New Musicans and Artists in Rock & Roll Heaven, Part Five

Appreciating the great talent which contributed so much to the Rock Era.  Gone but not forgotten...

 

Bob Johnston, who produced the albums Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme and Sounds of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel and Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde for Bob Dylan, died August 14, 2015 at age 83 in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

   

Johnston also produced for Aretha Franklin, the Byrds, Johnny Cash, Patti Page, and Leonard Cohen, among others.  (Note:  some websites claim Johnston died August 16.  He died August 14, according to 'CNN'.)

Johnny Kemp ("Just Got Paid") drowned April 16, 2015 in Montego Bay, Jamaica at age 55. 

Legendary blues guitarist B.B. King died May 14, 2015 at age 89 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  King announced two weeks ago that he was in home hospice care after suffering from dehydration.

 

  King brought blues to the mainstream, and dominated the blues scene for six decades, influencing hundreds of artists from Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan to Sheryl Crow and John Mayer.  And B.B. never rested on his laurels--even after establishing himself as a music icon, he continued to collaborate with other artists and perform well into his 80s.

King was a 15-time Grammy Award winner who was nominated 30 times.  He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammy Awards, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and also received a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

 

Ben E. King (Benjamin Earl Nelson), a member of the Drifters in the late '50s who scored big solo hits with "Stand By Me" and Spanish Harlem", died of natural causes April 30, 2015 in Hackensack, New Jersey at age 76.