Morbid thread, I know... As this long year of 2020 finally sputters to an end, with so much death in the news, it gets me thinking about mortality. And that lead to me thinking about musicians I’ve seen live who are no longer with us. I’m sure I’ve missed quite a bunch, but these are some of the bigger names I came up with: Michael Jackson Tom Petty Prince Kurt Cobain Michael Hutchence John Entwistle Rick Wright Eddie Van Halen Scott Weiland Shannon Hoon Isaac Hayes Clarence Clemons Danny Federici Neil Peart Linda McCartney Dr. John Billy Preston Davy Jones Peter Tork Bo Diddley Who’s on your list?
Moon & Entwistle: playing "Johnny B Goode", the only encore on the tour. horrible sound; for documentation purposes only. Happy New Year Everyone!
How many ghosts are in the audience? Dio Lemmy Eddie Van Halen Rick Wright I’m sure there are others.
Because I started seeing bands etc, in the 60’s there are way too many musicians that I saw that are now deceased than I’d care to try to list here. I’d guess easily 75 or 10o of them and maybe more, the more I think about it.
Prince, Eric Carr, Eddie Van Halen, Neil Peart, Lemmy, Clarence Clemons, J. Geils, Eddie Money, Peter Steele, Cliff Burton, Wendy O'Williams and Otis Williams are the first ones to come to mind.
Fun thread! But I'll play along. In order of when I saw them - and including members of bands now deceased: AC/DC (Bon Scott) The Who (John Entwistle) Bowie Four Tops (all but 1 member) Jacksons (Michael) Prince Tom Petty E Street Band (Clemons, Federici) Robert Palmer Run-DMC (Jam Master Jay) Whodini (Ecstasy) Beastie Boys (Adam Yauch) Grateful Dead (Jerry) Whitney Houston General Public (Ranking Roger) Chuck Berry Big Country (Stuart Adamson) James Brown Eagles (Glenn Frey) Cream (Baker, Bruce) Van Halen (Eddie) Aretha Franklin Smithereens (Pat DiNizio) Cars (Ocasek) I've seen some of these acts repeatedly. Of those listed, 2011 was the most recent year that any of these was "new" to me live - that's when I saw the reunited Cars. Kiss in 1977 with AC/DC opening was my first-ever concert, so AC/DC became the first band I ever saw. And they qualify! The most recent I've seen period would be a near-tie among Van Halen, Eagles and Prince, all of whom I saw in 2015. 1986 was my "most deadly year", as I first saw 7 of these acts that year: the string from Robert Palmer through General Public. Run-DMC, Whodini and Beasties were all at the same show!
There are a few artists I am grateful to have caught live while I still could. Off the top of my head (I’m sure there’s more): Joe Strummer Ramones BB King Ray Charles Tom Petty John Entwistle Culture
Seen In Concert: Dave Matthews Band (LeRoi Moore) Van Halen (Eddie Van Halen) Social Distortion (Dennis Dannell) Not in concert, but I met Eddie Money when he stayed at the hotel I work at. He died a year later.
Left off George Michael, Adam Yauch, Glenn Frey, Bobby Keys, Jack Bruce, Malcolm Young, Benjamin Orr, and Vic Chesnutt from my first list.
Eddie Van Halen David Bowie Freddy Mercury Prince Lemmy Ronnie James Dio via Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell and solo Bob Welch Eddie Money Sam Kinison Gary Moore Stevie Ray Vaughan Wendy O' Williams Stuart Adamson via Big Country Malcom Young via AC/DC Joe Strummer via The Clash Lux Interior via The Cramps Stiv Bators via The Lords Of The New Church Chris Cornell via Soundgarden and Audioslave Randy Rhoads via Quiet Riot and Ozzy Clarence Clemons and Danny Frederici via The E Street Band John Entwistle via The Who Neil Peart via Rush I'm sure there's more and sadly, there *will* be more in the coming few years.
George Harrison Billy Preston Tom Petty Glenn Frey Jack Bruce Davy Jones Peter Tork Ray Thomas Jimmy McCulloch Linda McCartney Howie Epstein Alto Reed Carl Radle Chris Squire Dr John Levon Helm Charlie Daniels John Entwistle
BB King Dan Fogelberg Pat DiNizio Neil Peart Bill Rieflin Jeff Ward David Bowie Michael Hutchence Eddie Van Halen Tony Lewis John Spinks Papa Wemba Chris Cornell Jamie Duffy
Status Quo - Rick Parfitt Queen - Freddie Mercury Metallica - Cliff Burton (I saw him about a week before his death) Motley Crue - Nikki Sixx (well, he was clinically dead for a short time) Motörhead - Lemmy and Wurzel The Who - John Entwhistle (I also saw them 6 weeks after he died) Bob Calvert (ex Hawkwind. He died not that long after I saw him) Eddie Van Halen - Van Halen Cozy Powell - Black Sabbath Geoff Nichols - Black Sabbath Bobby Hatfield- The Righteous Brothers Gary Moore Neil Peart - Rush I have listed both the musician and, where applicable, the band they were in when I saw them. There are likely others, but that’s all I can think of for now. (For some reason I haven’t been consistent with naming the artist or band member first. There is no significance to that other than my being sloppy).
Was lucky to have seen Bowie, Jerry, Petty, The OX, Yauch, Prince, J.B., Lemmy, Eddie, Peart, Cornell and a few others that have been mentioned. Also John Lee Hooker, McCoy Tyner, Elliot Smith, Walter Becker (Steely Dan), Mark Sandman (Morphine) and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne) off the top of my head.
