Farewell
Below are brief tributes to some recent losses from across the world of music
Tony Rivers
Born: 21 December, 1940
Died: 30 March, 2026
Keith Altham
Born: 8 May, 1941
Died: 29 March, 2026
Chip Taylor
Born: 21 March, 1940
Died: 23 March, 2026
Dolores Keane
Born: 26 September, 1953
Died: 16 March, 2026
Country Joe McDonald
Born: 1 January, 1942
Died: 7 March, 2026
Mike Vernon
Born: 20 November, 1944
Died: 2 March, 2026
Len Garry, The Quarrymen
Born: 6 January, 1942
Died: 2 March, 2026
Neil Sedaka
Born: 13 March, 1939
Died: 27 February, 2026
Pete Dello
Born: 26 May, 1942
Died: 21 February, 2026
Billy Steinberg
Born: 26 February, 1950
Died: 16 February, 2026
He was a member of Billy Thermal, an 80s group that found success writing songs for other artistes, such as Linda Ronstadt and Pat Benatar. In 1981 he started writing with Tom Kelly, a session singer and musician who had also written for Pat Benatar. They hit paydirt with Like A Virgin recorded by Madonna; they had five Billboard #1s, and many other hits. After Kelly retired in the mid-90s, Steinberg wrote with new partners, and for new acts, including Celine Dion, The Corrs and Melanie C. His last hit record was written in 2016.
Andrew Ranken
Born: 13 November, 1953
Died: 10 February, 2026
He joined The Pogues in early 1983, and was ever-present in both their original incarnation, till 1996, and in the reunited line-up, 2001 to 2014. Credited as "The Clobberer" on their debut album, he was restricted initially to a minimalist kit of a tom-tom and a snare; cymbal effects were produced by hitting a saucepan. After The Pogues he formed Mysterious Wheels with the brothers of his late partner Deborah. After his own final illness had been diagnosed, Mysterious Wheels recorded a charity single Take Me Down to St Joe's in support of St Joseph's Hospice in Hackney.
Sly Dunbar
Born: 10 May, 1952
Died: 26 January, 2026
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Ralph Towner
Born: 1 March, 1940
Died: 18 January, 2026
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Bob Weir
Born: 16 October, 1947
Died: 10 January, 2026
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Perry Bamonte
Born: 3 September, 1960
Died: 25 December, 2025
Through his brother he got a job in The Cure's road crew in 1984, graduating to become Robert Smith's guitar tech and PA. While doing this, Smith's sister Janet taught him piano and keyboards. When Roger O'Donnell left in 1990, Bamonte replaced him, playing guitar as well as keyboards. When Pearl Thompson left, and O'Donnell returned, Bamonte became more focused on the guitar. In 2005 both he and O'Donnell were sacked in one of Smith's regular purgings of the group. He then took time out, working as an illustrator, going fly fishing, and helping his wife with her equine business. He returned to music in 2012 as the bassist with the supergroup Love Amongst Ruin, and then he rejoined The Cure in 2022 as a touring member.
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Chris Rea
Born: 4 March, 1951
Died: 22 December, 2025
Late to music, he didn't own a guitar till he was in his twenties, and then he just wanted to play slide guitar. His first big hit, Fool (If You Think It's Over), is the only one of his tracks on which he didn't play guitar, but it categorised him for many as a Billy Joel-type pianoman. It was a bigger hit in the US and Canada than it was in the UK. He was also big in Europe before he was in the UK. The Road To Hell, his tenth studio album in 1989, finally gave him a UK #1. Julia, his last Top Ten single in the UK (until Driving Home For Christmas charted in 2021) came in 1993. From 1994 onwards he endured a catalogue of illnesses, with occasional periods of recovery. He finished touring in 2017, but continued to release music, recorded earlier in his life.
He wasn't a rock star - he was much more, his hinterland was vast. He intended to be a journalist, not a musician. He loved fast cars, he was an accomplished film-maker, and a leading actor. He loved painting, and was as much a poet as a musician. He was definitely from, and of, Middlesbrough, and he was married to Joan, whom he met as a teenager, till his death.
It was ironic that he died as the time of year when he was most played, as we all drove home for Christmas.
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Joe Ely
Born: 9 February, 1947
Died: 15 December, 2025
A tough Texas upbringing didn't stop, and maybe helped, him learn violin and guitar, and opt for a (initially) precarious living as a musician. His first group, The Flatlanders, was based in Lubbock, TX but after it broke up he followed a largely solo, but collaborative, career (save for Flatlanders' reunions). Although identified with "progressive country", he was no prisoner of genre boundaries, and famously collaborated with The Clash. He also toured with big names from rock (The Rolling Stones, Springsteen). He released studio and live albums regularly up to 2015, and The Flatlanders' last album, Treasure of Love was released in 2021.
Steve Cropper
Born: 21 October, 1941
Died: 3 December, 2025
His early bands evolved into the Stax Records house band, based in Memphis, where a multi-racial band was not the norm. Cropper later became the label's A&R man. The house band played on many songs released by Stax (such as "Dock of the Bay" and "Soul Man"), but also, as Booker T and the M.G.s, released their own records - "Green Onions" etc. He left Stax in 1970, relocated to LA and set up his own label. He joined a reformed M.G.'s; then he joined the Blue Brothers Band (appearing in the 1980 film). Later he moved to Nashville, and joined a reformed Blues Brothers Band. The rest of his long career was a mixture of recording, producing and touring, playing with anyone and everyone who played guitar, most of whom he had influenced.
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Jimmy Cliff
Born: 30 July, 1944
Died: 24 November, 2025
The second Jamaican in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he did as much as the first one (Bob Marley) to popularise reggae internationally. He just did it a different way, often arranging pop and mainstream hits in a reggae version, and appearing in films. A songwriter, he was famously covered by Springsteen (""Trapped") and John Lennon ("Many Rivers To Cross"), but his own versions of his own songs are what we will remember - "You Can Get It If You Really Want It" and "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" are the ones I think of when I think of him.
Gary 'Mani' Mounfield
Born: 16 November, 1962
Died: 20 November, 2025
Not only the bassist in the Stone Roses, but also in Primal Scream. He joined the Roses after a chance meeting in Manchester with the rest of the band (he had already worked with John Squire). His rhythmic bass lines became an integral part of the Roses' distinctive sound (sort of acid meets rave meets harmonious folk-rock) that made the band the Madchester band. A happy person, with a passion for Man U (his dad had been a chef for the team), he is gone way too soon.
Gilson Lavis
Born: 27 June, 1951
Died: 5 November, 2025
Not a great picture - apologies - but it puts Gilson where he was always happiest, on the drums and holding the whole thing together. Initially a session and pick-up drummer, he was the drummer with Squeeze twice (1976 - 82, 1985 - 92), with his alcoholism causing both departures. Retreating to Lincolnshire he got sober, became a portrait artist (mainly of music celebrities) and was lured out of retirement by Jools Holland, in whose Rhythm & Blues Orchestra he played for 30 years till retiring last year
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Lô Borges
Born: 10 January, 1952
Died: 2 November, 2025
Not someone I had heard of till last week, so thanks to my cousin Lance in Vancouver for pointing me to the obituary in The Guardian (and, of course, to his music). A Brazilian guitarist and songwriter, he was a founder of Clube da Esquina, a group of musicians from the state of Minas Gerais. He co-authored the eponymous album in 1972 with Milton Nascimento. His compositions were widely recorded in Brazil - and he was even cited as an influence by Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys.
Donna Jean Godchaux
Born: 22 August, 1947
Died: 2 November, 2025
A session singer at the FAME studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, with credits on at least two #1 singles, she moved to California, married, and with her husband Keith joined the Grateful Dead, where Keith filled the gap left by Tom Constanten and Pigpen. The only woman ever to be a member of the Dead, she and Keith were with the band from 1972 to 1979, when their increasingly fractious marriage became too much for the band to stand. Keith died in a car crash in 1980. Donna remarried, started her own band, and remained part of the Dead's network of spin-off bands; she also worked on a number of the Dead's archival projects.
Photo credits
Andrew Ranken, Redadeg, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Perry Bamonte, Chris “BuB” Cardi, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Chris Rea, Alexandre Boucher, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Joe Ely, Ron Baker (https://www.flickr.com/photos/kingsnake), CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Steve Cropper, Alberto Cabello, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Jimmy Cliff, Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Gary Mounfield, public domain, donated by author Katherine Barton, as edited by Gaz Davidson
Gilson Lavis, CC BY-SA 3.0,author Threefoursixninefour at English Wikipedia, extracted from another file: Sam Brown 2006.jpg
Lô Borges, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, author Selphox
Donna Jean Godchaux, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic, author Matt Tillett
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Page last updated 7 April 2026