Although the year 2022 is still young, many luminaries within the vast sphere of the music community have already passed away.
Below are some of the artists and music industry influencers we’ve lost so far this year. They are listed in alphabetical order, the person’s name followed by the date of death and a brief description of who they were.
If an artist’s name is highlighted in blueyou can click on it to access the full Best Classic Bands obituary.
Below the list of musical artists, we have also noted several other prominent personalities whose lives were lost in 2022.
All of these great talents will be missed. TO TEAR.
Cynthia Albritton—04/21—Groupie better known as Cynthia Plaster Caster, she created plaster casts of rock stars’ penises
Ernie Andrews—2/21—Jazz and R&B singer
Barry Bailey—3/13—Atlanta rhythm section guitarist
Chris Bailey—4/9—Lead singer of Australian band The Saints
Carlos Barbosa-Lima—2/23—classical guitarist and Brazilian jazz
marilyn bergman—1/8—Award-winning lyricist (“The Windmills of Your Mind”, “The Way We Were”)
Gary Brooker—2/19—Singer, Pianist and Principal Composer for Procol Harum
Jeff Carson—3/36—Country singer
Kerry Chatter—2/4—Founding member and bassist of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
Morty Craft—1/27—Label owner, arranger, producer and songwriter
Don Craine—2/24—Guitarist/singer of longtime British band The Downliners Sect
Jerry Crutchfield—1/11—Songwriter, producer and country/pop musician
Miguel Vicens Danus—2/12—Bass player of Spanish pop band Los Bravos (“Black is Black”)
Betty Davis—2/9—R&B and funk singer, and second wife of Miles Davis
John Dean—3/8—Singer with the Reflections, of “(Just Like) Romeo & Juliet” fame
Ralph Emery—1/15—Country music disc jockey and TV host
Dallas Frazier—1/13—Songwriter (“Alley Oop,” “Elvira”)
Donny Gerrard—2/?—Lead singer of Skylark (“Wildflower”)
Howard Grimes—2/12—Drummer for Hi Records artists (Al Green, Ann Peebles)
Dick Halligan—1/18—Keyboardist, trombonist and flautist for the original line-up of Blood, Sweat and Tears
Rosa Lee Hawkins—1/11—Member of vocal group Dixie Cups (“Chapel of Love”)
Taylor Hawkins—3/3—The Foo Fighters drummer
Judy Henske—04/27—Folk singer best known for her rendition of the song “High Flying Bird”
Susan Jacks—4/25—Singer with the Poppy Family (“Which Way You Goin’ Billy?”)
Joni James—2/20—Popular 1950s singer, whose hits included “Why Don’t You Believe Me?” and a cover of “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Hank Williams
jimmy johnson—1/31—Blues guitarist and singer
Syl Johnson—2/6—Blues and soul singer
Naomi Judd—4/30—Country music superstar, with duo The Judds
David “Guitar Shorty” Kearney—4/20—Blues musician
Marc Lanegan—2/22—Lead singer of Screaming Trees and later member of Queens of the Stone Age

Michael Lang on the first day of the Woodstock Festival (Photo © Elliott Landy; used with permission)
Michael Lang—1/8—Woodstock Music Festival co-creator and producer; director of Joe Cocker and others
Sam Lay—1/29—Drummer for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Muddy Waters, etc.
willy Leacox—2/1—Drummer with America
Marks of Emmarette—1/4—Singed with Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones and others; appears in Hair; inspiration for Deep Purple’s song “Emmaretta”.
ian mcdonald—2/9—Founding member of King Crimson and Foreigner
CW McCall—4/1—Singer and co-writer of country hit “Convoy”
Charles McCormick—4/12—Member of R&B group Bloodstone
Sister Janet Mead—1/26—The Catholic nun scored an unlikely pop hit in 1974 with a rock version of “The Lord’s Prayer”
Meatloaf—1/20—Singer/actor best known for his multi-platinum 1977 album Bat out of hell
Eric Mercury—3/14—Canadian R&B singer
Joe Messina—4/4—Guitarist with Motown house band the Funk Brothers
Ron Miles—3/9—Jazz cornet player
Charnet Moffett—4/11—Jazz bassist
Barbara Morrison—3/16—Jazz and blues singer
James Mtume—1/10—Jazz and R&B musician and songwriter
Rachel Nagy—1/?—Detroit Cobras vocalist
Bobbie Nelson—3/10—Longtime pianist with Willie Nelson and his sister’s band
Sandy Nelson—2/14—Hit drummer (“Teen Beat”)
Fred Paris—1/13—Five Satins Lead Vocalist (“In the Still of the Night”)
Phillip Paul—1/30—Drummer for Freddie King, Hank Ballard and other blues/R&B artists
Richie Podolor—3/9—Producer for Three Dog Night, Steppenwolf and others
Michael Rabon—2/11—Guitarist and lead singer of the Five Americans (“Western Union”)
Randy Rand—4/?—Founding bassist of Autograph
Hargus “Pig” Robbins—1/30—Session keyboardist for hundreds of artists, mostly country
Marty-Robert—1/13—Half of the Marty & Elayne parlor act, featured in the film Swingers
Beverly Ross—1/22—Songwriter (“Lollipop”, “Candy Man”) and performer
Badal-Roy—1/22—Tabla player with Miles Davis and others
Rupee Art—4/15—Founder/Owner of Specialty Records, the label that made stars of Little RIchard, Sam Cooke, Lloyd Price and other early R&B stars
Bobby Rydel—4/5—Pop star and actor of the late 1950s and early 1960s, considered a teen idol
Klaus Schulze—4/26—German electronic musician/composer
Donald “Tabby” Shaw—3/29—Lead singer of reggae band The Mighty Diamonds
Burke Shelley—1/10—Lead singer and bassist of Welsh band Budgie
Paul Sibel—4/5—Songwriter (“Louise”)
Calvin Simon—1/6—Member of Parliament-Funkadelic; Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Fitzroy “Rabbit” Simpson—4/1—Member of the reggae group The Mighty Diamonds
Ronnie Spector—1/12—Ronettes Lead Vocalist (“Be My Baby”)
Re-Styles—4/17—(Shirley Macleod) Singer with the Tubes
John Swenson—3/28—Music Journalist
R. Dean Taylor—1/17—Singer and songwriter for Motown (“Love Child” by the Supremes) and his own “Indiana Wants Me”
Nicky Tesco—2/26—Founding member of British punk band The Members
Timmy Thomas—3/11—R&B singer (“Why Can’t We Live Together?”)
Rick Turner—4/17—Luthier who built guitars used by David Crosby, Lindsey Buckingham, Jerry Garcia, Jackson Browne and others.
Sonny Turner—1/13—Singer with the Platters from 1959; sang the hit “With This Ring” in 1967
David Tyson—2/17—Singer with the Manhattans
Norma Waterson—1/30—Member of English folk group The Watersons
Bobby Weinstein—3/16—Songwriter for Little Anthony and the Imperials and others (“Goin’ Out of My Head”)
Roland White—4/1—Mandolinist and Bluegrass Singer; older brother of Clarence White of the Byrds
Don Wilson—1/22—Rhythm guitar co-founder of hit instrumental group The Ventures (“Walk Don’t Run”)
Joe Zazula—2/1—Founder of Megaforce Records (first label of Metallica, among others)
Related: Musicians who died in 2021
Non-musicians
Louis Anderson—1/21—Comedian and actor
Peter Bogdanovitch—1/6—Director of films such as The last picture show, Hide and moon paper; and the Tom Petty documentary, Running down from a dream
Gilbert Gottfried—4/12—Quick-witted, often acerbic comedy
Howard Hesseman—1/29—Actor best known for starring as Dr. Johnny Fever in TV series WKRP in Cincinnati
Dwayne Hickman—1/9—Actor who starred in the 1960s sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
Guillaume Blessé—3/13—Actor in body heat, News broadcast, Children of a lesser God and many other great movies
Sally Kellerman—2/24—Actress best known for her role as “Hot Lips” in Robert Altman’s MASH POTATOES
Yvette Mimieux—1/17—Actress (The time machine)
Sidney Poitier—1/6—Actor; first black man to win Best Actor Oscar
Ivan Reitman—2/12—Director and producer (ghost hunters, National Lampoon’s Animal House)
Peter Robbins—1/?—Original voice of Charlie Brown in 60s cartoons
Bob Saget—1/9—Comedian and stand-up actor known as “America’s Dad” on television Full house
