Seminal Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, a founding member of the band Pentangle, has died at the age of 67. He died in the early hours of Wednesday morning at a hospice in Hampstead, north London. Born in Glasgow in 1943, the musician recorded his first album in 1965 and his last, The Black Swan, in 2006. He was a member of Pentangle between 1967 and 1973 and was there when they reformed in 2008. In 2007 Pentange received a…

Ferlin Husky, 85, died March 17 at his daughter’s home in Westmoreland, TN. When Mr. Husky was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame last year, he was heralded for his vocal and comic prowess – and “all around showmanship” – that left a legacy as “one of the best entertainers country music has ever produced.” Equally adept at tear-jerking ballads, spoken recitations, rockabilly and pop tunes, Mr. Husky had two dozen Top 20 hits on the Billboard country…

Big Jack Johnson, the last of the “Jelly Roll Kings” and a native of Lambert, MS, died early Monday morning in Memphis from kidney failure. Born in 1940 in Lambert, Johnson was inspired by his father, Ellis Johnson, a fiddler, banjo player and guitarist who played blues, breakdown and country music. He received his first break in 1962 when he sat in with Frost, known for his guitar and harmonica talent, and Carr on drums at Clarksdale’s old Savoy Theater….

Police in Fayetteville say an autopsy has found that longtime Dickson Street businessman Bruce Walker died of soot and smoke inhalation when a fire burned his business. The 57-year-old Walker died Monday after being found unconscious inside the burning Flying Possum Leather shop. Investigators say the fire appears to have started in the rear of the store and that there is no sign of arson. A cause has not been determined. Walker had operated the store since 1975 and made…

Blues legend Eddie Kirkland has died after an accident involving a Greyhound bus, just north of Tampa, Florida. The 88-year-old performer was born in Jamaica, raised in Alabama, and was resident in Macon, Georgia. Kirkland toured with John Lee Hooker for seven and a half years and was the former band leader for Otis Redding. According to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol, Kirkland attempted to make a u-turn in front of the bus. His Ford Taurus was hit…

Michael Been of the Call died from a massive heart attack on Thursday, August 19, while backstage at the Belgian music festival Pukkelpop. He was 60. First and foremost, Been had been the founder and leader of the Bay Area alternative rock band the Call. The band’s single “The Walls Came Down” is what first got them noticed. Peter Gabriel recalls when the band opened for him on his 1982 Shock the Monkey tour and when he collaborated with them…

Kenny Edwards, guitarist and singer who worked extensively with Linda Ronstadt, died Wednesday (Aug. 18) in Santa Barbara, Calif., following a battle with cancer and a blood disorder. He was 64. Edwards became a prominent member of the West Coast country-rock community as a founding member of the Stone Poneys, the band that introduced Ronstadt to a national audience with their 1967 hit, “Different Drum.” After the group disbanded, Edwards later played a key role in her solo success on…

BBC News have confirmed that The Kink’s original bassist, Pete Quaife, has died aged 66. They report, “It is not clear how he died, but the star been undergoing kidney dialysis for over a decade.”

Parliament-Funkadelic’s Garry Shider, a 1997 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, passed away yesterday of complications from cancer, The Star Ledger reports. He was 56. Known to fans as both “Star Child” and “Diaper Man” for his penchant for wearing oversized diapers onstage during Funkadelic’s mind-altering live performances, Shider was one of the few mainstays in Parliament-Funkadelic’s otherwise revolving door lineup. He first appeared on Funkadelic’s 1971 masterpiece Maggot Brain and Parliament’s second album Up for the…

Aquiles Valdez Ortiz, whose popular classical guitar lessons inspired generations of borderland musicians, died Monday night of injuries received in a Juárez assault in late May. He was 77 years old. The musician fell victim of ongoing attacks in the city torn by violence. Family members said robbers hit him in the head on May 26 while they were trying to steal his vehicle. He spent 12 days in a hospital before he died. Chihuahua state officials did not confirm…