Pop, Hip-Hop and Rock Star Deaths in 2022

R

James Rado (James Alexander) - co-wrote Hair with Gerome Ragni; cardiac arrest; 90

Randy Rand - founding bassist with hair-metal band Autograph; 62

Raymond Raposa - Indiana-born leader of Castenets; 41

Re Styles (Shirley Macloud) - singer and dancer with the Tubes; 72

Hargus "Pig" Robbins - blind Tennessee-born C&W keyboardist, played with Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan and more; 84

Garry Roberts - guitarist with Irish rockers the Boomtown Rats; 72

Marty Roberts - L.A. lounge singer with his wife in Marty & Elayne; 89

Beverly Ross - Brooklyn-born singer/songwriter, performed "Lollipop" as Ronald & Ruby in 1958, wrote "Judy's Turn to Cry" (recorded by Lesley Gore) and several tunes for Elvis Presley; dementia; 87

Richard Ross - guitarist with L.A. band Dick and Jane Family Orchestra; 70

Zachary Ross - drummer with Minnesota band Cresecent Moon; car accident; 28

Jamie Roy - Scottish DJ/producer; 33

Badal Roy (Amerenda Roy Chowdhury - Pakistani tabla player, played with Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman; 82

Art Rupe (Arthur Goldberg) - rock & roll pioneer who founded Specialty Records and signed Little Richard, Sam Cooke and others; 104

Bobby Rydell - teen idol pop-rock singer, starred with Ann-Margaret in Bye Bye Birdie; pneumonia; 79

Paul Ryder - co-founder/bassist with '90s British acid-house band, Happy Mondays; brother of lead singer Shaun; 58

 

S

Sad Frosty (Sam Hernandez) - Houston rapper and social media star; 24 

Ferrell "Pharoah" Sanders - Arkansas-born powerhouse jazz saxophonist played with John Coltrane and had a stellar solo career; 81

Mike Schank - Milwaukee-born guitarist featured in American Movie 

Jim Schwall - Indiana-born blues guitarist with The Siegel-Schwall Band; 79

Jim Seals - half of the popular '70s Texas duo, Seals and Crofts with Dash Crofts; 80

Donald "Tabby" Shaw - founding member of the Mighty Diamonds reggae group; killed in drive-by shooting in Jamaica; 67

Marty Shelley - New Jersey-born Latin jazz trumpeter/arranger; 82

Sidhu Moose Wala (Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu) - East Indian-based rapper; drive-by shooting; 28

Kim Simmonds - founder/guitarist of British blues band, Savoy Brown; cancer; 75

Calvin Simon - original member of The Parliaments with George Clinton, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Parliament-Funkadelic; 79

Joanna and Lucy Simon - Carly Simon's older singing sisters died one day apart; both suffered from cancer; Joanna was 85, Lucy was 82

Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson - founding member of the Mighty Diamonds; diabetes; 70

Tom Smith - co-founder of experimental noise group To Live and Shave in L.A.; cancer; 65

Snootie Wild (nee LePreston Porter) - Memphis rapper shot in Houston; 36

Elza Soares - Brazilian samba singer; 91

Jim Sohns - co-founder/lead singer with Chicago garage band, Shadows of Night; stroke; 75

Ronnie Spector - lead singer of The Ronettes, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee; cancer; 78

Cecil "Skelly" Spence - co-founder of reggae group Israel Vibration; cancer; 69

Willie Spence - American Idol runner-up; car crash; 23

Pat Stay - Canadian battle rapper; stabbed in Halifax; 36

Jim Stewart - Tennessee-born co-founder of Memphis soul/R&B label, Stax; member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; 92

Trevor Strnad - Michigan-born co-founder/vocalist of death-metal band the Black Dahlia Murder; 41

Alec John Such - New Jersey-born founding bassist with Bon Jovi, member of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; 70

Earl Swavey - L.A. rapper; shot and killed ; 26

Robin Sylvester - British-born bassist with Bob Weir's RatDog band; 72

 

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Steve Bloom

Steve Bloom

Publisher of CelebStoner.com, former editor of High Times and Freedom Leaf and co-author of Pot Culture and Reefer Movie Madness.