Music Obituaries: April 2021

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Although music permeates our lives very few musicians get a proper farewell when they pass away, which is why I do this list every month. Last year April dealt me a serious personal blow in the death of John Prine. Waddaya know, April did it to me again this year (see April 14). Here are the music and music-related individuals who sang their final song in April 2021: Morris "B.B." Dickerson (April 2, long illness, age 71): founding member and bassist for the rock/funk band War. Ralph Schuckett (April 2, illness, age 73): the keyboardist for Todd Rundgren's band Utopia. Sadly, he passed just over a month before it was announced that Rundgren was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bill Owen (April 7, unknown cause, age 85): Dolly Parton's uncle helped her career immensely, including driving her to concerts when she was a teenager. He also co-wrote the Bill Phillips hit "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" with Dolly. Quinton Claunch (April 10, natural causes, age 99): one-time Memphis session musician who founded Hi Records and later Goldwax Records, the latter featuring the James Carr hit "The Dark End of the Street." Shay Healy (April 10, unknown cause, age 78): Irish songwriter who wrote "What's Another Year," which was Ireland's winning Eurovision song in 1980. *Rusty Young (April 14, heart attack, age 75): Steel Guitar Hall of Famer. The co-founder of the legendary and widely influential country-rock band Poco. He also sang lead on their biggest hit, "Crazy Love." Felix Silla (April 16, pancreatic cancer, age 84): primarily known as the actor who played Cousin Itt on The Addams Family, he was also a musician who had his own act, the Original Harmonica Band, in Vegas. Barry Mason (April 16, unknown cause, age 85): songwriter whose best-known composition was "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes" by Edison Lighthouse. Robert Lanois (April 19, unknown cause, age 73): the brother of U2 producer/engineer Daniel Lanois was also a record engineer. *Jim Steinman (April 19, illness, age 72): Songwriters Hall of Famer. He had a hit with "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through," but his primary contribution to music was as the man behind the songs that made Meat Loaf a superstar with Bat Out of Hell. Les McKeown (April 20, unknown cause, age 65): lead singer for the 70s teenybopper group the Bay City Rollers. Joe Long (April 21, COVID-19, age 88): one-time bassist for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Al Schmitt (April 26, natural causes, age 91): recording engineer who won a whopping 23 Grammy awards in his career, including recordings as diverse as Henry Mancini, Toto, and Jackson Browne. Farewell, and thank you for the music. The late Jim Steinman, performing his hit "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" (which Meat Loaf later covered and made a hit again):