Obituary
Josh Humiston, APA Partner and Music Agent, Dies at 48
Born in Santa Monica on March 18, 1972, Humiston graduated from Beverly Hills High School and then Boston University. He joined APA in 1995 and was upped to vp concerts in 2001, responsible for developing and overseeing the agency’s modern rock department. According to APA, Humiston was a passionate golfer, an ardent Los Angeles Kings, Lakers and Dodgers fan and a “recurring, enthusiastic fixture” at their games. Survivors include his wife, Jaime, and their daughters, Isabella and Juliana; his parents, Jan and Robert; siblings Alison and Matthew; sister-in-law Lisa; and nieces Mila and Rachel. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a funeral for immediate family only will be held Sunday at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary in Los Angeles, with a celebration of his life to be sch...
R.I.P. Bunny Wailer, Founding Member of The Wailers Dead at 73
Bunny Wailer, a founding member of The Wailers alongside Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, has died at the age of 73. According to the Jamaica Observer, Wailer died Tuesday, March 2nd in Kingston, Jamaica. No cause of death was given, but Wailer had been in and out of the hospital since suffering a stroke last year. Wailer was born Neville Livingston on April 10th, 1947. As a child living in Jamaica’s St. Ann Parish, he befriended Bob Marley. The boys grew even closer when, following the death of Marley’s father in 1955, Marley’s mother moved in with Livingston’s father. In 1963, Livingston and Marley, along with their friend Peter Tosh, moved to Kingston and formed a reggae group called The Wailing Wailers (later shortened to The Wailers). The trio saw almost immediate success, topping the...
R.I.P. Prince Markie Dee, Rapper in The Fat Boys Dead at 52
Mark “Prince Markie Dee” Morales, whose swagger and humor with The Fat Boys helped define early hip-hop, has died at 52. The news was first announced by the SiriusXM radio channel Rock the Bells, where Morales hosted The Prince Markie Dee Show, and later confirmed by his longtime friend Louis “Uncle Louis” Gregory. AllHipHop reports the cause of death was congestive heart failure. Morales was born on on Feb. 19th, 1968 in New York City. He formed The Fat Boys in the early eighties with Darren Robinson, aka The Human Beat Box, and Damon “Kool Rock Ski” Wimbley. Alongside fellow Golden Age pioneers like Doug E. Fresh, The Fat Boys brought beatboxing to mainstream audiences, piling up the hits with self-deprecating humor and riotous party anthems. The trio put out seven albums between 19...
R.I.P. Elliot Mazer, Legendary Engineer-Producer of Neil Young and The Band Dead at 79
Elliot Mazer, the legendary engineer and producer who worked on iconic albums by Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Band, Linda Ronstadt and many others, has died at the age of 79. As Rolling Stone reports, Mazer’s daughter Alison confirmed that he passed away in his San Francisco home on Sunday, citing that the cause of death was a heart attack. He had also been battling dementia for years. “Elliot loved music,” his sister, Bonnie Murray, also told Rolling Stone. “He loved what he did; he was a perfectionist. Everybody has so much respect for him, and he’s been suffering for a couple years.” Born on September 5th, 1941 in New York City, Mazer cut his teeth in his twenties working at jazz label Prestige Records, where he helped deliver myriad records to various radio stations. By the end of t...
R.I.P. Mary Wilson, Founding Member of The Supremes Dead at 76
Mary Wilson, founding member of the trailblazing Motown group The Supremes, has died at the age of 76. According to her publicist, Wilson passed away suddenly on Monday evening (February 8th) at her home in Henderson, Nevada. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed. In 1959, Wilson auditioned and was accepted into a singing group called The Primettes, pairing with three other then-unknown vocalists: Florence Ballard, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown. By 1962, the group had downsized to a trio (McGlown left to get married), signed with Motown Records, and changed their name to The Supremes. Within a year, they scored their first No. 1 hit with “Where Did Our Love Go” Between 1964 and 1969, The Supremes earned 12 No. 1 singles in total — a record for the most chart-topping songs among Am...
Mary Wilson, Original Supremes Member, Dies at 76
After The Supremes disbanded in 1977, Wilson continued on as a solo artist. She was rarely far from the spotlight. In 2019, she competed in Dancing With The Stars and published Supreme Glamour, her fourth book. Outside of music, she threw her energies into numerous social and civic causes. Jan. 21 of this year marked the 60th anniversary of the day The Supremes signed with Motown in 1961. Wilson was front and center in the celebrations. The legendary artist never gave up hope of getting the band back together, in the right circumstances. “Well, let’s put it this way: It’s really up to Diana,” she told THR in January. “I don’t think she wants to do that. It doesn’t make sense unless you come together lovingly. Or at least have an understanding. It can be an understanding, that’s ...
R.I.P. Ricky Powell, Iconic Hip-Hop Photographer and Honorary Beastie Boy Dead at 59
Ricky Powell, the celebrated hip-hop photographer who was known as the honorary fourth member of the Beastie Boys, has died at age 59. Powell’s manager and business partner Tono Radvany confirmed that his client had passed away on the night of February 1st. No cause of death has yet to be revealed. “I just want to let everyone know he was a very special man, and he will be sorely missed,” Radvany told Complex. A New York City native through and through, the Brooklyn-born Powell entered photography mainly to stick it to an ex-girlfriend. He discovered a camera she’d left behind and determined to use it to make a name for himself. After photographing art galleries in Greenwich Village and hip-hop shows in downtown Manhattan for a year, he was able to quit his job selling lemon ices to head o...
R.I.P. Dustin Diamond, Saved by the Bell’s “Screech” Dead at 44
Dustin Diamond, the actor who famously played Screech on Saved by the Bell, has died at the age of 44. Last month, Diamond was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. TMZ reports that he passed away early Monday (February 1st). Born January 7th, 1977, Diamond said goodbye to a normal childhood at the age of 11, when he appeared in the first non-pilot episode of the Disney Channel original series Good Morning, Miss Bliss. That show transferred to NBC in 1989, in the process moving from John F. Kennedy Junior High to Bayside High School and acquiring the new name Saved by the Bell. Diamond played the role of Samuel “Screech” Powers throughout the show’s initial run (1989-93), plus the TV movie Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (1992), the sequel series The College Years (1993-94), the two-h...
R.I.P. Double K, People Under the Stairs Rapper Dead at 43
Double K, the rapper best known for his work as one half of the Los Angeles hip-hop duo People Under the Stairs, has died at the age of 43. On Sunday morning, close friends and collaborators confirmed he passed away, though no cause of death has been revealed. Double K, who was born under the name Michael Turner, grew up sampling music in his free time to create “beat tapes” that he would use while DJing local events. In high school, he went on to join the Log Cabin Crew, a hip-hop collective that included several members of Living Legends, where he further honed his skills as an artist. As a teenager, Double K met his soon-to-be bandmate Christopher “Thes One” Portugal while searching for sample material in the now-defunct record store Martin’s. The two decided to spin their beat tapes fo...
R.I.P. SOPHIE, Futuristic Pop Producer Dead at 34
Futuristic pop producer SOPHIE tragically died Saturday in an accidental fall. She was 34 years old. According to a statement issued by SOPHIE’s record label, the producer “climbed up to watch the full moon and accidentally slipped and fell.” The accident occurred in Athens, Greece, where SOPHIE had been living. A native of the UK, SOPHIE first made a name for herself in the early 2010s with a series of bubbly, surrealist singles, including “Nothing More to Say”, “Bipp”/”Elle”, “QT”, and “Lemonade”/”Hard”. During this time, she also became a close associate of PC Music, collaborating with label figurehead A.G. Cook as well as with GFOTY and Danny L Harle. SOPHIE’s early success ultimately led to more high-profile collaborations. In 2016, she teamed with the then-budding...
Sophie, Electronic and Experimental Pop Great, Dies at 34
Sophie, one of the most important figures in the last decade of underground pop and dance music, has died. A statement tweeted by her Future Classic label on Saturday morning (Jan. 30) confirms the artist’s passing, explaining “Our beautiful Sophie passed away this morning after a terrible accident. True to her spirituality she had climbed up to watch the full moon and accidentally slipped and fell.” She was 34. Born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, Sophie Xeon inherited an interest in dance and electronic music from her father, and started recording her own music at a young age. In the early ’10s, she struck up an association with a few artists on the PC Music label, soon to be at the experimental pop vanguard, and released her debut single “Nothing More to S...
R.I.P. Hilton Valentine, Guitarist of The Animals Dead at 77
Hilton Valentine, guitarist and founding member of The Animals, has died at the age of 77. A representative for ABKCO Records announced Valentine’s passing on behalf of his wife, Germaine Valentine. A cause of death was not immediately made available. In 1963, Valentine was recruited by Eric Burdon, Chas Chandler, and Alan Price to join what would become The Animals. The UK band quickly made a name for themselves thanks to their high-energy concerts and rock ‘n’ roll covers of Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, and John Lee Hooker. They achieved their first No. 1 single in 1964 with “House of the Rising Sun”, on which Valentine is credited with playing the song’s iconic arpeggio introduction. The Animals’ early success culminated in visit to America in October 1964. As was the case for The Beatles mo...
