, conductor, pedagogue and specialist in the historically informed performance movement
Dec. 31, 1925 — Jan. 1, 2020
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Neil Peart
Rush drummer, Canadian rock deity
Sept. 12, 1952 — Jan. 7, 2020
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Steve Martin Caro
The sweet-voiced singer for baroque-pop band The Left Banke
Oct. 12, 1948 — Jan. 14, 2020
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Barry Tuckwell
Australia-born principle French horn of the London Symphony Orchestra
March 5, 1931 — Jan. 16, 2020
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Claudio Roditi
Brazilian jazz trumpeter and composer
May 28, 1946 — Jan. 17, 2020
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David Olney
Beloved Nashville singer-songwriter
March 23, 1948 — Jan. 18, 2020
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Jimmy Heath
Saxophonist and big band leader nicknamed “Little Bird”
Oct. 25, 1926 — Jan. 19, 2020
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Nedda Casei
American mezzo-soprano and Met Opera regular turned labor leader
Sept. 9, 1932 — Jan. 20, 2020
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Sean Reinert
Metal drummer who explored unknown worlds with Cynic and Death
May 27, 1971 — Jan. 24, 2020
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Bob Gulotti
Endlessly creative jazz drummer and educator, charter member of The Fringe
Nov. 28, 1949 — Jan. 25, 2020
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Bob Shane
Founding member of the Kingston Trio
Feb. 1, 1934 — Jan. 26, 2020
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Reed Mullin
Founder and drummer for metal/punk band Corrosion of Conformity
Feb. 12, 1966 — Jan. 27, 2020
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Lucien Barbarin
Suave and playful trombonist, scion and upholder of New Orleans jazz traditions
July 17, 1956 — Jan. 30, 2020
Lucien Barbarin performs during the at the Langham Hotel in 2011 in Pasadena, Calif. CREDIT: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
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Peter Serkin
Classical pianist studied in traditional repertoire but drawn to new sounds
July 24, 1947 — Feb. 1, 2020
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Andy Gill
Gang of Four guitarist, whose style helped define post-punk
Jan. 1, 1956 — Feb. 1, 2020
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Lynn Evans Mand
Voice behind hit songs “Mr. Sandman” and “Lollipop”
May 2, 1924 — Feb. 6, 2020
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Nello Santi
The most authoritative interpreter of Italian Opera
Sept. 22, 1931 — Feb. 6, 2020
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Mirella Freni
Italian soprano, known for embodying Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème
Feb. 27, 1935 — Feb. 9, 2020
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Lyle Mays
Jazz keyboardist, longtime anchor of Pat Metheny Group
Nov. 27, 1953 — Feb. 10, 2020
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Joseph Shabalala
Founder of Africa’s vocal ambassadors Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Aug. 28, 1940 — Feb. 11, 2020
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Reinbert de Leeuw
Dutch conductor and pianist who fought to bring contemporary classical music into the spotlight
Sept. 8, 1938 — Feb. 14, 2020
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Ja’Net Dubois
Emmy Award-winning actress, singer and composer who co-wrote and sang “The Jeffersons” theme
Aug. 5, 1932 — Feb. 17, 2020
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Andrew Weatherall
Genre-defying musician who was an instrumental DJ in England’s acid house scene
April 6, 1963 — Feb 17, 2020
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Jon Christensen
Norwegian jazz drummer, member of Keith Jarrett’s Belonging Quartet
March 20, 1943 — Feb. 18, 2020
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Pop Smoke
The stop-in-your-tracks voice of Brooklyn drill and a new and commanding hip-hop star
July 20, 1999 — Feb. 19, 2020
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Elyse Weinberg
A late ’60s singer-songwriter and guitarist once lost to time and later rediscovered by crate-diggers
Oct. 25, 1945 — Feb. 20, 2020
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David Roback
Founder of Rain Parade, Opal and Mazzy Star, psychedelic adventurer
April 4, 1958 — Feb. 24, 2020
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McCoy Tyner
Pianist who revolutionized jazz harmony, in and out of the John Coltrane Quartet
Dec. 11, 1938 — March 6, 2020
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Charles Wuorinen
Pulitzer Prize-winning avant-garde composer
June 9, 1938 — March 11, 2020
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Danny Ray Thompson
Manager, saxophonist and key creative force of the Sun Ra Arkestra
Oct. 1, 1947 — March 12, 2020
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Doriot Anthony Dwyer
One of the first women to be awarded principal chair for a major American orchestra
March 6, 1922 — March 14, 2020
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Genesis Breyer P-Orridge
Lead vocalist of seminal industrial band Throbbing Gristle
Feb. 22, 1950 — March 14, 2020
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Suzy Delair
French star of music halls and midcentury films
Dec. 31, 1917 — March 15, 2020
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DJ Black N Mild
News Orleans bounce DJ and radio personality
1976 — March 19, 2020
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Aurlus Mabele
The Congolese king of soukous music
Oct. 26, 1953 — March 19, 2020
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Kenny Rogers
Aug. 21, 1938 — March 20, 2020
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Ray Mantilla
Percussionist and leader of bands that played “Latin Jazz with authentic Latino rhythms”
June 22, 1934 — March 21, 2020
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Mike Longo
Jazz pianist, composer, advocate and longtime associate of Dizzy Gillespie
March 19, 1937 — March 22, 2020
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Eric Weissberg
Banjo virtuoso known for the surprise hit song “Dueling Banjos”
Aug. 16, 1937 — March 22, 2020
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Nashom Wooden
Fixture of New York’s gay club scene, the drag queen known as Mona Foot
1969 — Mach 23, 2020
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Manu Dibango
Cameroonian saxophonist who brought African pop to the West
Dec. 12, 1933 — March 24, 2020
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Jan Howard
Country singer and songwriter, author and Grand Ole Opry mainstay
March 13, 1929 — March 28, 2020
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Krzysztof Penderecki
Prolific Polish composer best known for his work Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
Nov. 23, 1933 — March 29, 2020
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Joe Diffie
1990s country icon
Dec. 28, 1958 — March 29, 2020
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Bill Withers
Prolific, genre-defying singer-songwriter and bluesman
July 4, 1938 — March 30, 2020
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Alby Kass
Yiddish folk singer and community leader
1930 — March 31, 2020
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Wallace Roney
Trumpeter, bandleader at the forward edge of hard bop
May 25, 1960 — March 31, 2020
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Cristina
Self-aware pioneer of ’80s new wave aesthetics, excess and irony
Jan. 17, 1956 — March 31, 2020
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Ellis Marsalis
New Orleans jazz pianist, educator and patriarch of the Marsalis Jazz Family
Nov. 14, 1934 — April 1, 2020
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Bucky Pizzarelli
Prolific session guitarist, jazz legend
Jan. 9, 1926 — April 1, 2020
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Adam Schlesinger
Founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy and Tinted Windows and champion of power pop
Oct. 31, 1967 — April 1, 2020
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Onaje Allan Gumbs
Pianist whose playing spanned hard-bop and smooth jazz
Sept. 9, 1949 — April 6, 2020
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Eddy Davis
Banjo virtuoso and trad-jazz bandleader
Sept. 26, 1940 — April 7, 2020
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John Prine
Grammy-winning country singer-songwriter, recording artist, live performer and occasional actor who transformed Chicago’s folk scene
Oct. 10, 1946 — April 7, 2020
John Prine performs in California in 2014. CREDIT: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
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Hal Willner
Live event and record producer, curator of tributes and musical matchmaker
April 6, 1956 — April 7, 2020
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Chynna
Rising Philadelphia rapper
Aug. 19, 1994 — April 8, 2020
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Andy González
Double bassist who bridged the gap between Latin music and jazz
Jan. 1, 1951 — April 9, 2020
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Richard Teitelbaum
Experimental American composer and electronic musician
May 19, 1939 — April 9, 2020
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Jymie Merritt
American jazz double-bassist, electric-bass pioneer, band leader and composer
May 3, 1926 — April 10, 2020
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Professor Joe Torres
Pianist who played on many of salsa’s greatest hits
Nov. 29, 1943 — April 13, 2020
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Henry Grimes
Jazz bassist whose early promise was curtailed by a decades-long absence, before returning as an avant-garde hero
Nov. 3, 1935 — April 15, 2020
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Lee Konitz
Alto saxophonist, incorrigible jazz original and the last surviving player on Miles Davis’s Birth of the Cool
Oct. 13, 1927 — April 15, 2020
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Kenneth Gilbert
Canadian harpsichordist, organist and musicologist
Dec. 16, 1931 — April 16, 2020
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Giuseppi Logan
Iconclastic free-jazz multi-instrumentalist
May 22, 1935 — April 17, 2020
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Matthew Seligman
New wave bassist for The Soft Boys and David Bowie
July 14, 1955 — April 17, 2020
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Michael Cogswell
Sept. 30, 1953 — April 20, 2020
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Ronan O’Rahilly
Creator of offshore pirate rock station Radio Caroline
May 21, 1940 — April 20, 2020
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Florian Schneider
Kraftwerk cofounder and electronic music titan
April 7, 1947 — April 21, 2020
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Bootsie Barnes
Saxophonist, pillar of Philadelphia jazz
Nov. 27, 1937 — April 22, 2020
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Fred the Godson
Wordsmith from the Bronx and fixture of hip-hop radio
Jan. 1, 1985 — April 23, 2020
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Harold Reid
Co-founder of country music stalwarts the Statler Brothers
Aug. 21, 1939 — April 24, 2020
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Lynn Harrell
Cellist known as one of the most prominent American classical musicians of his generation
Jan. 30, 1944 — April 27, 2020
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Tony Allen
Master drummer and co-creator of Afrobeat
July 20, 1940 — April 30, 2020
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Richie Cole
Saxophonist who tirelessly tended a bebop flame
Feb. 29, 1948 — May 2, 2020
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Rosalind Elias
Mezzo-soprano who was a Met Opera mainstay and late-in-life Broadway star
Mach 13, 1930 — May 3, 2020
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Millie Small
Jamaican singer behind hit U.K. single “My Boy Lollipop”
Oct. 6, 1947 — May 5, 2020
Studio Portrait of pop singer Millie Small, April 14th 1964. CREDIT: Terry Fincher/Express/Getty Images
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Andre Harrell
Founder of Uptown Records, music executive who bridged the gap between hip-hop and R&B
Sept. 26, 1960 — May 7, 2020
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Little Richard
Rock and roll architect and auteur of outrageousness
Dec. 5, 1932 — May 9, 2020
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Betty Wright
Funk-soul-disco singer, songwriter and producer
Dec. 21, 1953 — May 10, 2020
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Astrid Kirchherr
Photographer and artist who helped shape The Beatles’ style
May 20, 1938 — May 12, 2020
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Phil May
Lead singer for the English rock band the Pretty Things
Nov. 9, 1944 — May 12, 2020
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Jorge Santana
Guitarist known for playing with Latin rock favorite Malo, the Fania All-Stars and his brother Carlos
June 13, 1951 — May 14, 2020
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Lucky Peterson
Bluesman who began as a child prodigy on organ, later adding electric guitar to his arsenal
Dec. 13, 1964 — May 17, 2020
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Mory Kanté
Guinean griot whose “Yeke Yeke” was the first African single to sell over 1 million copies
March 29, 1950 — May 22, 2020
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Jimmy Cobb
Paragon of modern jazz drumming, and the last surviving musician to play on Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue’
Jan. 20, 1929 — May 24, 2020
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Bucky Baxter
Steel guitarist known for his work with Steve Earle and as a member of Bob Dylan’s Never Ending Tour
1955 — May 25, 2020
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Joel Revzen
Met Opera staff conductor who also graced regional stages from the Berkshires to Prague
1945 — May 25, 2020
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Bonnie Pointer
Singer and songwriter, founding sibling of the Pointer Sisters
July 11, 1950 — June 8, 2020
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Vera Lynn
English vocalist known as the “Forces Sweetheart” during World War II
March 20, 1917 — June 18, 2020
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Huey
St. Louis “Pop, Lock & Drop It” rapper
Sept. 12, 1987 — June 25, 2020
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Freddy Cole
Casually debonair jazz singer and pianist who emerged from the shadow of his brother, Nat
Oct. 15, 1931 — June 27, 2020
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Johnny Mandel
Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer and songwriter
Nov. 23, 1925 — June 29, 2020
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Jordan Groggs
Rapper in the Arizona group Injury Reserve
1988 — June 29, 2020
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Ida Haendel
Polish-born child prodigy who flourished in adulthood as one of the few women concert violinists of her generation
Dec. 15, 1928 — July 1, 2020
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Nick Cordero
Tony-nominated multi-talent whose struggle with COVID-19 captured (and broke) America’s hearts
Sept. 17, 1978 — July 5, 2020
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Charlie Daniels
Country Music Hall of Fame fiddler and bandleader behind “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”
Oct. 28, 1936 — July 6, 2020
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Ennio Morricone
Italian composer who created the spaghetti Western sound
Nov. 10, 1928 — July 6, 2020
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Naya Rivera
Actor and singer known for the revolutionary role of Santana on the TV series Glee
Jan. 12, 1987 — July 8, 2020
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Eddie Gale
Trumpeter-bandleader who exemplified the spirit of an Afrocentric soul-jazz underground
Aug. 15, 1941 — July 10, 2020
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Patrick Ellis
“Gospel Spirit” host, longest running on-air personality in Washington radio history
May 30, 1943 — July 16, 2020
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Annie Ross
Jazz vocalese pioneer and member of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross
July 25, 1930 — July 21, 2020
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Peter Green
Blues rock singer and guitarist, founder of Fleetwood Mac
Oct. 29, 1946 — July 25, 2020
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Helen Jones Woods
Trombonist with the groundbreaking all-women big band The International Sweethearts of Rhythm
Oct. 9, 1923 — July 25, 2020
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Malik B.
Early member of The Roots
Nov. 14, 1972 — July 29, 2020
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Leon Fleisher
Exacting pianist who overcame injury through creative thinking and musical devotion
July 23, 1928 — Aug. 2, 2020
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Michael Peter Smith
Beloved Chicago-based singer-songwriter
Sept. 7, 1941 — Aug. 3, 2020
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Vern Rumsey
Founding Unwound member whose melodic bass lines rang with noise and distortion
Jan. 24, 1973 — Aug. 6, 2020
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Salome Bey
Singer and playwright known as Canada’s “first lady of the blues”
Oct. 10, 1933 — Aug. 8, 2020
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Trini Lopez
Boundary-breaking performer whose music connected the folk revival to Latin music and rock and roll
May 15, 1937 — Aug. 11, 2020
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Steve Grossman
Saxophonist who took John Coltrane’s lessons into new areas, including the jazz-rock of the 1970s
Jan. 18, 1951 — Aug. 13, 2020
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Willie Torres
Widely recorded salsa singer, best known as the voice of the groundbreaking Joe Cuba Sextet
Oct. 30, 1929 — Aug. 13, 2020
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Julian Bream
Classical guitarist and lutenist who expanded his instruments’ repertoire
July 15, 1933 — Aug. 14, 2020
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Justin Townes Earle
Millennial Americana music’s favorite son
Jan. 4, 1982 — Aug. 20, 2020
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Charli Persip
Pacesetting modern jazz drummer best known for his tenure with Dizzy Gillespie
July 26, 1929 — Aug. 23, 2020
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Riley Gale
Throat-shredding vocalist for the Texas-based metal band Power Trip
Feb. 5, 1985 — Aug. 24, 2020
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Gary Peacock
Bassist who straddled avant-garde and straight-ahead jazz, notably in a long association with Keith Jarrett
May 12, 1935 — Sept. 4, 2020
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Yen Yung-neng
Taiwanese singer and founder of the group Takao Run, which gave contemporary voice to his homeland’s rural traditions
Jan. 23, 1970 — Sept. 5, 2020
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Christiane Eda-Pierre
Martiniquan-French lyric coloratura who led the way in interpreting the music of Rameau and the French Baroque period
March 24, 1932 — Sept. 6, 2020
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Bruce Williamson Jr.
Gospel music prodigy who later sang with the Temptations
Sept. 29, 1970 — Sept. 6, 2020
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Simeon Coxe
The synthesizer half of the innovative electronic music duo Silver Apples
June 4, 1938 — Sept. 8, 2020
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Ronald Khalis Bell
Founding member of Kool & the Gang
Nov. 1, 1951 — Sept. 9, 2020
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Toots Hibbert
Soulful singer, songwriter and patriarch of reggae music
Dec. 8, 1942 — Sept. 11, 2020
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Stanley Crouch
Iconoclastic cultural critic and jazz champion
Dec. 14, 1945 — Sept. 16, 2020
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Gaetano “Tommy” DeVito
Founding member, vocalist and lead guitarist of rock band the Four Seasons
June 19, 1928 — Sept. 21, 2020
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Roy Head
Pioneering rock and roll wild man
Jan. 9, 1941 — Sept. 21, 2020
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Jacques-Louis Monod
French composer, conductor and pianist who furthered the ideas of the 20th century avant-garde
Feb. 25, 1927 — Sept. 21, 2020
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Ira Sullivan
Chicago jazz hero who distinguished himself on both trumpet and saxophone
May 1, 1931 — Sept. 21, 2020
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Juliette Greco
Vocalist and standard-bearer for chanson Francaise
Feb. 7, 1927 — Sept. 23, 2020
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Maynard Solomon
Musicologist, critically acclaimed biographer and co-founder of Vanguard Records
Jan. 5, 1930 — Sept. 28, 2020
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Mac Davis
Texan singer-songwriter who helped define crossover country music
Jan 21, 1942 — Sept. 29, 2020
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Helen Reddy
Singer behind ’70s feminist anthem “I Am Woman”
Oct. 25, 1941 — Sept. 29, 2020
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Johnny Nash
Reggae-soul artist whose song “I Can See Clearly Now” is an enduring signifier of optimism
Aug. 19, 1940 — Oct. 6, 2020
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Eddie Van Halen
Heavy metal’s most congenial guitar god
Jan. 26, 1955 — Oct. 6, 2020
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Mohammad Reza Shajarian
Master of traditional Persian music, vocalist widely considered one of the greatest Iranian artists of all time
Sept. 23, 1940 — Oct. 8, 2020
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Jon Gibson
Minimalist composer, founding member of the Philip Glass Ensemble
March 11, 1940 — Oct. 11, 2020
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Toshinori Kondo
Japanese trumpeter whose output spanned abrasive experimentalism and coolly ambient music
Dec. 15, 1948 — Oct. 17, 2020
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Jose Padilla
Ambient music producer, best known for his DJ work in the Café del Mar bar on the island of Ibiza
Dec. 4, 1955 — Oct. 18, 2020
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Spencer Davis
Founder of British rock band The Spencer Davis Group
July 17, 1939 — Oct. 19, 2020
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Viola Smith
One of the first professional female drummers, known for her five-decade career in orchestras, swing bands and popular music
Nov. 29, 1912 — Oct. 21, 2020
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Jerry Jeff Walker
Leading figure in the outlaw country music movement, writer behind 1968 hit song “Mr. Bojangles”
March 16, 1942 — Oct. 23, 2020
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Billy Joe Shaver
Endorsed as the greatest country music songwriter by Willie Nelson
Aug. 16, 1939 — Oct. 28, 2020
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Baron Wolman
Rolling Stone magazine’s first chief photographer
June 25, 1937 — Nov. 2, 2020
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King Von
Emerging rapper best known for his contributions to Chicago’s drill scene and sinister hit “Took Her to the O”
Aug. 9, 1994 — Nov. 6, 2020
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Cándido Camero
Pioneer of Afro-Cuban jazz and innovator of conga drumming
April 22, 1921 — Nov. 7, 2020
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Hal Ketchum
Rock-wise ’90s country hitmaker
April 9, 1953 — Nov. 23, 2020
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LD Beghtol
Bon vivant and collaborator with Magnetic Fields
1964 — Dec. 7, 2020
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Harold Budd
Pianist and composer of minimalist, meditational music
May 24, 1936 — Dec. 8, 2020
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Sean Malone
Longtime bassist for metal band Cynic, as well as a Glenn Gould scholar
Jan. 1, 1970 — Dec. 9, 2020
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Charley Pride
The first Black country music superstar
March 18, 1934 — Dec. 12, 2020
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“Blue” Gene Tyranny
Pianist and composer equally at home in the avant-garde and rock and roll
Jan. 1, 1945 — Dec. 12, 2020
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Pauline Anna Strom
Blind composer who surfed celestial skywaves with synths
1946 — 2020
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Sam Jayne
Founder of favorite Pacific Northwest bands Love as Laughter and Lync
1974 — Dec. 18, 2020
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K.T. Oslin
Midlife country music success story who spoke for ladies of the ’80s
May 15, 1942 — Dec. 21, 2020
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Leslie West
Mountain bandleader whose earthshaking guitar sound inspired many a metal player
Oct. 22, 1945 — Dec. 22, 2020
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John “Ecstasy” Fletcher
Charismatic Whodini MC, brought flair and sexiness to early rap
June 7, 1964 — Dec. 23, 2020
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Rebecca Luker
Crystalline-voiced star of many Broadway revivals including The Sound of Music and The Music Man
April 17, 1961 — Dec. 23, 2020
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Tony Rice
Acoustic guitarist, singer and bluegrass paradigm shifter
June 8, 1951 — Dec. 25, 2020
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Armando Manzanero
Composer and performer known as “the romantic soul of Mexico”
Dec. 7, 1935 — Dec. 28, 2020
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Claude Bolling
French pianist, composer and big band leader
April 10, 1930 — Dec. 29, 2020
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Frank Kimbrough
Pianist and educator with a distinguished solo career, and a longtime member of the Maria Schneider Orchestra
Nov. 2, 1956 — Dec. 30, 2020
