The Musicians We Misplaced : NPR

If you learn these names of musicians, producers, visible artists and writers who died in 2023, your coronary heart could also be full of sorrow and unhappiness. In any case, music affords us alternatives to each dream outdoors of and root your self in actuality. After we lose artists who mirror and refract myriad variations of ourselves and the world we all know and aspire to be, it may well really feel unattainable to think about a world with out their musical steering.

But it is also a second to rejoice — not simply their affect on tradition writ massive but additionally inside ourselves. This 12 months, we misplaced icons, rock pioneers, hip-hop trailblazers, jazz legends and prolific composers throughout pop and classical music. Carry up their names and play their music or bear in mind their contributions to our every day lives. (Our colleagues at NPR’s Tradition Desk additionally supply up their very own tribute.) What follows is a memorial to them, listed under in chronological order by the date they left us.

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Gangsta Boo

One of many South’s premiere crunk MCs, who bought her begin in Three 6 Mafia and collaborated with OutKast, Run the Jewels and Blood Orange

Aug. 7, 1979 — Jan. 1, 2023

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Fred White

Drummer for the era-defining, genre-defying band Earth, Wind & Hearth

Jan. 13, 1955 — Jan. 1, 2023

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Alan Rankine

Scottish musician who co-founded The Associates and produced data for Cocteau Twins and Paul Haig

Could 17, 1958 — Jan. 3, 2023

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Justin Bartlett

Illustrator of metallic album covers, whose pen favored intricately grotesque terror

Could 27, 1977 — Jan. 9, 2023

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Jeff Beck

Guitar virtuoso limitless by style who nonetheless at all times seemed like himself

June 24, 1944 — Jan. 10, 2023

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Yukihiro Takahashi

Drummer and singer for the trailblazing synth-pop group Yellow Magic Orchestra

June 6, 1952 — Jan. 11, 2023

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Lisa Marie Presley

Daughter of Elvis Presley, caretaker of his legacy and a singer-songwriter in her personal proper

Feb. 1, 1968 — Jan. 12, 2023

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Robbie Bachman

Drummer and co-founder of Canadian rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive

Feb. 18, 1953 — Jan. 12, 2023

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Bruce Gowers

TV director whose credit embrace American Idol, the MTV Video Music Awards and the music video for Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”

Dec. 21, 1940 — Jan. 15, 2023

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David Crosby

A outstanding determine of the free-spirited Seventies Laurel Canyon scene and co-founder of Crosby, Stills & Nash

Aug. 14, 1941 — Jan. 18, 2023

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Van Conner

Bassist and co-founder of the grunge luminaries Screaming Bushes

March 17, 1967 — Jan. 18, 2023

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Tom Verlaine

Tv’s restlessly revolutionary guitarist and a founding father of American punk

Dec. 13, 1949 — Jan. 28, 2023

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Barrett Sturdy

Motown songwriter behind “I Heard it By way of the Grapevine” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” plus the singer of the label’s very first hit, “Cash (That is What I Need)”

Feb. 5, 1941 — Jan. 29, 2023

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Charlie Thomas

Member of The Drifters, an R&B group identified for hits “Underneath the Boardwalk” and “Save the Final Dance for Me”

April 7, 1937 — Jan. 31, 2023

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Steve Sostak

Saxophonist, singer and co-founder of the art-punk band Sweep the Leg Johnny

Could 18, 1973 — Feb. 4, 2023

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Burt Bacharach

Visionary pop composer behind an astonishing catalog of hit songs

Could 12, 1928 — Feb. 8, 2023

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Lewis Spratlan

American composer who gained the Pulitzer Prize in music for a live performance model of the opera Life is a Dream

Sept. 5, 1940 — Feb. 9, 2023

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Trugoy the Dove

The irrepressible id of De La Soul

Sept. 21, 1968 — Feb. 12, 2023

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Huey “Piano” Smith

New Orleans R&B pianist and songwriter who influenced early rock and roll

Jan. 26, 1934 — Feb. 13, 2023

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Tim Aymar

Heavy metallic singer for Pharaoh and Chuck Schuldiner’s Management Denied

Sept. 4, 1963 — Feb. 13, 2023

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Tom Whitlock

Co-writer of Prime Gun‘s inescapable soundtrack hits “Hazard Zone” and “Take My Breath Away”

Feb. 20, 1954 — Feb. 28, 2023

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Steve Mackey

Pulp bassist who produced music for the likes of M.I.A., Florence + the Machine and Marianne Faithfull

Nov. 10, 1966 — March 2, 2023

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Wayne Shorter

Saxophonist, composer and creator of one of many singular sounds within the final century of jazz

Aug. 25, 1933 — March 2, 2023

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David Lindley

Los Angeles session guitarist and musician’s musician who performed with Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Rod Stewart

March 21, 1944 — March 3, 2023

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Glen “Spot” Lockett

Black Flag, Minutemen and Hüsker Dü trusted the document producer to seize their punk rock depth and urgency

July 1, 1951 — March 4, 2023

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Gary Rossington

The final surviving unique member of Lynyrd Skynyrd

Dec. 4, 1951 — March 5, 2023

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Topol

Israeli singer and actor who mastered the function of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof on stage and display screen

Sept. 9, 1935 — March 8, 2023

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Jerry Samuels

Singer and songwriter behind Napoleon XIV’s novelty hit “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!”

Could 3, 1938 — March 10, 2023

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Jim Gordon

Session drummer for Eric Clapton and The Seashore Boys, later convicted of killing his mom

July 14, 1945 — March 13, 2023

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Bobby Caldwell

R&B singer-songwriter who gave us the deeply soulful “What You Will not Do for Love”

Aug. 15, 1951 — March 14, 2023

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Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins

Singer in George Clinton’s doo-wop group The Parliaments, which mutated into the revolutionary Parliament-Funkadelic

June 8, 1941 — March 16, 2023

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Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou

Nonagenarian nun who composed superbly complicated music for piano that drew on honky tonk, classical music and her personal Ethiopian heritage

Dec. 12, 1923 — March 25, 2023

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Ryuichi Sakamoto

From synth-pop pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra to high-profile movie scores and ambient masterpieces, a refined curiosity elevated the whole lot within the Japanese composer’s work

Jan. 17, 1952 — March 28, 2023

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Brian “Brizz” Gillis

Singer for late-’90s pop group LFO

Jan. 19, 1975 — March 29, 2023

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Seymour Stein

Famed music govt and tastemaker who co-founded Sire Information

April 18, 1942 — April 2, 2023

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Vivian Trimble

Keyboardist and founding member of the irrepressibly cool Luscious Jackson

Could 24, 1963 — April 4, 2023

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Paul Cattermole

Singer for British pop group S Membership 7

March 7, 1977 — April 6, 2023

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Lasse Wellander

Guitarist for Swedish pop group ABBA

June 18, 1952 — April 7, 2023

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Kidd Jordan

Avant-garde jazz saxophonist, educator and patriarch of New Orleans music

Could 5, 1935 — April 7, 2023

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Karl Berger

German-born musician whose vibraphone and piano explored American free jazz with Don Cherry, Dave Holland and Ornette Coleman

March 30, 1935 — April 9, 2023

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Jah Shaka

Jamaican dub and reggae pioneer who introduced soundsystem tradition to London

c. 1948-1954 — April 12, 2023

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Ahmad Jamal

A measured maestro of the jazz piano

July 2, 1930 — April 16, 2023

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Ivan Conti

Brazilian percussionist and co-founder of the jazz-funk band Azymuth

Aug. 16, 1946 — April 17, 2023

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Mark Stewart

Singer for the experimental English post-punk band The Pop Group

Aug. 10, 1960 — April 21, 2023

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Harry Belafonte

Singer and actor who broke racial limitations and balanced activism with artistry in ways in which made individuals world wide pay attention

March 1, 1927 — April 25, 2023

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Billy “The Child” Emerson

Early rock and roll singer

Dec. 21, 1925 — April 25, 2023

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Don Sebesky

Composer and arranger who labored with Wes Montgomery, Frank Sinatra and Cyndi Lauper

Dec. 10, 1937 — April 29, 2023

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Gordon Lightfoot

Canadian folk-rock songwriter who explored loss, longing and nostalgia in songs like “If You Might Learn My Thoughts” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”

Nov. 11, 1938 — Could 1, 2023

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Linda Lewis

British soul singer who additionally labored as a backing vocalist for David Bowie

Sept. 27, 1950 — Could 3, 2023

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Rob Laakso

Guitarist for Swirlies and Kurt Vile & The Violators

1979 — Could 4, 2023

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Chris Strachwitz

Founding father of the regional and roots music label Arhoolie Information

July 1, 1931 — Could 5, 2023

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Menahem Pressler

Pianist and co-founder of the Beaux Arts Trio

Dec. 16, 1923 — Could 6, 2023

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Frank Kozik

Darkly humorous illustrator whose work was plastered on live performance posters and album covers for Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age and The Offspring

Jan. 9, 1962 — Could 6, 2023

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Grace Bumbry

Trailblazing opera star who broke the colour barrier as the primary Black artist to carry out at Germany’s Bayreuth Pageant

Jan 4, 1937 — Could 7, 2023

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Rita Lee

Brazil’s Queen of Rock was the madcap factor in Os Mutantes and a necessary character within the Tropicália motion

Dec. 31, 1947 — Could 8, 2023

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Andy Rourke

The bassist crafted propulsive traces that brimmed with melody in The Smiths

Jan. 17, 1964 — Could 19, 2023

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Pete Brown

British Beat poet who wrote lyrics for Cream

Dec. 25, 1940 — Could 19, 2023

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Chas Newby

Bassist who performed — briefly — with The Beatles

June 18, 1941 — Could 22, 2023

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Tina Turner

A soul and rock icon identified for her octave-defying voice and mesmerizing stage strikes

Nov. 26, 1939 — Could 24, 2023

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Invoice Lee

Bassist and composer who scored his son Spike Lee’s early movies

July 23, 1928 — Could 24, 2023

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Jack Lee

Frontman for power-pop band The Nerves who wrote “Hanging on the Phone,” popularized by Blondie

March 25, 1952 — Could 26, 2023

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Reuben Wilson

Organist who helped usher in soul jazz

April 9, 1935 — Could 26, 2023

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Cynthia Weil

Brill Constructing lyricist who helped write “You have Misplaced That Lovin’ Feeling” and “On Broadway”

Oct. 18, 1940 — June 1, 2023

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Kaija Saariaho

Finnish composer who provided a dazzling palette of colours in her music

Oct. 14, 1952 — June 2, 2023

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George Winston

Pianist of pastoral scenes whose albums with Windham Hill Information helped popularize new age music

Feb. 11, 1949 — June 4, 2023

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Astrud Gilberto

Breathy Brazilian singer who turned “The Lady from Ipanema” right into a international sensation

March 29, 1940 — June 5, 2023

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Blackie Onassis

Drummer for the punked-up stadium rockers Urge Overkill

Aug. 27, 1965 — June 13, 2023

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Massive Pokey

Rapper and member of Houston’s Screwed Up Click on

Nov. 29, 1974 — June 18, 2023

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Teresa Taylor

Drummer for Butthole Surfers who had a memorable function in Richard Linklater’s 1990 movie Slackers

Nov. 10, 1962 — June 18, 2023

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John Waddington

Co-founding guitarist of The Pop Group

Jan. 1, 1960 — June 20, 2023

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Peter Brötzmann

German saxophonist whose brash, tempestuous outpourings set an imposing customary totally free improvisation

March 6, 1941 — June 22, 2023

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Sheldon Harnick

Broadway lyricist who wrote Fiddler on the Roof

April 30, 1924 — June 23, 2023

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Bobby Osborne

Mandolinist who expanded the concept of bluegrass within the Osborne Brothers

Dec. 7, 1931 — June 27, 2023

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Rick Froberg

Snarling vocalist and guitarist of beloved punk bands Drive Like Jehu, Scorching Snakes and Pitchfork

Jan. 19, 1968 — June 30, 2023

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CoCo Lee

Chinese language pop star, the lead within the Mandarin model of Disney’s Mulan and singer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon‘s hovering love theme

Jan. 17, 1975 — July 5, 2023

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Peter Nero

Live performance pianist and conductor of the Philly Pops

Could 22, 1934 — July 6, 2023

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André Watts

Live performance pianist with an old-school Romantic virtuosity who was a guiding gentle for younger, Black classical musicians

June 20, 1946 — July 12, 2023

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Jane Birkin

English born, French-raised actress, icon and singer whose breathy hit “Je t’aime… moi non plus” with Serge Gainsbourg was banned from radio play in a number of nations

Dec. 14, 1946 — July 16, 2023

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João Donato

Brazilian pianist and early architect of bossa nova

Aug. 17, 1934 — July 17, 2023

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Tony Bennett

Timeless crooner whose voice epitomized the American Songbook

Aug. 3, 1926 — July 21, 2023

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Leny Andrade

The first woman of Brazilian jazz was a samba-driven improviser and a consummate nightclub artist

Jan. 25, 1943 — July 24, 2023

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Sinéad O’Connor

Irish singer whose life and howling music had been dedicated to dissent, discontent and refusal in opposition to institution evils

Dec. 8, 1966 — July 26, 2023

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Randy Meisner

Bassist and founding member of the Eagles

March 8, 1946 — July 25, 2023

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Erkin Koray

Guitarist who blended psychedelic rock with Turkish melodies

June 24, 1941 — Aug. 7, 2023

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DJ Casper

Creator of the “Cha Cha Slide“

Could 31, 1965 — Aug. 7, 2023

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Sixto Rodriguez

Detroit singer-songwriter catapulted to sudden fame late in life, first in South Africa, after which world wide following the documentary Trying to find Sugar Man

July 10, 1942 — Aug. 8, 2023

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Jamie Reid

Visible artist who designed iconic cowl artwork for Intercourse Pistols data

Jan. 16, 1947 — Aug. 8, 2023

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Robbie Robertson

Lead guitarist and the first songwriter for The Band, who helped to set up the blueprint for Americana

July 5, 1943 — Aug. 9, 2023

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Clarence Avant

Music govt and movie producer who boosted the careers of Invoice Withers and Michael Jackson and have become a drive in sports activities and politics

Feb. 25, 1931 — Aug. 13, 2023

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Magoo

Rapper and Timbaland collaborator

July 12, 1973 — Aug. 13, 2023

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Jerry Moss

Co-founder of A&M Information

Could 8, 1935 — Aug. 15, 2023

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Renata Scotto

Italian diva identified for dozens of roles on the Metropolitan Opera

Feb. 24, 1934 — Aug. 16, 2023

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Gary Younger

Pavement’s unique drummer

Could 3, 1953 — Aug. 17, 2023

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Gloria Coates

Prolific Wisconsin-born composer who made a reputation for herself in Europe

Oct. 10, 1933 — Aug. 19, 2023

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Sakevi Yokoyama

Vocalist for Japanese hardcore punk and metallic band G.I.S.M.

Unknown — Aug. 24, 2023

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Brian McBride

One half of Stars of the Lid, a duo that warped and puzzled at new pathways for ambient music

July 6, 1970 — Aug. 25, 2023

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James Casey

Saxophonist identified for his work with the Trey Anastasio Band

Feb. 4, 1983 — Aug. 28, 2023

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Jack Sonni

Guitarist briefly in massively profitable ’80s rock band Dire Straits

Dec. 9, 1954 — Aug. 30, 2023

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Curtis Fowlkes

Trombonist who co-led The Jazz Passengers

March 19, 1950 — Aug. 31, 2023

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Jimmy Buffett

Singer-songwriter and everlasting (p)resident of “Margaritaville”

Dec. 25, 1946 — Sept. 1, 2023

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Gary Wright

Founding member of blues rock band Spooky Tooth, in-demand session musician and singer of “Dream Weaver”

April 26, 1943 — Sept. 4, 2023

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Steve Harwell

Lead singer of Smash Mouth and its extremely meme-able shallowness booster “All Star”

Jan. 9, 1967 — Sept. 4, 2023

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Charles Gayle

New York saxophonist who embodied a radical but humble expression of freedom

Feb. 28, 1939 — Sept. 5, 2023

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Richard Davis

Versatile bassist heard on Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks and Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunch!

April 15, 1930 — Sept. 6, 2023

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Roger Whittaker

British balladeer and whistler identified for “The Final Farewell”

March 22, 1936 — Sept. 13, 2023

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Kent Stax

Drummer for D.C. hardcore band Scream

July 4, 1962 — Sept. 20, 2023

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Terry Kirkman

Singer for The Affiliation and songwriter for the pop group’s “Cherish”

Dec. 12, 1939 — Sept. 23, 2023

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James Jorden

Founding father of the opera zine and web site Parterre Field

Aug. 6, 1954 — Oct. 2, 2023

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Rudolph Isley

Founding member of The Isley Brothers

April 1, 1939 — Oct. 11, 2023

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Carla Bley

Prolific and expansive jazz pianist who consistently developed

Could 11, 1936 — Oct. 17, 2023

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Dwight Twilley

Energy-pop singer-songwriter behind a collection of minor ’70s and ’80s hits

June 6, 1951 — Oct. 21, 2023

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Dusty Avenue

Pioneering feminine rock DJ for KROQ and, later, SiriusXM

Oct. 19, 1946 — Oct. 21, 2023

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Steve Poponi

Guitarist for emo band Up Up Down Down Left Proper Left Proper B A Begin and co-owner of Philly’s beloved Gradwell Home studio

June 17, 1976 — Oct. 31, 2023

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Yuri Temirkanov

Controversial conductor for St. Petersburg Philharmonic and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Dec. 10, 1938 — Nov. 2, 2023

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R.L. Boyce

Mississippi blues guitarist who created his personal Hill Nation boogie fashion

Aug. 15, 1955 — Nov. 9, 2023

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David Del Tredici

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer who wrote items primarily based on Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” tales

March 16, 1937 — Nov. 18, 2023

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Catherine Christer Hennix

Composer who dreamed the infinite

Jan. 25, 1948 — Nov. 19, 2023

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Mars Williams

Saxophonist for The Psychedelic Furs and The Waitresses

Could 29, 1955 — Nov. 20, 2023

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Chad Allan

Authentic singer for Canadian rock band The Guess Who

March 29, 1943 — Nov. 21, 2023

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Jean Knight

Soul singer who made “Mr. Massive Stuff” a success

Jan. 26, 1943 — Nov. 22, 2023

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Geordie Walker

Guitarist for post-punk band Killing Joke

Dec. 18, 1958 — Nov. 26, 2023

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Scott Kempner

Guitarist for punk band The Dictators

Feb. 6, 1954 — Nov. 29, 2023

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Shane MacGowan

Irascible frontman of The Pogues and co-writer of the devastatingly lovely Christmas ballad “Fairytale of New York”

Dec. 25, 1957 — Nov. 30, 2023

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Denny Laine

Co-founder of each The Moody Blues and Wings

Oct. 29, 1944 — Dec. 5, 2023

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Martin Davidson

Founding father of the free-improvisation label Emanem Information

Feb. 11, 1942 — Dec. 9, 2023

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Essra Mohawk

Prolific songwriter and a well-known singing voice on Schoolhouse Rock!

April 23, 1948 — Dec. 11, 2023

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Travis John Dopp

Guitarist for post-hardcore band Small Brown Bike

Oct. 23, 1975 — Dec. 13, 2023

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Amp Fiddler

Detroit soul mainstay identified for his work with George Clinton and Prince, a mentor to J Dilla

Could 17, 1958 — Dec. 17, 2023

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Craig Stewart

Founding father of the impartial label Emperor Jones, early residence to The American Analog Set and The Mountain Goats

Oct. 27, 1970 — Dec. 19, 2023

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Laura Lynch

Bassist, singer and founding member of The Dixie Chicks who appeared on the group’s first three albums

1958 — Dec. 22, 2023

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TONY OXLEY

British percussionist foundational to free improvisation, co-founder of Incus Information

Jun. 15, 1938 — Dec. 26, 2023

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Will Chase, Candice Vo Kortkamp and Greta Pittenger contributed analysis to help this story. Phil Harrell produced the audio on the prime of the web page.