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Here are some of the musicians and singers who left us in 2025. Check my blog for entries on several of these artists.
Wayne Osmond – Second oldest of the singing Osmond Brothers, Wayne played guitar, drums and sang in the bubblegum rock band. While brother Donny stole the spotlight, Wayne handled the vocal arrangements for the group. He died of a stroke at the age of 73.
Peter Yarrow – Yarrow rose to fame as part of the 60s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. He played acoustic guitar and co-wrote their best known hit, Puff the Magic Dragon. Their version of Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind was the most famous, winning the trio two Grammy awards. He was 86 years old when he died of bladder cancer.
Sam Moore – Moore was the tenor voice of the soul music duo Sam and Dave. Their 1967 hit Soul Man made Rolling Stone’s Greatest Songs of All Time list in 2004 and 2010, and they won a Grammy award for Best Performance – Rhythm & Blues Group. Their first R&B #1 hit was Hold On, I’m Comin’. The eponymous album topped the R&B album chart for 19 weeks. Moore died following surgery at the age of 89. His obituary noted that he was survived by his wife and by his “14 or 15 children by different women.”
Marianne Faithfull – Faithfull was one of the leading women artists of the British Invasion in the 60s. Her romantic relationship with Mick Jagger from 1966 to 1970 kept her in the spotlight. Her biggest hit was As Tears Go By, co-written by Jagger (her version was released a year prior to the version by the Rolling Stones). She released 22 studio albums, with the most recent in 2021. She also was a successful actress in theater, television and film. Rolling Stone ranked her at #173 on their list of the Greatest Singers of All Time. Faithfull was 78 years old when she passed away.
Roberta Flack – Jazz/soul/R&B singer and pianist, Flack was the first person to win the Grammy award for Record of the Year in two consecutive years, for The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and Killing Me Softly With His Song, in 1973 and 1974. In addition to winning four Grammy awards, she was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 2020. She died of cardiac arrest at the age of 88.
Robert John – Born Robert John Pedrick, John was best known for his #1 hit single Sad Eyes in 1979. He also had a #3 hit in 1972 with a cover of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. He died at 79 years old after a stroke several years earlier.
Roy Ayers – Ayers was an innovator of the jazz-funk sound in the 70s, known as the Godfather of New-Soul. He performed on the vibraphone and keyboards. He released 33 studio albums, either as Roy Ayers or as Roy Ayers Ubiquity. His music was frequently sampled by rap artists – his song Everybody Loves the Sunshine has been sampled nearly 200 times. He was 84 when he died after a long illness.
Rick Derringer – Guitarist born Richard Zehringer, he was a founder of the 60s band The McCoys and later had success as a solo artist and a session musician with many artists in the 70s and 80s, including Edgar Winter, Steely Dan, Cyndi Lauper and Weird Al Yankovic. He was the producer and guitarist on Yankovic’s Grammy winning song Eat It. The McCoys had a #1 hit with Hang On Sloopy in 1965. His only top 40 hit as a solo artist was 1973’s Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo. He died at 77 years old.
Jesse Colin Young – Country/Folk rock musician, singer and songwriter, Young was born Perry Miller. In his early 20s, he created his stage name by blending the names of outlaws Jesse James and Cole Younger, along with Formula One team owner Colin Chapman. Young was a founding member of the 60s band the Youngbloods and afterwards he released 17 solo albums. He was 83 years old at his death.
Sly Stone – Funk and soul pioneer Stone was born Sylvester Stewart. He was the frontman of the psychedelic rock and soul band Sly and the Family Stone, performing at Woodstock in 1969. The band had three platinum selling albums in the late 60s and early 70s, and three singles that topped the Billboard 100 – Everyday People, Thank You (Falettin Be Mice Elf Agin) and Family Affair. He was notorious for his drug abuse and erratic behavior. In 1993, the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2017 Stone received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement award. He was 82 years old when he died of COPD.
Brian Wilson – co-founder and leader of the Beach Boys, Wilson was one of the most significant musical figures of the 60s. By the mid 60s, he had co-written and produced over 25 hits, including four songs that topped the Billboard 100 chart – Surf City, I Get Around, Help Me Rhonda and Good Vibrations. The group’s 1966 concept album Pet Sounds, produced, arranged and primarily written by Wilson, is ranked at #2 on Rolling Stone’s Greatest Albums of All Time list. Wilson received two Grammy awards, a Kennedy Center Honor award and he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. He died at age 82 of respiratory arrest.
Bobby Sherman – Sherman was a teen idol in the 60s and early 70s, singing bubblegum hit songs like Little Woman, Easy Come, Easy Go and Julie, Do Ya Love Me. His good looks and popularity with young girls landed him many acting roles, including a recurring role in the television show Here Come the Brides. In 1974, after playing a medic on an episode of the television show Emergency!, he found a new calling, and he became a paramedic. Sherman died at the age of 81 of kidney cancer.
Connie Francis – Born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, her songs sold over 200 million records, primarily in the late 50s and early 60s. She was the first woman to have a #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 with Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool in 1960. She was the first woman to have three #1 songs – My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own and Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You also topped the chart. She recorded many of her songs in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Yiddish and Japanese in addition to English, making her a popular artist internationally. She died of pneumonia at the age of 87.
Chuck Mangione – Flugelhornist and composer Mangione rose to prominence as a member of Art Blakely’s jazz band in the 60s. By the 70s, he fronted his own jazz group, and he had a rare instrumental hit when Feels So Good reached #4 on the Hot 100 chart in 1978. The album of the same name reached #2 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and was certified 2x platinum. He won two Grammy awards in his career. He died in his sleep at 84 years old.
Ozzy Osbourne – Frontman for the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, his leadership in the group established heavy metal as a rock music genre. After contributing to nine Black Sabbath albums, he released 13 solo studio albums beginning in 1980. Eight of the albums were certified platinum, with seven reaching multiplatinum status. Eight singles reached the top of various US Billboard charts. Later in his career, he became a media icon with his reality television series The Osbournes. He also achieved success as the force behind the annual music festival Ozzfest, which ran from 1996 to 2010. He won five Grammy awards and he was inducted twice into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – in 2006 as a member of Black Sabbath and in 2024 for his solo career. At the age of 76, he died of a heart attack.
Jeannie Seely – Seely was a country singer who’s biggest claim to fame was her involvement with the Grand Ole Opry – she performed on the Opry stage 5,397 times, more than any other artist in Opry history. Her first appearance was in 1966, and she was a member for 57 years. She won a Grammy award in 1967 for her song Don’t Touch Me. Her final performance on the Opry stage was February 22 2025 – she died five months later of an intestinal infection.
Rick Davies – Co-founder of the progressive rock band Supertramp, Davies shared lead vocals and songwriting with Roger Hodgson during the band’s successful string of albums in the 70s and early 80s. Their Breakfast In America album topped the album chart in 1979 and was certified 4x platinum, and their biggest hit was The Logical Song from that album. He was 81 when he died of multiple myeloma.
John Lodge – Lodge was the bassist, vocalist and songwriter for the progressive rock bank the Moody Blues. He wrote two of the group’s biggest hits – Ride My See-Saw in 1968 and I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock and Roll Band) in 1973. In 2018, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the band. He died unexpectedly at the age of 82.
D’Angelo – Born Michael Archer, D’Angelo was considered a pioneer in the neo-soul movement in the 90s. Billboard named him one of the greatest R&B artists of all time, and Rolling Stone included him in their list of the Greatest Singers of All Time. His Voodoo album in 2000 is ranked #28 on Rolling Stone’s GOAT albums list. He won two Grammy awards in 2001 and two more in 2016. He only released three studio albums – two of them won Grammys (Voodoo and Black Messiah). He was 51 years old when he died of pancreatic cancer.
Ace Frehley – A founding member and original lead guitarist for the band KISS, Frehley’s persona in the group was the Spaceman (Space Ace). He was a member of the group from 1973 to 1982, and then rejoined in 1996, remaining with the band until 2002. He contributed songwriting and occasional vocals for the band. He also released eight studio albums as a solo artist. Guitar World ranks him among the greatest metal guitarists of all time. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of KISS in 2014. After falling down a flight of stairs, he died of brain bleeding at the age of 74.
Jimmy Cliff – Born James Chambers, Cliff was a Jamaican reggae and ska musician, one of Jamaica’s most celebrated artists. He was widely credited for bringing reggae music into the mainstream. In 1972, he was the star of the film The Harder They Fall, a Jamaican crime film that was famous for its reggae soundtrack that was said to have brought reggae to the world. Cliff contributed six songs to the soundtrack. In 2021, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Recording Registry. He won two Grammy awards for Best Reggae Album (Rebirth, in 2013) and Best Reggae Recording (Cliff Hanger, in 1986). He died of pneumonia at the age of 81.
Gone…but not forgotten. Here’s the iconic Beach Boys anthem, Good Vibrations. Enjoy!