Legendary soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers, the author behind such enduring hits like 'Ain’t No Sunshine', 'Lean on Me', and 'Lovely Day', died from heart complications on Monday, March 30, at age 81. Over the span of eight years, Withers recorded seven studio albums, beginning with 'Just as I Am' in 1971, and his final 'Watching You Watching Me' in 1985, in his brief but influential career. His music was also widely sampled in hip-hop: Famously, Blackstreet and Dr. Dre sampled Withers’ 'Grandma's Hands' for 'No Diggity', and Kanye West sampled 'Rosie' for 'Roses'.

Adam Schlesinger, the co-founder and songwriter of alter-rock band Fountains of Wayne, has died from complications of COVID-19, at age 52, Rolling Stone reports. He left plenty of work behind: six Fountains of Wayne albums, five Ivy albums, one Tinted Windows album, 157 songs for the TV series 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend', one Broadway musical, one off-Broadway musical, one unforgettable hit song for a fake '60s rock band in a Tom Hanks movie, and plenty more.

Ellis Marsalis, jazz legend, educator and patriarch of the Marsalis family of musicians, died on Wednesday at age 85, Billboard reports. Cause of death are believed to have been complications from COVID-19, according to his family. Harvard Law professor David Wilkins sent a moving text following Marsalis' death: "We can all marvel at the sheer audacity of a man who believed he could teach his black boys to be excellent in a world that denied that very possibility, and then watch them go on to redefine what excellence means for all time.”

Jazz great and trumpeter Wallace Roney, who studied under Miles Davis and played with Art Blakey and Herbie Hancock and more, died on Tuesday (March 31) due to complications from COVID-19, at age 59, NPR reports. Roney recorded 21 albums as a leader, performed with his idol Miles Davis at the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival (watch it below), and won a Grammy with the surviving members of the Miles Davis Quintet for the album 'A Tribute to Miles'.

The co-writer and original singer of 'I Love Rock 'N' Roll', Alan Merrill, has died at age 69 after contracting coronavirus, Ultimate Classic Rock reports. 'Love Rock 'N' Roll' became a global hit for Joan Jett in 1982 and has been covered by artists ranging from Britney Spears to Weird Al Yankovic. The song was written by Merrill and guitarist Jake Hooker as "a knee-jerk response" to the Rolling Stones' 'It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)' in 1975. Merrill was well just a few weeks ago when he played several shows a few weeks ago. Coronavirus also claimed the life of country singer Joe Diffie over the weekend, while the family of Nashville legend John Prine said he was critically ill on a ventilator and being treated for Covid-19 symptoms.

Krzysztof Penderecki, one of the world's leading composers, died Sunday at the age of 86. The Polish-born composer established himself while still in his 20s with jarring atonal works such as 'Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima', and came to be widely admired by music fans and musicians far outside traditional classical music circles. He was an influence on musicians such as Aphex Twin, Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood, Portishead's Beth Gibbons, as well as cineasts such as Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch.

Nashom Wooden, also known as drag performer Mona Foot, has died at age 50 after a short illness, that was reportedly COVID-19, the New York Times reports. A legendary downtown NYC personality, Mona Foot was a popular drag performer whose Wonder Woman act was iconic, and he was also one third of The Ones, who scored a club/UK hit with 'Flawless', the 2001 song later covered by George Michael.

Bill Rieflin, a Seattle-based drummer with an impressive list of associations, has died of cancer aged 59, Ultimate Classic Rock reports. His first big gig was with the industrial band Ministry, without ever becoming an official member of the group. After playing with the Revolting Cocks, an industrial project involving Ministry founder Al Jourgensen, he worked also with Swans (he’s listed as an “honorary Swan”), KMFDM, Pigface, Chris Connelly, Lard, and he also played on one song on Nine Inch Nails’ 'The Fragile'. Via his gig drumming for the Minus 5, Rieflin met R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, who invited him to join R.E.M. as a touring member and studio contributor from 2003 until the band’s breakup in 2011. Rieflin also spent many years performing with the legendary prog band King Crimson, doing stints as both a drummer and a keyboardist for the group. It seems he liked super-groups as well - he drummed for Filthy Friends, band led by Peter Buck and Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker, for Krist Novoselic’s post-Nirvana band Sweet 75 and even drummed on a Robbie Williams album.

Manu Dibango, popular and influential Cameroonian musician celebrated for his blend of jazz, funk and traditional west African styles, has died aged 86 in a Paris hospital after contracting Covid-19, according to BBC. Born in Cameroon, he moved to Paris, then to Brussels, Dibango blended the cosmopolitan styles from Africa and Europe into his own fusion.

Danny Ray Thompson, longtime baritone saxophone player and flutist of space jazz collective Sun Ra Arkestra, died aged 72, according to The New York Times. “Danny Ray Thompson is now traveling the spaceways, joining the many beloved Arkestra members who have previously left the planet and who now soar with the spirit of Sun Ra” the band wrote in their post. Thompson joined Sun Ra Arkestra in 1967. and went on to play on dozens of the group’s recordings throughout the decades.

American country music star Kenny Rogers, known for his classics like 'The Gambler', 'Lucille' and 'Islands in the Stream', died Friday night aged 81, CNN reports. During his six-decade career, the charismatic, husky-voiced singer sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, won three Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Vox says.

Jason Rainey, longtime guitarist for thrash metal band Sacred Reich, has died at age 53, Blabbermouth reports. Sacred Reich formed in Phoenix in 1985, when the members of the band were teenagers. The band’s sound was a hard, theatrical take on ’80s speed metal that sometimes crossed into hardcore. They released five albums, broke up in 2000, and reunited for occasional touring in 2007.

Genesis P-Orridge, founding member of cult experimental bands Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, has died, Alternative Press reports. With Throbbing Gristle, Genesis helped pioneer the genre of industrial music. In later life, they became a "body evolutionist", proposing a new gender that was beyond male and female. Boing Boing made an interview with the musician - he talked about dying. Alexis Petridis wrote a lovely obituary describing the musician as a "troubling catalyst who loathed rock yet changed it for ever" by inventing industrial music.

Pianist McCoy Tyner was best known for his work with John Coltrane as part of his classic early-’60s quartet, but has also played with Sonny Rollins, Stanley Clarke, Wayne Shorter, and more. His influence as a pianist and musician is hard to overstate. He died at age 81. NPR describes him as a "pianist whose deep resonance, hammering attack and sublime harmonic invention made him a game-changing catalyst in jazz and beyond".

David Roback, producer and Mazzy Star co-founder, has died aged 61. Roback co-founded the seminal West Coast band Mazzy Star alongside Hope Sandoval in 1989. The alt-rock group unveiled their debut album, 'She Hangs Brightly', in 1990, before going on to release three more records and two EPs. Mazzy Star’s best-known song, 'Fade Into You', was produced and co-written by Roback. A key figure in the Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene of neo-psychedelia in the 1980s, Roback also played in bands such as Rain Parade and Opal. LA Times wrote a lovely obituary for their fellow Californian.

British music producer, DJ and record-label founder Andrew Weatherall, who co-produced Primal Scream’s landmark 1991 album 'Screamadelica' and helped bring the acid house genre into the mainstream, died Monday in London aged 56. His production work on 'Screamadelica' created a revolutionary mix of indie, hard rock, house and rave, changing British music, for the better, of course. Uncompromising, pioneering, and a true alternative visionary, his influence on modern-day music cannot be underestimated - DJ Mag says in the obituary.

The idea of being divinely gifted, to such an extent as to dream lucidly of your artistic purpose and material, is a trope that often artists revert to. Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Joseph Mxoveni Mshengu Bigboy Shabalala deployed this routine expertly as the foundational myth of the group - Mail & Guardian says about the South African musician who died Tuesday. Shabalala would say he had these dreams in 1964 over an extended period of about six months. He dreamt of an ensemble dressed in robes, performing a particular repertoire rich in harmony and melody. Musicologist Sazi Dlamini believes Shabalala’s primary legacy is in how he expanded the music’s visibility through his openness to collaboration, especially with his Paul Simon collaboration 'Graceland'. Smabalala himself said this about what they did: “We are not singing this kind of music to make ourselves famous — we are singing to remind our people of who they are.”

van Král - the composer, producer, and guitarist who composed many songs with Patti Smith, most notably 'Dancing Barefoot' - has died aged 71. Král also performed on and wrote for Smith’s debut album 'Horses' (1975), 'Radio Ethiopia' (1976), 'Easter' (1978), and the live album 'Exodus' (1994), recorded in the ’70s. Král also wrote songs performed by Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Eastern Bloc, and others. In 1976, Král released a documentary of the local New York punk scene titled 'The Blank Generation' - featuring footage of Blondie, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Talking Heads, Ramones, Wayne County, and more. Král released a string of solo albums over 26 years.

Andy Gill, founding member and guitarist of the highly influential Gang of Four, has died aged 64. "Andy’s final tour in November was the only way he was ever really going to bow out; with a Stratocaster around his neck, screaming with feedback and deafening the front row" - his current band said on Facebook. The surviving members of the original Gang of Four lineup also released a statement - "we fondly remember the good times when the four of us wanted to change the world. Andy was our brother. We made a lot of great noise and art together. We had a few drinks. We traveled the world and made friends. We made people dance, and think, and laugh, and love".

Reed Mullin founded Corrosion of Conformity in 1982 alongside bassist Mike Dean and guitarists Pepper Keenan and Woody Weatherman. C.O.C., as they were also known, started out with a more hardcore sound, and became pioneers of sludge and stoner metal, releasing a total of 10 studio LPs during the course of their career. The sad news came just days after drummer Sean Reinert had passed away. Reinert was s legendary and highly influential death metal/tech-death drummer of Cynic and Death. He died at age 48.

Americana singer-songwriter David Olney died Saturday in the middle of his set at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida. Olney had played his third song from his set, took a pause, apologized and closed his eyes. He never dropped his guitar, or fell of hist stool. Singer-songwriter Amy Rigby, who was performing alongside him at the 30A Songwriters Festival, was there when it happened: "He was very still, sitting upright with his guitar on, wearing the coolest hat and a beautiful rust suede jacket".

Neil Peart, the drummer and lyricist for Rush has died at age 67. Peart had joined Rush in 1974, remaining their drummer and primary lyricist up through their 2015 breakup.

Neil Innes, the English writer, comedian, and musician, known also as "The Seventh Python" for his work with the Monty Python, has died aged 75. He was also known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and spoof Beatles band The Rutles. Innes was later known as “the seventh Python” thanks to his […]

Allee Willis, songwriter who helped compose the theme song 'I'll Be There for You' for the sitcom 'Friends', has died aged 72, Variety reports. Willis also co-wrote the Earth, Wind & Fire hits 'September' and 'Boogie Wonderland', and has won Grammy Awards for the soundtrack for the film 'Beverly Hills Cop' and another for the […]

Longtime Wu-Tang Clan affiliate and spiritual mentor to the group, Popa Wu has died aged 63. Popa Wu was the older cousin of Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and also related to GZA and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. He played a crucial role in the group’s formation and would go on to serve as a spiritual advisor of sorts, preaching […]

As the singer of Roxette, Fredriksson was one of the most recognisable voices in 1980s pop. She dies on Monday, aged 61, Rolling Stone reports. Roxette left their mark in music with some not too cheesy hits - ‘Joyride’, ‘It Must Have Been Love’, ‘Listen To Your Heart’, ‘The Look'...

American rapper Juice WRLD has died suddenly at the age of 21, TMZ reports. Juice WRLD, a.k.a. Jarad Anthony Higgins, had arrived at Chicago's Midway Airport on Sunday following a flight from Los Angeles and suffered a seizure in the terminal. He was alive when paramedics arrived on the scene but was pronounced dead at a local […]

Robert F.X. Sillerman was the owner of a range of television and radio stations during the 1970s and 1980s, built SFX Entertainment - a concert and stage performance promoter that was sold to Clear Channel in 2000 for $4.4 billion, he was once on the Forbes 300 list, but last month he died in bankruptcy. Billboard […]

South Korean pop star Goo Hara was found dead at her home in Seoul on Sunday. Goo made her debut in 2008 as a member of the girl group Kara, which had big followings in South Korea, Japan and other Asian countries. She later worked as a solo artist and appeared on many TV shows. […]

British photographer Terry O'Neill, whose work captured iconic images of London's Swinging Sixties, has died. He photographed celebrities - including The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Elton John, Amy Winehouse - and received a CBE last month for services to photography. BBC...