Introduction: Hour 1

As the year 2023 draws to a close, we’re taking some time to remember and honor the lives of the many great musicians, producers and musical innovators we lost this year — including a number of legends – like the Queen of Rock and Roll, Tina Turner; folk-music transformer David Crosby; and musician, actor and activist Harry Belafonte.

In the first hour of 2023 Remembered, we’re going to shine a spotlight on three highly influential artists who not only were architects of popular music, but they changed the culture.

We’ll celebrate Tina Turner, the Queen of Rock and Roll, who rose from a hardscrabble youth and a troubled first marriage to become a global superstar.

We’ll also celebrate David Crosby, an imaginative man fascinated with vocal harmonies and symphonic arrangements who helped transform popular folk music by bringing folk’s earnest acoustic storytelling to songs that also used electric guitars, keyboards, studio effects and cosmic sounds.

And we’ll commemorate Harry Belafonte, who fused the jazz and pop sounds of his native New York with his mother’s home country of Jamaica, bringing calypso sounds not only to the coasts but also to the American heartland. Belafonte also brought his talents to stage and screen as an actor, and he uplifted Black Americans through his activism for civil rights.

Tina Turner

It’s undeniable that 2023 saw the passing of a number of legends who shaped the music we know and love.

We begin with Tina Turner, the Queen of Rock and Roll, who died on May 24. Turner achieved her success with determination, grit, and amazing talent honed by sheer hard work. Her early career, notable for indelible hits like “Proud Mary,” was marred by an abusive partner — yet Tina Turner rose up, broke free and broke through on her own, gifting music fans everywhere with such classic songs as “What’s Love Got To Do with It?”, “Better Be Good To Me,” “Private Dancer,” and a hit that she absolutely embodied: “The Best.”

While fans certainly mourned Turner’s passing, her musical colleagues paid tribute as well. The Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger said, “I’m so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner. She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer. She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”

Elton John called Tina Turner “total legend on record and on stage,” and went on to say, “We have lost one of the world’s most exciting and electric performers. She was untouchable.”

And Beyoncé honored Tina Turner, saying, “My beloved Queen. I love you endlessly. I’m so grateful for your inspiration, and all the ways you have paved the way. You are strength and resilience. You are the epitome of power and passion. We are all so fortunate to have witnessed your kindness and beautiful spirit that will forever remain. Thank you for all you have done.”

More founders and mavericks

A foundational artist to a sound that defined an era and the city of Detroit is Barrett Strong. A songwriter known for his work on such hits as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “War,” and most successfully, “Money (That’s What I Want),” Strong signed with friend Berry Gordy’s emerging Motown Records in 1959 and helped shape the sound of that monumental label. Working with writing partner Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong crafted unforgettable songs for the Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Marvin Gaye. Strong, who passed away in January of this year, was ted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.

A lot of people may have joked about being “the fifth Beatle,” but bassist Chas Newby could actually make that claim. A fellow Liverpudlian, Newby, who died this year at age 81, joined the not-yet-Fab Four in 1960 for a run of gigs, including at Liverpool’s legendary Cavern Club. Although Paul McCartney wanted Newby to stay on for the Beatles’  Hamburg residency, Newby  chose college, and eventually enjoyed a lifelong career as a math teacher. “People sometimes don’t believe me when I say I’ve no regrets,” Newby said in a 2012 interview. “But I really haven’t. I have enjoyed my life immensely.”

Jeff Beck — often named one of the greatest guitarists of all time — passed away in January. Synonymous with the Fender Stratocaster, Beck was truly a guitar virtuoso who could play rock, jazz, blues, soul, nearly any genre. His stated goal was to get the guitar to come as close to imitating the human ice as possible. Beck was a guitarist’s guitarist: aiding the spotlight and focusing on music-making. His efforts did not go unnoticed, however; his work earned him eight Grammy Awards and two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a member of formative rock band the Yardbirds, and another as a solo artist.

Jane Birkin was an actor and singer born in London who later moved to France and remained there for most of her life. An accomplished performer, philanthropist and activist, Birkin is best known in the music world for her breathy vocals in the hot and heavy 1968 hit, “Je t’aime … moi non plus,” recorded with French singer Serge Gainsbourg. Given its explicit sexual content, the song was banned from many radio stations … which of course, only made it more popular.

Brian Hines — better known by his stage name Denny Laine — first rose to prominence in the music world as a key member of The Moody Blues; Laine provides the lead vocals on the band’s first hit, “Go Now.” But Denny Laine’s greatest musical success was cofounding the band Wings with Paul and Linda McCartney. Laine was a member of Wings throughout its entire 10-year existence. That’s Denny Laine playing lead guitar on the title track to Wings’ 1973 album, Band on the Run. Laine died in December at age 79. Paul McCartney wrote, “I have many fond memories of my time with Denny … He was an outstanding vocalist and guitar player. … Denny was a great talent with a fine sense of humour and was always ready to help other people. He will be missed by all his fans and remembered with great fondness by his friends.”

Randy Meisner grew up on a farm in Nebraska, where the nationally televised Ed Sullivan Show introduced him to the sounds of Motown. Captivated by the music, Meisner later moved to California to pursue a career as a bassist, eventually joining with Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon to form the band the Eagles. In addition to playing bass, Meisner wrote or co-wrote songs on each of the Eagles’ first five albums, notably singing lead vocals on the song “Take It To The Limit.” By 1977, Meisner had reached his limit with the feuding Eagles, taking his leave from the band.

John Rowan grew up on the southwest side of Chicago, where he loved listening to classic-rock acts like the Steve Miller Band. In the 1990s, Rowan — who became known by his stage name Blackie Onassis — rose to prominence as the drummer of Chicago alt-rock band Urge Overkill. The band gained renown for their cover of Neil Diamond’s “Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” from the soundtrack of the 1994 film Pulp Fiction, but they also enjoyed a radio hit a year earlier with “Sister Havana.”

Neal Langford was a bassist who performed on the Shins’ 2001 debut album, Oh, Inverted World. On Langford’s passing, Shins frontman James Mercer remembered Langford as “one of the best friends I’ve ever had.” As a player on the Shins’ debut record, Langford’s bass can be heard in the song, “New Slang.”

Rudolph Isley was a singer and — together with siblings Ronald and O’Kelly — was a founding member of the Isley Brothers, who enjoyed success with the party hit “Shout,” which got a second life after its inclusion in the film Animal House. “Twist and Shout” was famously covered by the Beatles and included in the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The Isley Brothers could be tender, too, and their 1966 ballad “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You)” was their only major hit during their brief spell on the famed Motown label.

George Brown was a co-founding member of the band Kool & the Gang, who released their first album in 1970 and have lifted spirits and filled dance floors ever since. Brown, whose nickname was “Funky,” played drums on many of the band’s most iconic hits, including “Ladies Night,” “Jungle Boogie” and the feelgood classic, “Celebration.” Earlier this year, Brown released a memoir entitled Too Hot: Kool & the Gang & Me. When interviewed by NPR this past July, Brown was asked to define Kool & the Gang’s sound. His reply? “The sound of happiness.”

David Crosby

David Crosby’s name is forever connected to the folk-rock movement of the late 1960s, through his involvement in The Byrds and Crosby Stills & Nash — with and without Neil Young. Fascinated by classical, jazz, and the close harmonies of acts like the Everly Brothers, David Crosby loved collaborating with other musicians — despite rather blunt interpersonal skills. Later years saw Crosby struggle with substance use disorder, but he eventually entered recovery. He spent his twilight years mentoring up-and-coming musicians and penned an advice column for Rolling Stone magazine. Crosby’s talent for singing harmonies may be most evident on CSNY’s song, “Guinnevere,” written by Crosby himself.

Crosby’s former bandmates reflected on his passing. In a statement to Billboard magazine, Stephen Stills wrote, “David and I butted heads a lot over time, but they were mostly glancing blows, yet still left us numb skulls. I was happy to be at peace with him. He was without question a giant of a musician, and his harmonic sensibilities were nothing short of genius. The glue that held us together as our vocals soared, like Icarus, towards the sun. I am deeply saddened at his passing and shall miss him beyond measure.”

Graham Nash posted about Crosby’s death on Facebook. “I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times,” Nash wrote, “but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together, the sound we discovered with one another, and the deep friendship we shared over all these many long years. David was fearless in life and in music. He leaves behind a tremendous id as far as sheer personality and talent in this world. He spoke his mind, his heart, and his passion through his beautiful music and leaves an incredible legacy. These are the things that matter most. My heart is truly with his wife, Jan, his son, Django, and all of the people he has touched in this world.”

And Neil Young published a tribute on his Neil Young Archives website. It read, “David is gone, but his music lives on. The soul of CSNY, David's ice and energy were at the heart of our band. His great songs stood for what we believed in, and it was always fun and exciting when we got to play together.”

More instrumentalists and studio innovators

Although lesser known than the Swedish foursome who form the nucleus of the superstar pop group ABBA, guitarist Lasse Wellander provided unforgettable guitar licks in some hit ABBA songs, including the plaintive guitar melody that follows the chorus in ABBA’s hit song, “Knowing Me, Knowing You.”

Manchester band The Smiths were only together for five years, but in that time, they released four albums that left a permanent imprint on modern rock. The Smiths’ bassist Andy Rourke, who died of pancreatic cancer this year at age 59, helped anchor those unforgettable songs. Johnny Marr, Rourke’s bandmate in the Smiths and his lifelong friend, wrote “Andy will always be remembered as a kind and beautiful soul by everyone who knew him, and as a supremely gifted musician by people who love music.”

George Winston was an American pianist and arranger whose New Age sounds helped legions of college students get their studying done. His take on holiday classics also remain perennial favorites, and his music has helped people embrace the beauty of the seasons.

George Tickner was a rhythm guitarist and one of the founding members of the band Journey. Tickner left the lineup before the band made it really big — but for a special reason: he attended Stanford Medical School on a full scholarship. Dr. Tickner remained connected to music, setting up a recording studio in his spare time, and reuniting with Journey in 2005 when they were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Caleb Southern was a lecturer in computer science at the University of Georgia — but before that, he made his mark as a studio engineer for Superchunk and as a producer on albums by Archers of Loaf and by Ben Folds Five, including the latter’s 1995 self-titled debut album, which includes the song, “Uncle Walter,” and their 1997 album, Whatever And Ever Amen, which includes the song, “Brick.”

Bob Feldman was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he went to high school with Neil Sedaka and sang in the all-city choir with Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand. Feldman wrote such pop standards as “My Boyfriend’s Back” and “I Want Candy,” and was a record producer for such artists as Link Wray, the Belmonts, the McCoys, and country artist Dusty Drake.

Terry Kirkman was a singer and songwriter best known for his work as a founding member of the pop group the Association, known for a string of hits in the mid 1960s, including “Never My Love,” “Along Comes Mary” and “Cherish.”

Jean Caliste was from New Orleans and began singing in bands after she graduated from high school. She adopted the stage name Jean Knight, and is best known for her 1971 single, “Mr. Big Stuff,” released on Stax Records. The Grammy-nominated song went double platinum and reached No. 2 on the pop charts and No. 1 in the R&B charts.

Mars Williams was a Chicago-based saxophonist who specialized in jazz and rock arrangements. He was a touring musician with British band the Psychedelic Furs in the late 1980s and again from 2005 until his death this year. In the early 1980s, Williams was a member of Ohio new-wave band The Waitresses, and he can be heard played sax on their hits “I Know What Boys Like” and “Christmas Wrapping.”

Myles Goodwyn — along with brothers David and Ritchie Henman, and their cousin Jim Henman — formed the band April Wine in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1969. For the next 50-plus years, Myles Goodwyn was April Wine’s lead singer, guitarist and songwriter on the band’s 16 studio albums and arena tours across Canada, treating fans to hits such as “Bad Side of the Moon,” “Tonite Is A Wonderful Time To Fall In Love,” “Roller” and “Just Between You and Me.” In March of this year, Goodwyn retired from touring with April Wine, citing his diabetes. In September, April Wine were inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame in Toronto, and Goodwyn himself was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. “I'm not the greatest singer, the greatest guitar player,” Goodwyn said at the time. “I'm not the greatest songwriter either, but I took great pride in being able to write songs that were popular.”

Harry Belafonte

Another legend who passed away this past year, Harry Belafonte, was one of 24 people to achieve the EGOT — that is, to be awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. A singer, actor and activist, Harry Belafonte was born in New York, but was strongly influenced by the culture of his parents’ native Jamaica, where he spent eight years of his childhood. Some of Belafonte’s most memorable songs — including his breakthrough 1956 album Calypso — have strong Caribbean flavor. His deep involvement in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s also remains a vital part of his legacy.

Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records, said in a statement: “My friend, Harry Belafonte, was truly a man of cause, conviction and principle. Besides being a great entertainer, he was a major political activist during the Civil Rights Movement. I still remember the day in 1968 when Harry and I marched side by side on the Poor People’s March to Freedom. He will be missed, and my sincere condolences go out to his family.”

Tony Bennett shared a photo of himself with the late singer and said: “I met Harry in 1948 and knew then he would be a huge star. More than that, he fought for social justice and equality and never, ever gave up. Our dearest of friends, he will be deeply missed by [me] and so many for all he contributed to the world.”

And Questlove remarked if there is one lesson we can learn from Harry Belafonte, it is to ask, “What can I do to help mankind?” adding, “Thank you, Harry Belafonte.”

More genre-shapers

As Harry Belafonte helped bring the music of the Caribbean to the rest of the world, around the same time, the music of Brazil was spreading in popularity.

One important musician who brought samba and bossa nova music outside of Brazil was pianist João Donato, who performed in the studio and onstage with fellow Brazilians including guitarist Antonio Carlos Jobim and vocalist Astrud Gilberto. As a trombonist, Donato went on to perform on recordings by Tito Puente and his band.

In addition to losing Donato this year, we also lost the aforementioned Astrud Gilberto, who was a Brazilian singer and songwriter. Her smoky vocals made bossa nova songs like “The Girl From Ipanema” and “Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)” not only familiar across the world, but made the samba sound a worldwide smash. For her work, Gilberto received a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

Jerry Moss was a music executive who began his career by promoting “16 Candles,” the 1958 hit for doo-wop group The Crests on the New York label Coed Records. After moving to California in 1960, Moss would team up with Herb Alpert to form the A&M Records label — the name derived from their initials. Alpert and Moss sold the A&M label to PolyGram Records in 1989. The duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 for their work at A&M.

Music executive Clarence Avant was a prominent industry leader who managed record labels — including Motown Records after it was sold by Berry Gordy — and who helped guide the careers of such artists as Quincy Jones, Bill Withers and countless others. Known as “the Black Godfather” for his influence, Clarence Avant strived for equitable treatment and pay for Black artists in the entertainment industry — work that earned him induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

The band Earth Wind & Fire was founded in 1970 by Chicago-born artist Maurice White. After four years and some coaxing, Maurice convinced his younger brother, Fred White, a drummer, to join the band. Fred White, who died this year at age 67, was drumming for the band through a rewarding period that saw Earth, Wind & Fire tally a string of top 10 records on the Billboard pop chart. They also won six Grammys, including for “Boogie Wonderland,” culminating in a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

David Jolicoeur, better known as Trugoy the Dove, was a founding member of the influential Long Island hip-hop group De La Soul, whose breakout 1989 album, 3 Feet High and Rising, is  often listed among the best albums of all time. As a member of De La Soul, Trugoy was a rapper, songwriter and producer. Among the band’s many accolades were six Grammy nominations, including a win in 2006 for their collaboration with Gorillaz on “Feel Good Inc,” a song that was co-written by Trugoy the Dove and Damon Albarn.

George Todd — known as Doc Todd — was a combat medic who served in Afghanistan. He rapped about his own dealings with PTSD and released an album in 2017 called Combat Medicine to help other veterans like himself.

Mark James was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1961, and grew up as hip-hop was emerging. He began DJing in the 1980s, earning the moniker DJ Mark the 45 King from his talent at making beats with obscure 45 RPM singles. The 45 King’s 1987 breakbeat track, “The 900 Number,” led him to be signed to his first production deal. Eventually, DJ Mark the 45 King would go on to produce tracks for major hip-hop artists including Eric B. & Rakim, Eminem, MC Lyte, Jay-Z, as well as Queen Latifah’s debut album, All Hail The Queen, which features her signature song, “Ladies First.”

Hour 2: Introduction

In this next hour of 2023 Remembered, we’ll spotlight three artists who captivated the world with their vocal talents, reinvented themselves, expanded their boundaries, and re-imagined their careers.

We’ll celebrate Tony Bennett, a golden-iced crooner who enjoyed not one, not two, but three distinct phases in his decades-long career.

We’ll also spotlight Robbie Robertson, an Indigenous Canadian musician who rose to fame as the leader of Bob Dylan’s backing ensemble who also achieved success as The Band in their own right. Later, Robertson established himself as a music composer and supervisor for film soundtracks — in particular, for the films of Martin Scorsese.

And we’ll honor Sinéad O’Connor, an Irish musician who enjoyed her biggest worldwide hit with her cover of a song by Prince, and who kept the world’s attention through her work as an activist.

Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett was a singer of jazz and popular music who enjoyed a 72-year career and sold more than 50 million records around the world. Over his long career, Bennett was honored with 20 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award; two Primetime Emmy Awards; and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Bennett’s career wasn’t without its pitfalls, however. During a too-long residency in Las Vegas from the 1960s to the late 1970s, Bennett overdosed on cocaine and nearly died. He was near bankruptcy and had crippling debt to the IRS, but with the help of his sons, Danny and Dae, Bennett left Sin City, got his finances in order, and shook the lounge-singer image. Bennett began booking gigs at colleges and small clubs, and began connecting with younger audiences. By the mid-1980s, he was re-signed to Columbia Records. Bennett’s 1986 album, The Art of Excellence, landed in the Billboard 200 and was named by People magazine as one of the 10 best albums of the year. Bennett’s life and career were officially back on track.

Bennett added yet another fresh spark to his career in the 2000s by recording duets with James Taylor, Barbra Streisand, k.d. lang, Stevie Wonder and many others, and releasing the album Duets: An American Classic at age 80. In 2007, the album won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, and his duet on “For Once in My Life” with Stevie Wonder won a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with vocals.

In 2014, at age 88, Bennett became the oldest living performer with a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart for Cheek to Cheek, his duets project with Lady Gaga, an artist with whom Bennett would collaborate and perform with until the end of his life.

Beyond music, Bennett was a staunch supporter of Civil Rights, participating in the Selma to Montgomery March, and performing at events organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. Bennett was also committed to supporting arts education, and helped establish the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts — an arts-focused public high school — in Queens, New York, in 2001. As of 2022, the school maintained a 97 percent graduation rate.

More singers and showpeople

Another artist who enjoyed a long career and huge cultural impact was songwriter and composer Burt Bacharach, who died on February 8. A gifted performer in his own right, Bacharach wrote songs that also became hits for other artists — like the Carpenters’ “Close To You,” BJ Thomas’s “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” Christopher Cross’s “Arthur’s Theme,” and Dionne Warwick’s “That’s What Friends Are For.”  In all, Bacharach composed 73 songs that hit the Billboard Top 40. For his work, Bacharach was honored with three Oscars, two Golden Globes, and six Grammy Awards.

Lyricist Sheldon Harnick was born in Chicago and moved to New York City after graduating from Northwestern University’s School of Music. Harnick began working as a lyricist for Broadway musicals; his best-known work is Fiddler on the Roof.

Charlie Thomas, a vocalist in the legendary doo-wop and R&B group The Drifters, died at the age of 85. Thomas’s time with the Drifters spanned nearly a decade from the late 1950s until 1967, during which time the Drifters enjoyed some of their biggest hits, including “There Goes My Baby,” “Save The Last Dance For Me,” “This Magic Moment” and “Under the Boardwalk.”

Tuto Cutugno was an Italian pop singer whose 1983 song “L’Italiano” became a massive hit in Europe and beyond. Cutugno also won the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest with “Insieme: 1992,” a song that celebrated the establishment of the European Union. Cutugno is one of Italy’s most successful songwriters as well as one of its most popular performers worldwide.

Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died this year at age 71, had a powerful influence on hip-hop, techno and electronic music. Sakamoto’s music drew from Western music theory as well as Japanese music, and he was as inspired by Asian musical aesthetics as he was by Claude Debussy and Kraftwerk. Sakamoto collaborated with such artists as David Bowie and Iggy Pop, and he worked on film scores — most notably Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 film The Last Emperor, which earned Sakamoto an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Grammy alongside his collaborators David Byrne and Chinese composer Cong Su. As a member of the trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, Sakamoto and his bandmates released this electronic cover of the Beatles “Day Tripper.”

Ferren “Coco” Lee was a Chinese-American vocalist and songwriter. A prolific artist who released more than 20 albums, including 18 studio releases, Lee is highly regarded for her singing in the Mandarin version of Disney’s 1998 film, Mulan, and is was the first person of Chinese descent to perform at the Academy Awards with her rendition of "A Love Before Time" in 2001. The song, from the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, received an Oscar nomination for best original song.

Coco Lee took her own life on July 5 of this year. If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 9-8-8, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

Gregg Sutton was a member of the  country-rock group Lone Justice, but it’s not what he’ll be most remembered for. A prolific songwriter who wrote or co-wrote songs for artists as varied as Joe Cocker, Curtis Stigers, Andy Griffith, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tom Jones as well as the bands The Human League and Nelson, Sutton was the music director for his friend since childhood, avant-garde comedian Andy Kaufman. Sutton also played bass with Bob Dylan on tour in 1984, including at London’s Wembley Stadium, featured on Dylan’s album, Real Live.

Seymour Stein, a music-industry executive who founded the record label Sire Records, died at age 80. Stein’s work as an executive helped launch the careers of the Ramones, Talking Heads and Madonna. His work at Sire is also credited with furthering the careers of the Smiths, Depeche Mode, Ice T, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Minneapolis band the Replacements.

Two days after applauding actor Austin Butler’s win for portraying her father in Baz Luhrmann’s film Elvis at the Golden Globe Awards, Lisa Marie Presley died following a medical emergency. The only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie was only nine years old when her father passed, but she remained connected to his life and legacy, even pursuing her own music career as well as overseeing the Elvis Presley Trust and the ownership of Graceland. On January 8, just four days before her death, Lisa Marie Presley joined fans at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, for a celebration of the 88th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s birth. Her mother, Priscilla Presley, said of Lisa Marie, “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”

Steve Harwell was a co-founder and frontman of the iconic 1990s ska-punk party band Smash Mouth, best known for their hits “Walkin’ on the Sun” and “All Star,” and who will be remembered forever by kids of all ages thanks to the inclusion of Smash Mouth’s music in the hit 2001 animated film, Shrek.

Robbie Robertson

Part Cayuga and Mohawk, Toronto-born Robbie Robertson was best known for his work playing lead guitar for Bob Dylan and for being a member of The Band – capital T, capital B — the legendary Canadian-American folk-rock outfit known for songs like “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “Up on Cripple Creek.”

Robertson got hooked on music as a teenager, discovering rock and roll and R&B by tuning in AM stations from Buffalo, New York, and Nashville, Tennessee. He began playing in bands as a teenager, and was hired by Ronnie Hawkins — an American expat known as the “father of Canadian rock and roll” — as a musician in his backing band, The Hawks. In the Hawks, Robertson became bandmates and friends with Len Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson. They broke off from Ronnie Hawkins in the mid-60s, to eventually accompany Bob Dylan.

Because of their reputation as a backing band for Ronnie Hawkins, Bob Dylan and others, the Hawks changed their name to The Band in 1968, releasing their debut album, Music From Big Pink, that same year; it includes “The Weight.”

The Band released nine more studio albums on their own, as well as two with  Bob Dylan, including 1975’s The Basement Tapes, which features the song, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere.”

The Band’s farewell show with Robertson in the lineup was famously documented in the 1978 concert film The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese. Robertson went on to become widely recognized as a film producer and a composer and supervisor of film soundtracks — most notably, for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese on such films as Raging Bull, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Irishman, as well as Killers of the Flower Moon, released two-and-a-half months after Robertson died on August 9.

On hearing of Robertson’s passing, Bob Dylan said, “This is shocking news. Robbie was a lifelong friend. His passing leaves a vacancy in the world.”

And Neil Diamond tweeted that the “music world lost a great one with the passing of Robbie Robertson. Keep making that Beautiful Noise in the sky, Robbie. I'll miss you.”

Martin Scorsese said, “Robbie Robertson was one of my closest friends, a constant in my life and my work. I could always go to him as a confidante. A collaborator. An advisor. I tried to be the same for him. Long before we ever met, his music played a central role in my life — me and millions and millions of other people all over this world. The Band’s music, and Robbie’s own later solo music, seemed to come from the deepest place at the heart of this continent, its traditions and tragedies and joys. It goes without saying that he was a giant, that his effect on the art form was profound and lasting. There’s never enough time with anyone you love. And I loved Robbie.”

More songwriters and bandleaders

Iconic songwriter Gordon Lightfoot was an artist fellow Canadian Robbie Robertson called “a national treasure.” Lightfoot’s thought-provoking lyrics on such songs as “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Rainy Day People,” and “Sundown” possess a buttery smoothness thanks to Lightfoot’s warm, baritone vocals. And Lightfoot’s name will forever be associated with Great Lakes history, thanks to his epic song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” which poetically chronicles the tragic sinking of an iron ore ship in Lake Superior in 1975, resulting in the loss of the entire crew.

Prolific Nashville session bassist Michael Rhodes passed away in March at the age of 69. Rhodes performed on recordings by Etta James, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton, Brian Wilson, Aaron Neville, Lionel Richie, Joan Baez, Joe Bonamassa and countless other acts. In 2016, the Academy of Country Music named Rhodes the Bass Player of the Year, and in 2019, Rhodes was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. One of the most-recognized songs that Rhodes played on is Shawn Colvin’s 1998 hit, “Sunny Came Home.”

Drummer Jim Gordon was a member of the blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos and a session player for Crosby Stills & Nash, George Harrison, Joe Cocker, John Lennon, Cher, Minnie Riperton, Hall & Oates, and Steely Dan in the 1970s and early ‘80s. Before he died this year at age 77, his career came to a tragic end.  Gordon developed schizophrenia that went misdiagnosed and untreated, and was convicted of murdering his mother in 1983.  One of Gordon’s many credits is drumming on Crosby Stills & Nash’s 1969 song, “Marrakesh Express.”

An architect of modern rock, Tom Verlaine was a pillar of the New York City rock scene in the 1970s. Verlaine best-known as the singer and guitarist of the highly influential band Television. Television’s albums found a dedicated niche audience, and the impact of their music continues today through bands like the Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Wilco, and Alvvays. One of Television’s enduring songs is  the nearly-10-minute title track off their 1977 debut album, Marquee Moon.

Cynthia Weil, with husband Barry Mann, penned great hits like the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” Cass Elliot’s “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” and Dolly Parton’s “Here You Come Again.”

Alaska-born Jack Lee moved to California at age 15, and eventually joined the burgeoning punk scene. Lee became guitarist and frontman of the short-lived punk band The Nerves.  On their lone EP is the Lee-penned track “Hanging on the Telephone,” which Blondie famously covered for their 1978 album, Parallel Lines.

Jerry Bradley was a music executive who headed RCA Records in Nashville from 1973 to 1982, during which time he was involved in country music’s first certified-platinum release: the 1976 compilation album Wanted! The Outlaws, featuring Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser. It included the hit song, “Good Hearted Woman.”

Dwight Twilley was a singer-songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who, with his friend, the late Phil Seymour, moved the power-pop genre forward in the mid-1970s through their releases as the Dwight Twilley Band. One of Twilley’s biggest hits was 1975’s “I’m On Fire,” which reached No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

John Morris was born in New York and spent his career producing live-music events in North America and Europe. His innovations with stage lighting in the 1960s helped shape the stagecraft used at concerts and music festivals to this day. Among Morris’ notable achievements was his role as Production Coordinator of the 1969 Woodstock festival in upstate New York, one of the largest and most iconic festivals in the history of music.

Boundary pushers

We continue to look at those artists and other music influencers who passed away over the past year, including those who pushed boundaries in their respective disciplines.

One of them was Van Conner, bassist and co-founding member of Seattle grunge outfit Screaming Trees, who died in January at age 55 after a long illness. Screaming Trees’ greatest success came in the early ‘90s, with the release of their album Sweet Oblivion, and the inclusion of the track “Nearly Lost You” in the soundtrack of the era-defining film, Singles.

Another notable bassist we lost this year was Steve Mackey — whose disco-influenced basslines helped elevate the band Pulp from cult favorites to 1990s Britpop icons. Mackey co-wrote a number of Pulp’s songs, including the megahit, “Common People.” Beyond music, Mackey was an accomplished photographer and filmmaker for fashion houses including Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci.

Drummer Jeremiah Green, who co-founded the band Modest Mouse with frontman Isaac Brock and bassist Eric Judy in the 1990s, died at the age of 45 from cancer. Although Green had taken a hiatus from the band and did not participate in the recording of Modest Mouse’s breakthrough album Good News for People Who Love Bad News, he returned after a year off and enjoyed a longtime career with the band, and his distinctive drumming defined the sound of Modest Mouse, including on their 2007 song, “Fire It Up.”

Vivian Trimble, who was a founding member, vocalist and keyboard player in the 1990s New York indie-rock band Luscious Jackson, died this year at 58 ending a long journey with cancer. Luscious Jackson enjoyed their greatest success in 1996 with the single, “Naked Eye,” which landed in the top 50 of singles charts in the U.S. and U.K.

British guitarist Algy Ward died this year at age 63 while being hospitalized in England. Ward first rose to prominence as a bassist in the Australian punk band The Saints, but after that band folded, Ward joined the legendary English punk band The Damned, playing on their third album, 1979’s Machine Gun Etiquette. Although a falling out with drummer Rat Scabies  brought about Algy Ward’s dismissal from The Damned, his time in that group acquainted him with Lemmy Kilmister and Motörhead, friendships that would lead Ward to the emerging new wave of British heavy metal, where Ward founded the band Tank in 1980, a band that remained mostly active until Ward’s death this year.

Rob Laakso, a recording engineer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and composer likely best known for his work as a guitarist with Kurt Vile and the Violators, died at age 44 this year from a rare form of cancer. In addition to his body of work with Kurt Vile — including on Vile’s 2022 album Watch My Moves — Laakso engineered recordings by Modest Mouse and other bands, and he composed music for video projects, working with such clients as Google, Apple, Adidas, and the Cartoon Network.

John Waddington was a member of the influential English punk band ironically called The Pop Group. Known for an experimental sound that blended elements of funk and dub reggae, The Pop Group’s music frequently featured themes opposing the policies of then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The Pop Group’s debut album, Y, is considered one of the most important of the 1970s. Waddington’s last music credit was as a bass player on the track "Take What You Take" on Lily Allen’s 2006 album Alright, Still.

The work of visual artist Jamie Reid is inseparable from the music of the Sex Pistols. It is Reid’s cut-out letter stylings that give a ransom-note look to the covers of the Sex Pistols’ album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, and their singles “Anarchy in the U.K.” and “God Save the Queen.”

Guitarist Kevin Walker was born in Newcastle, England, and later earned the nickname “Geordie” due to his regional accent. At age 20, Walker became a founding member of the band Killing Joke. Starting in 1980 and continuing to 2015, Killing Joke released 15 studio albums, and Walker played on all of them. Killing Joke’s sound blended pop with heavier gothic and electronic elements, which would inspire bands Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden. One of Killing Joke’s most commercially successful albums was 1985’s Night Time, which includes the song “Love Like Blood,” prominently featuring Geordie Walker on guitar.

Angelo Bruschini was a guitarist from Bristol, England, who played in many bands from that English port city, most notably with Massive Attack on their chart-topping 1998 album, Mezzanine.

Shane MacGowan was born in England to Irish parents, and spent most of his youth in England. That said, MacGowan, as the chief songwriter and lead vocalist of the band The Pogues, would go on to renown as a global representative of traditional Irish music — made all the more widely appealing when blended with foot-stomping rock and roll. He died November 30 at the age of 65.

MacGowan’s deep literacy and talent for songwriting was at times overshadowed by his indulgent lifestyle fueled by binge drinking and drugs. In an interview, MacGowan admitted of the Pogues, “Actually, we’re better when we’re sober, but it’s not as much fun, so we get drunk.”

Between 1984 and 1990, MacGowan appeared on five Pogues albums; in the late 90s, he released two albums as Shane MacGowan and the Popes. He also collaborated with a number of other artists, including Nick Cave, Steve Earle, and Sinéad O’Connor.

One of MacGowan’s most beloved songs is his 1987 duet with the late Kirsty MacColl, “Fairytale of New York.” Not only did the song capture the isolation and estrangement of the Irish diaspora, but it also reflects the inevitable melancholy of Christmas, making the song a perennial holiday favorite.

Sinéad O’Connor

One of the most notable boundary pushers we lost in 2023 is Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor. Despite a difficult childhood, O’Connor found her way to music in her teens, joining the Dublin band Ton Ton Macoute, where her strong vocals and powerful stage presence got her signed to a record label and a manager as a teenager. Her first project was a collaboration with U2 guitarist The Edge on a song called “Heroine” on which O’Connor provides vocals and also received a co-write.

O’Connor’s debut album, The Lion and the Cobra, was released in 1987, two months before O’Connor’s 21st birthday, and it contains the hit song, “Mandinka.”

O’Connor’s second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, was released in March of 1990, and it was preceded by the lead single, “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a song written by Prince. The music video that accompanied the song consisted only of a close-up of O’Connor lip-syncing to the track, and the performance is punctuated by O’Connor crying real tears. With its earnest visuals and emotional performance, accentuated by O’Connor’s shaved head — a very atypical look for pop musicians of the time — the video and song were acclaimed by critics and press alike; R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe even revealed in a 2023 interview that he had been skeptical about the medium of music videos until he saw Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” The video won Video of the Year at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, making O’Connor the first woman artist to receive that honor.

I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got also includes the track “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” which reached No. 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. And the album won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance in 1991.

Although the early 1990s marked the peak of O’Connor’s commercial success, she continued making music, although often making headlines for her outspoken views. She did raise awareness about important issues, including such topics as child abuse, human rights, women’s rights, and demanded accountability from the Catholic Church in 2010 for its sexual abuse scandal.

O’Connor struggled with mental health throughout her life, and lost her son Shane to suicide in 2022. In July of 2023, Sinéad O’Connor was found deceased in her London apartment at age 56. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 9-8-8, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

Following the passing of Sinéad O’Connor, Irish President Michael D. Higgins said, “To those of us who had the privilege of knowing her, one couldn't but always be struck by the depth of her fearless commitment to the important issues which she brought to public attention, no matter how uncomfortable those truths may have been.”

English musician Morrissey wrote, “She was a challenge, and she couldn’t be boxed-up, and she had the courage to speak when everyone else stayed safely silent. She was harassed simply for being herself. Her eyes finally closed in search of a soul she could call her own.”

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis dedicated a post on Instagram to O'Connor, recognizing the artist's “beautiful” ice and “brilliant” personality, writing, “I loved her. Her music. Her life. She was a victim of child abuse and a huge change agent for unfair and unjust draconian laws that she helped change in Ireland. She was a warrior. She was a rebel. She ripped up a photograph that was on her mother's wall because of the hypocrisy of the abusive life she was raised in under the banner of the church.”

And Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea posted: “For all us street kids, for all us wildlings, when Sinéad got huge, it felt like one of us made it. It was incredible. I’m not trying to compare myself or anyone else to Sinéad, she is one of a kind, but that’s what it felt like to me. Like she was one of us. She was like Billie Holiday to me. All her pain, all her beauty, those incredible songs. She deserves Sainthood.”

Thank you for joining us for this program in memory of the music legends we lost over the past year.

Credits

2023 Remembered from The Current is hosted by Jill Riley. The production team consists of Derrick Stevens, Reed Fischer, Luke Taylor, Lindsay Kimball, and David Safar. Special thanks to Anna Olivera and Martin Bertilsson for Italian and Swedish pronunciation assistance, respectively.

2023 Remembered from The Current is distributed by American Public Media and is made possible by listeners like you. Thank you.