From Dickey Betts to Toby Keith, Melanie and beyond, here are the artists who have left us this year.
Dickey Betts of The Allman Brothers Band performs at Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta, Georgia Circa 1993.
Rick Diamond/Getty Images
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It’s so hard to say goodbye … especially to talented creators who have contributed beautiful works of art that have made the world a brighter place. But while no one can live forever, musicians’ compositions will go on to be enjoyed by future generations.
The world of music had a rough start when on Jan. 4, David Soul — who played the blond, blue-eyed Det. Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson on hit 1970s buddy-cop TV series Starsky and Hutch — died at age 80. But the late star wasn’t just an actor when it came to the world of entertainment — he was also an accomplished musician, landing three songs on the Billboard Hot 100 (including 1977’s No. 1 hit “Don’t Give Up on Us”) and two albums on the Billboard 200.
Then Grammy-winning artist Jo-El Sonnier died at age 77 on Jan. 14, while on tour. He suffered cardiac arrest after a show in Texas. Just days later, the world said goodbye to Mary Weiss, the lead singer of 1960s pop girl group The Shangri-Las. She was 75. And that was just the beginning of the musicians who would go on to leave us this year.
And a day after the 2024 Grammys, the music world was shaken by the news of Toby Keith’s death. The country star — who had previously shared with fans in 2022 that he was battling stomach cancer — died at age 62 on Feb. 5, a message on his website and social media accounts announced.
While friends and loved ones mourn these talented artists, they will not be forgotten by their fans around the world. Below, Billboard remembers the musicians who passed away in 2024.
Chino XL
Image Credit: Paul Mounce/Corbis via Getty Images
John Mayall
Image Credit: Graham Lowe /Redferns
Abdul “Duke” Fakir
Image Credit: Evening Standard/Getty Images/Hulton Archive
Jerry Fuller
Image Credit: CBS via Getty Images
Evelyn Thomas
Image Credit: YouTube
Jerry Miller
Image Credit: Gems/Redferns/Getty Images
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Image Credit: Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images
Dave Loggins
Image Credit: Michael Ochs/Getty Images
Joe Bonsall
Image Credit: Jon Mir
Martin Phillipps
Image Credit: Jordi Vidal/Redferns
DJ Polo (right)
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Kinky Friedman
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Shifty Shellshock
Image Credit: Tim Roney/Getty Images
Julio Foolio
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
James Chance
Image Credit: Frans Schellekens/Redferns
Angela Bofill
Image Credit: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
Johnny Canales
Image Credit: Rodrigo Varela/WireImage
Francoise Hardy
Image Credit: Blandford/Mirrorpix/Getty Images
Enchanting (center)
Image Credit: Prince Williams/Wireimage
Mark James
Image Credit: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame
Dr. Velásquez
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
Brother Marquis
Image Credit: Kris Connor/Getty Images
Doug Ingle
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Richard Sherman
Image Credit: Michael Schwartz/WireImage
Charlie Colin
Image Credit: Paul Hawthorne/WireImage
(May 2024)
Omar Geles
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Image Credit: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Jon Wysocki
Image Credit: Nigel Crane/Redferns
Jimmy James (center)
Image Credit: Ivan Keeman/Redferns
David Sanborn
Image Credit: Paul Natkin/Getty Images
Dennis Thompson
Image Credit: Jim Dyson/Getty Images
John Barbata
Image Credit: Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS/VCG via Getty Images
Steve Albini
Image Credit: Paul Natkin/Getty Images
Duane Eddy
Image Credit: PoPsie Randolph/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Mike Pinder
Image Credit: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns
Chris King
Image Credit: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Trippie Redd/10K Projects
Mandisa
Image Credit: Brad Barket/Getty Images
Dickey Betts
Image Credit: Kirk West/Getty Images
Jorge “Clorofila” Verdin (center)
Image Credit: Michael Loccisano/FilmMagic
Park Boram
Image Credit: Han Myung-Gu/WireImage
Mister Cee
Image Credit: Johnny Nunez/WireImage
Clarence “Frogman” Henry
Image Credit: Skip Bolen/WireImage
C.J. Snare
Image Credit: Gary Miller/Getty Images
Keith LeBlanc
Image Credit: Derek Storm/Everett Collection
Maurizio Pollini
Image Credit: Roberto Serra – Iguana Press/Redferns
Jean-Paul Vignon
Image Credit: Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Sandra Crouch
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
Cola Boyy
Image Credit: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Coachella
Steve Harley
Image Credit: Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns
Byron Janis
Image Credit: Dario Cantatore/Getty Images
Bo$$
Image Credit: Al Pereira/Getty Images/Michael Ochs Archives
Anthony “Baby Gap” Walker
Image Credit: Getty Images
Eric Carmen
Image Credit: Tom Hill/WireImage
Karl Wallinger
Image Credit: Courtesy of World Party
Steve Lawrence
Image Credit: Harry Langdon/Getty Images
Debra Byrd
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Brit Turner
Image Credit: Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Cat Janice
Image Credit: Claire LeJeune
Shinsadong Tiger
Image Credit: Yang Ji-ung/Yonhap/AP
Roni Stoneman
Image Credit: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Vitalij Kuprij
Image Credit: Kevin Nixon/Prog Magazine/Future via Getty Images
Cynthia Strother
Image Credit: Courtesy of Rex Strother
Damo Suzuki
Image Credit: Vincenzo Buscemi/Getty Images
Jimmy Van Eaton
Image Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Henry Fambrough
Image Credit: Mike Coppola/WireImage
Chuy Montana
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
Mojo Nixon
Image Credit: Paul Natkin/Getty Images
Seiji Ozawa
Image Credit: Shintaro Shiratori
Toby Keith
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images
Wayne Kramer
Image Credit: Jim Newberry
Chita Rivera
Image Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Frank Farian
Image Credit: ARTCO-Berlin/ullstein bild via Getty Images
Melanie
Image Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Marlena Shaw
Image Credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images
Mary Weiss
Image Credit: Roberta Bayley/Redferns
Jo-El Sonnieh
Image Credit: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
David Soul
Image Credit: Jeremy Grayson/Radio Times/Getty Images
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