Musicians who passed away in 2015

Rock’n’roll is here to stay, but more and more musicians leave us every year, as many veterans reach a venerable age although some have lived a tough life. Here’s a list of many quality musicians who died in 2015.

Motörhead lost two of its members in 2015 as well as their do-anything assistant Dave Hilsden, as did the 70s rock band Three Dog Night. Legendary blues guitarist BB King, jazz experimentalist Ornette Coleman, grunge rock singer Scott Weiland and prog-rock Yes founder Chris Squire died in 2015.

Many 70s country singers also passed away in 2015. June 11 was the most tragic day, as no less than 3 musicians died on the same day! Coincidentally, a lot of bass players died this year.

Let’s review 2015, chronologically. Click on the series of numbers at the bottom of the article to access the next pages.

JANUARY

Julian Weiss, Elena Obraztsova, Edgar Froese

2: Classical guitarist JULIEN WEISS (age 61) oriented his studies towards Arabic music, then moved to Alep, where he founded the Al-Kindi ensemble.

3: IVAN JULLIEN (age 80) arranged over 10 000 songs for French stars (Legrand, Nougaro, Aznavour, Hallyday…), directed a big band and scored music for movies.

5: Reggae producer KING SPORTY (real name Noel G. Williams, age 71) co-wrote Buffalo Soldier, with Bob Marley.

8: Gospel singer and Grammy Award winner ANDRAE CROUCH (age 72) died of a heart attack.

10: Bass player TIM DRUMMOND (age 74) played on most Neil Young classic albums, as well as Bob Dylan’s, Eric Clapton’s and CSN&Y’s.

12: Russian mezzo-soprano ELENA OBRAZTSOVA (age 75) began singing at 9 in Leningrad. She played many roles, led by famous conductors as Claudio Abbado and Herbert von Karajan.

15: Producer KIM FOWLEY (age 75) played with Frank Zappa and worked with Warren Zevon and Modern Lovers.

16: Chinese pop singer YAO BEINA (age 33), also known as Bella Yao in Europe, died of breast cancer. She was a finalist at the 2013 edition of The Voice of China

17: Russian born singer ORIGA (real name Olga Vitalevna, age 44) was the voice of Japanese anime series like Ghost in the Shell: StandAlone Complex.

18: ASAP YAMS, born Steven Rodriguez (age 26), founded ASAP Mob at 17.

18: DALLAS TAYLOR (age 66) played drums for CSN&Y, Manassas and Stephen Stills.

20: Tangerine Dream veteran EDGAR FROESE (age 70) was the only member of the band who was consistently in the formation, for its 48 year history.

JANUARY

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