The most shocking music deaths in June must be that of all members of the Venezuelan alt.rock band Van Der Dijs in the Venezuelan earthquake on June 24. The band, formed in Caracas in 2024, was rehearsing in a building what collapsed in the quake. Also, two inclusions this month died in the Rio plane collision on June 14.
A quick reminder that all In Memoriams going back to January 2017 are back up. You can find them HERE!
The Hitmaker
Without Clive Davis, how different might pop history have been? Over six decades, the super-executive, label founder and talent-spotter substantially shaped, launched, revived or strategically guided the careers of Janis Joplin, Santana, Donovan, Lynn Anderson, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, Aerosmith, Chicago, Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Grateful Dead, Air Supply, Ray Parker Jr, Jermaine Stewart, Gil Scott-Heron, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, Monica, Usher, Dionne Warwick, Rod Stewart, Leona Lewis, and many others.
New York-born Davis did not begin his career in music but as a lawyer. Joining Columbia Records in the mid-1960s, he rose rapidly through the ranks to become president in 1967. Although he lacked a musical background, Davis had an extraordinary instinct for recognising talent and identifying songs that could become hits. Under his leadership, Columbia/CBS embraced the growing rock movement, signing or nurturing rock legends such as Joplin, Santana, Chicago and Springsteen.
After getting fired by Columbia in 1973 — let’s call it an accountancy disagreement — Davis founded Arista Records, where he enjoyed an even more remarkable run of success (until he got fired there too). He revitalised the careers of Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick, turned Barry Manilow into one of the decade’s biggest-selling entertainers and developed Patti Smith and others into major recording artists.
Davis embraced pop, soul, rock and R&B with equal enthusiasm. In 1983 he signed the then-unknown Whitney Houston. Working patiently rather than rushing her debut, Davis was pivotal in the career of a legend. A decade later he repeated the trick with Mariah Carey. He also guided one of the great comeback stories, Carlos Santana’s 1999 album Supernatural. And for Rod Stewart’s “American Songbook” series, you can blame Davis too.
With L.A. Reid and Babyface, Davis founded LaFace Records, whose roster included TLC, Toni Braxton, Outkast and Pink. Less admirably, he also helped Sean “Puffy” Combs set up the self-awarely-named of Bad Boy Records.
With the establishment of J Records in 2000, Davis — by now at post-retirement age — again showed his eye for talent, launching or developing the careers of Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Usher.
The Voice
Trivia question: Which album beat The Beatles’ Abbey Road to the Album of the Year Grammy? Answer: Blood, Sweat & Tears’ self-titled album, with David Clayton-Thomas on soulful and gritty lead vocals.
It was his first BW&S album after replacing Al Kooper, and it yielded stone-cold classics like You’ve Made Me So Very Happy, And When I Die, and Spinning Wheel, the latter written by Clayton-Thomas.
Born as David Henry Thomsett in England in 1941, the singer grew up in Toronto, Canada. Leaving home in his teens due to his abusive father, David spent time living on the streets and had several run-ins with the law before discovering music as a way to turn his life around.
In the mid-1960s Clayton-Thomas established himself on the Toronto club circuit, before he was recruited to join Blood, Sweat & Tears (who had actually already split). The band’s fusion of rock, soul, jazz, blues and brass arrangements was revolutionary in its day, and made BS&W one of the most successful acts of the late 1960s and early 1970s, with hits like Hi-De-Ho and the Clayton-Thomas compositions Lucretia MacEvil, Go Down Gamblin’, and Lisa Listen To Me.
Exhausted by the constant touring, Clayton-Thomas left the band in 1972, but returned in 1974, sticking around till 1981, and again from 1984–2004. All the while he pursued a productive solo career, recording 17 albums between 1972 and 2019.
The Soul Crooner
It seems an injustice that Peabo Bryson should be remembered mostly as the “Disney singer”, on account of his mega hits with the theme tunes of The Beauty And The Beast and Alladin. The man was a superb soul singer.
Both Disney hits were duets — with Céline Dion and Regina Belle — and it was in duets that Peabo really shone. Before the Disney hits, his biggest success was 1983’s Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You, a lovely duet with Roberta Flack. But the real highpoint of their Born To Love album was the Side 2 opener Maybe (featured on Any Major Soul 1983).
It was Bryson’s second album with Flack. Before that, he recorded an album with Natalie Cole. The standout track is their cover of Bobby Caldwell’s What You Won’t Do For Love, a version that stands up to the original (find it on Covered With Soul Vol. 24). That track, and several others on the album, was produced and arranged by Bryson, who also played keyboards and percussions on them.
Bryson also dueted with the likes of Minnie Riperton, Melissa Manchester, Deniece Williams and Angela Bofill.
Of course, he was a fine singer in his own right. His biggest solo successes included If Ever You’re In My Arms Again (on Any Major Soul 1984), 1991’s Can You Stop The Rain (on Any Major Rain Vol. 1) and 1992’s By the Time This Night Is Over (with Kenny G).
The singer was born as Robert Peapo Bryson; the professional name Peabo was a corruption of his French West-Indian middle-name.
The Village Person
When Victor Willis wrote The Village People’s mega-hit YMCA, he claimed not to have realised the gay subtext of the song. He said that “hanging out with all the boys” was black urban slang for male friendship, rather than homosexual activity. He had no objection to the LGBTQ+ community embracing the song, but objected to the media claiming that he had intentionally written it as a gay anthem.
Who knows what his intended message was with songs like So Macho…
Born in 1951 in Dallas, Willis grew up in a religious household and initially considered becoming a minister before turning to music and acting. After studying at New York’s High School of Performing Arts, he appeared in several stage productions, including the original Broadway cast of The Wiz.
In 1977, French disco producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo recruited Willis to front the newly-formed Village People, in which he adopted the group’s cop character (later he became an admiral). Willis also co-wrote many of the group’s biggest hits.
Willis left the group in 1979 after struggling with drug addiction and personal difficulties. Following years of recovery, he rebuilt his life and eventually resumed performing with the Village People.
The Jazz Icon
Along with Hugh Masekela, few musicians have done more to place South African jazz on the world stage than Abdullah Ibrahim, the pianist and composer who first became known as Dollar Brand. Over a career spanning more than seven decades, Ibrahim blended jazz, African musical traditions and spiritual reflection to create a distinctive sound that was very much is own.
He was born as Adolph Johannes Brand in Cape Town on October 9, 1934, in the multicultural District Six neighbourhood, which in the 1970s was completely razed by the apartheid regime, and its residents forcibly removed into ghettos.
Exposed from an early age to church music, Cape Malay traditions, African rhythms and American jazz records, his style reflected the rich cultural diversity of his hometown.
The story is told that the young Brand received his currency-related moniker from the time he used to hang out at the city’s port to buy jazz albums from visiting US sailors. Another version suggests that he was called Dollar by fellow jazz musicians on account of his sharp dress sense, which cost money to sustain.
In the 1950s, Brand was a leading figure in the country’s vibrant jazz scene. In 1959-60 he performed with The Jazz Epistles, a pioneering group that included such future stars as Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa and Kippie Moeketsi. The ensemble made history by recording one of the first modern jazz albums by black South African musicians.
Following the Sharpeville massacre in 1960 and the tightening grip of apartheid, Brand left South Africa. A turning point came when Duke Ellington heard him perform in Zürich and helped launch his international career.
Brand converted to Islam in 1968, and took the name Abdullah Ibrahim. For some years he continued to be billed as Dollar Brand, but by the 1980s he phased that moniker out and became known by his adopted name.
Throughout the years of exile, Ibrahim remained deeply connected to South Africa, often expressing through music a longing for home and a vision of freedom. His best-known composition, 1974’s Mannenberg (titled after one of the ghettos built by the apartheid regime for forcibly removed mixed-race people), became an unofficial anthem of resistance during the struggle against apartheid. Mannenberg was played at Cape Town-educated Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration as mayor of New York City.
Ibrahim also wrote the scores for several films, including Chocolat (1988), and No Fear, No Die (1990).
The Woodwinder
When 21-year-old Walter Parazaider first heard the brass fanfare of The Beatles’ Got To Get You Into My Life in 1966, he was inspired by the possibilities of blending rock and brass arrangements. Parazaider got together with guitarist Terry Kath and drummer Danny Seraphine — and the band that would become Chicago was born.
Born in Maywood, Illinois, in 1945, Parazaider began playing the clarinet at age the age of nine, inspired by watching Benny Goodman on The Ed Sullivan Show. He went on to receive formal classical training, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in classical clarinet performance from DePaul University. He later switched to saxophone, joking it was “a cool way to meet girls”. It wasn’t really — Walter had married his wife JacLynn in 1966.
With the addition of fellow woodwind players Lee Loughnane and James Pankow, keyboardist Robert Lamm, and bassist Peter Cetera, the Chicago Transit Authority, later just Chicago, became a a jazz-influenced rock outfit, operating alongside Blood, Sweat & Tears..
The group went on to become one of the most commercially successful groups in rock history, with more than 100 million records sold, 21 Top 10 singles, five consecutive Number One albums, and 47 gold and platinum awards.
Parazaider’s contributions were central to the band’s sound — capable of a gorgeous melody, as on the famous flute solo of Color My World and the sax on Just You ‘N’ Me, as well as dissonant, Coltrane-like improvisations.
Parazaider retired from touring in 2017 due to a heart condition, and died on June 17 at the age of 81, after having lived with Alzheimer’s disease in his later years.
The Motown Producer
After Motown relocated from Detroit to LA, a new generation of producers emerged. Among them was James Anthony Carmichael, a Grammy-winning producer, arranger and musician, whose death on May 23 was announced only on June 4.
Having cut his teeth as a session musician and producer on LA’s soul scene, Carmichael joined Motown as an arranger in the late 1960s, and worked on records by acts like The Miracles, The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Rare Earth, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Eddie Kendricks, GC Cameron, and others.
His big break came when he was given charge of a funk group by the name of the Commodores in 1974. He produced their first hit, the instrumental Machine Gun, and every record after until 1981, including that stunning trio of ballads: Easy, Three Times A Lady, and Still. When Lionel Richie left, Carmichael co-produced, with the singer, his albums Lionel Richie in 1982, Can’t Slow Down in 1983 (which earned him his two Grammys), and Dancing On The Ceiling in 1986. I needn’t go into the number of mega-hits he was party to in that 12-year period with the Commodores and Richie. He co-produced two further Richie albums in the 1990s.
Carmichael also inspired Richie’s Hello. The story goes that Carmichael was watching for Lionel in the hall of the singer’s mansion. Richie greeted him with the words, “Hello. Is it me you’re looking for?” Carmichael told him to write a song around these words. Richie gave him a co-writing credit for the idea.
In 1986 Carmichael returned to produce the Commodores one more time in 1986, which was also the final outing of bassist Ronald LaPread, who died a week after Carmichael (see In Memoriam – May 2026).
Carmichael also produced three Atlantic Starr albums between 1981-83, including their classics Circles (on Any Major Soul 1982-83), Touch A Four Leaf Clover (like Richie’s Love Will Find A Way on on Any Major Soul 1983), Send For Me, and Am I Dreaming. He produced Diana Ross’ 1985 eulogy to Marvin Gaye, Missing You. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he also produced ex-Manhattans singer Gerald Alston, Regina Belle, Pointer Sisters and others.
Carmichael took a break from music in the early 1990s, which turned into a rarely interrupted retirement.
The Calypso Sir
Best known as the co-founder, lead singer, whistler and principal songwriter of the legendary Barbadian folk and calypso group The Merrymen, Emile Straker helped introduce Caribbean music to audiences around the world and became a defining figures of Barbadian popular culture.
The Merrymen recorded around 40 albums and performed across the globe, playing prestigious venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Hall. In 1979, they performed during the halftime show of the Super Bowl.
Straker’s contributions were recognised with numerous honours, and he was knighted in 2019, becoming Sir Emile Straker.
As always, this post is reproduced in illustrated PDF format in the package, which also includes my personal playlist of the featured tracks. PW in comments.
James Anthony Carmichael, 84, soul arranger and producer, on May 23
Michael Jackson – I Wanna Be Where You Are (1972, as arranger)
Commodores – Too Hot Ta Trot (1978, as producer)
Lionel Richie – Love Will Conquer All (1986, as co-producer and co-writer)
Gerald Alston & Brenda Russell – Tell Me This Night Won’t End (1990, as producer)
Areski Belkacem, 86, French singer, musician, and composer, on June 1
Areski – Les émigrants (1968)
Master Parrot, c.47, Ugandan Afro-pop musician, traffic accident on June 1
Anthony Head, 72, English actor and musician, Murray’s brother, on June 1
Anthony Stewart Head & George Sarah – Owning My Mistakes (2002, also as co-writer)
Kenny Rice, 81, soul drummer and composer, on June 2
Labelle – Sunday’s News (1972, on drums)
Peabo Bryson, 75, soul singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, on June 2
Peabo Bryson – Reaching For The Sky (1978, also as writer and co-producer)
Natalie Cole & Peabo Bryson – Love Will Find You (1989, as writer, producer, on keyboards)
Kenny G & Peabo Bryson – By The Time This Night Is Over (1992)
Giorgia Moll, 88, Italian singer and actress on, June 2
James Blood Ulmer, 86, jazz guitarist, singer, songwriter, on June 3
James Blood Ulmer – Are You Glad To Be In America? (1983 version, also as writer)
Margriet Hermans, 72, Belgian singer, TV personality and politician, on June 3
Sterling Betancourt, 96, Trinidadian steel pan player and builder, on June 3
Sterling Bettancourt – Blue Basin Samba (1953)
Carroll Swam, 85, bluegrass singer and guitarist, on June 4
Ian Hampton, 79, Scottish bassist of the Sparks (1974-75), on June 4
Sparks – Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth (1974, as member on bass)
Sadanori Nakamure, 94, Japanese jazz guitarist, on June 4
John B. Williams, 86, jazz bassist, on June 4
Steve Almaas, 69, punk and rock singer, guitarist (Suicide Commandos, Beat Rodeo), on June 5
Beat Rodeo – Just Friends (1984, on lead vocals)
Indio Solari, 77, Argentine rock musician and singer, on June 5
Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota – Ji Ji Ji (1986, as lead singer and co-writer)
Marion Fossett, 71, singer with Irish girl band Sheeba, on June 5
Sheeba – Horoscopes (1981)
Talay Riley, 35, British R&B singer-songwriter, killed on June 5
Chipmunk feat. Talay Riley – Look For Me (2009)
Tony Wilson, 66, Canadian jazz guitarist, on June 6
Jimbo Borkowitz, bassist of surf rock band The Gillbillies, announced June 7
Sylwia Rajchert, 82, singer with Polish pop band Alibabki, on June 8
Robert Greenidge, 76, Trinidadian steel drummer, composer and arranger, on June 8
John Lennon – Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) (1980, on steel drums)
Robert Greenidge & Michael Utley – Love Is Made Of This (1996)
Nikke Ström, 75, bassist Swedish rock band Nationalteatern, on June 8
Floyd Brown, 79, swamp-pop/country singer-songwriter, guitarist, on June 9
Floyd Brown – I Can’t Sleep If I Can’t Sleep With You (1979)
Brian McFie, 65, Scottish guitarist and painter, announced June 10
Big Dish – Miss America (1990, as member)
Manu Lann Huel, 77, French singer-songwriter and poet, on June 10
Stranger Cole, 83, Jamaican reggae singer, on June 11
Lester Sterling & Stranger Cole – Bangarang (1968)
Philip Adrian Booth, 66, British-Canadian guitarist and keyboardist, on June 11
Zack Roach, guitarist of post-hardcore band Senses Fail, on June 11
Frank Michael, 79, Italian-born Belgian singer, announced June 12
Dee Palmer, 88, English keyboardist with Jethro Tull, arranger, composer, announced June 13
Jethro Tull – Moths (1978)
Dave Greenslade, 83, keyboardist, songwriter with UK jazz-rock band Colosseum, ann. June 14
Colosseum – Walking In The Park (1969)
Ronell Johnson, 49, trombonist pf New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band, on June 14
Oliver Tree, 32, singer-songwriter, rapper, comedian, in plane crash on June 14
Oliver Tree – Life Goes On (2018, also as co-writer and co-producer)
Lucas Frota, 21, Brazilian producer, in plane crash on June 14
Abdullah Ibrahim/Dollar Brand, 91, South African jazz pianist and composer, on June 15
The Jazz Epistles – Dollar’s Moods (1960, as member)
Dollar Brand – Mannenberg (1974, also as composer)
Dollar Brand – Whoza Mtwana (1980, also as composer)
Abdullah Ibrahim Trio – Water From An Ancient Well (live) (2000, also as composer)
Fred Alexander, drummer of funk band Lakeside, on June 15
Lakeside – Fantastic Voyage (1980)
Lennie Petze, 84, member of rock & roll band The Rondels, music exec (Epic), on June 16
The Rondels – Back Beat No.1 (1961, also as co-writer)
Rayse Biggs, 72, jazz and soul trumpeter, engineer, producer, on June 16
Bob Dylan – Cat’s In The Well (1990, on trumpet)
Walter Parazaider, 81, woodwind musician, co-founder of Chicago, on June 17
Chicago – Colour My World (1970, flute solo)
Chicago – Just You ‘N’ Me (1973, soprano saxophone solo)
Chicago – Thunder And Lightning (1980)
Beau Williams, 76, soul and gospel singer, on June 17
Beau Williams – Elvina (1983)
Beau Williams – Been Too Long (1986)
Toney Lee, 72, house singer, songwriter and producer, on June 17
Toney Lee – Reach Up (1982)
Teddie Beverley, 99, singer of UK vocal trio The Beverley Sisters, on June 17
The Beverley Sisters – Sisters (1955)
Alex Bueno, 62, Dominican singer and guitarist, on June 18
Justin Cary, 50, bassist of Sixpence None The Richer, on June 18
Sixpence None The Richer – Kiss Me (1997)
Tay Keith, 29, hip hop producer, on June 18
Travis Scott feat. Drake – Sicko Mode (2018, as co-producer, co-writer)
Kirsti Sparboe, 79, Norwegian singer and actress, on June 19
Emile Straker, 90, singer, songwriter of Barbadian calypso band The Merrymen, on June 19
The Merrymen – The Guns (1966, also as co-writer)
The Merrymen – Gary Sobers (1973, also as writer)
Akihiro Miwa, 91, Japanese chanson singer, composer, actor, author, on June 20
Noël Deschamps, 83, French singer, on June 21
Noël Deschamps – Oh la hey (1966, also as co-writer)
Guesch Patti, 80, French pop singer, announced June 22
Guesch Patti – Etienne (1987, also a co-writer)
Clive Davis, 94, music executive (CBS), label founder (Arista), producer, on June 22
Aerosmith – No Surprize (1979, name-check)
Air Supply – All Out Of Love (1980, as co-lyricist)
Whitney Houston – My Love Is Your Love (1998, as co-producer)
Luther Vandross – Take You Out (2001, as co-producer)
Bruce Tull, 71, member of alt-country band Scud Mountain Boys, on June 22
Jani Wickholm, 48, Finnish pop singer, on June 23
Manuel van Der Dijs, singer of Venezuelan nu-metal band Van Der Dijs, in earthquake on June 24
Abraham Foucault, drummer of Venezuelan nu-metal band Van Der Dijs, in earthquake on June 24
Gabriel Gómez, guitarist of Venezuelan nu-metal band Van Der Dijs, in earthquake on June 24
Xander Hernández, bassist of Venezuelan nu-metal band Van Der Dijs, in earthquake on June 24
David Clayton-Thomas, 84, Canadian singer, songwriter (Blood, Sweat & Tears), on June 24
David Clayton-Thomas – Walk That Walk (1965, also a co-writer)
Blood, Sweat & Tears – Spinning Wheel (1969, also as writer)
David Clayton-Thomas – Sing A Song (1972)
Blood, Sweat & Tears feat. Chaka Khan – Dreaming As One (1977)
Roger Rettig, British guitarist of Eden Kane’s backing band The Downbeats, on June 24
Tullio Možina, 91, Italian-born Slovenian guitarist and singer, on June 24
Harold Wheeler, 82, musicals orchestrator, composer, pianist, on June 24
Bruce Springsteen – Blinded By The Light (1973, on piano)
James Monroe, 85, bluegrass singer and bassist, son of Bill Monroe, on June 24
Bill Monroe & James Monroe – I Haven’t Seen Mary In Years (1973)
Hillard Blankenship Jr, 66, bluegrass guitarist (Ralph Stanley), on June 24
Ann Blyth, 98, actress and singer, on June 24
Ann Blyth – Baubles, Bangles And Beads (1955)
Oshim Ottawa, member of Canadian band Red Rockerz and actor, on June 25
Günter Lenz, 87, German jazz bassist and composer, on June 26
Teruki Gotō, 43, Japanese musician and political activist, on June 28
Donna Stoneman, 92, bluegrass mandolin player the Stoneman Family Band, announced June 29
The Stonemans – Bottle Of Wine (1967)
Victor Willis, 74, singer of the Village People and songwriter, on June 30
Village People – In The Navy (1979, also as co-writer)
Village People – Go West (1979, also as co-writer)
Daniel Melingo, 68, Argentine musician with Los Twist; Los Abuelos de la Nada, on June 30
In 1970, the folk singer-songwriter Steve Goodman took a long overnight train journey on the Illinois Central line that ran from Chicago to New Orleans. Goodman had recently been diagnosed with leukaemia, and friends later said the trip took on deeper meaning for him. The passing landscapes, his fellow travellers, the labourers at successive stations, and the fading romance of American rail travel all found their way into the lyrics.
In 1981, Czech crooner Karel Gott released an album of covers of country songs, performed in Czech. It included a version of City Of New Orleans under the title Vstávej, ty tuláku (quickly, five times in a row), which means “Get up, you vagabond”. Gott — whose name must have seemed ironic in aggressively atheistic Czechoslovakia — was hugely popular in Germany, but he decided to re-record his country set in English.
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