Kenny Rogers

Kenny Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted more than 120 hit singles across various genres, topping the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual weeks in the United States alone. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide during his lifetime, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His fame and career spanned multiple genres: jazz, folk, pop, rock, and country. He remade his career and was one of the most successful cross-over artists of all time.

Avicii

Tim Bergling (8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii, was a Swedish record producer and DJ. At age 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal.He rose to prominence in 2011 with his single "Levels". His debut studio album, True (2013), blended electronic music with elements of multiple genres and received generally positive reviews. It peaked in the top 10 in more than 15 countries and topped international charts; the lead single, "Wake Me Up", topped most music markets in Europe and reached number four in the United States.

In 2015, Bergling released his second studio album, Stories, and in 2017 he released an EP, Avīci (01).His catalog also included the singles "I Could Be the One" with Nicky Romero, "You Make Me", "X You", "Hey Brother", "Addicted to You", "The Days", "The Nights", "Waiting for Love", "Without You", and "Lonely Together". 

Bergling was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on "Sunshine" with David Guetta in 2012 and "Levels" in 2013. Several music publications credit Bergling as among the DJs who ushered electronic music into Top 40 radio in the early 2010s.

In 2019, his third and final album, Tim, was released posthumously

Roy Orbison

Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's music is mostly in the rock genre and his most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s. His music was described by critics as operatic,tcitation needed] earning him the nicknames "The Caruso of Rock" and "The Big O". Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male rock-and-roll performers projected machismo. He performed with minimal motion and in black clothes, matching his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses.

Born in Texas, Orbison began singing in a rockabilly and country-and-western band as a teenager. He was signed by Sam Phillips of Sun Records in 1956, but enjoyed his greatest success with Monument Records. From 1960 to 1966, 22 of Orbison's singles reached the Billboard Top 40. He wrote or co-wrote almost all of his own Top 10 hits, including "Only the Lonely" (1960), "Running Scared" (1961), "Crying" (1961), "In Dreams" (1963), and "Oh, Pretty Woman" (1964).

After the mid-1960s Orbison suffered a number of personal tragedies, and his career faltered. He experienced a resurgence in popularity in the 1980s, following the success of several cover versions of his songs. In 1988, he co-founded the Traveling Wilburys supergroup with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne. Orbison died of a heart attack that December at age 52. One month later, his song "You Got It" (1989) was released as a solo single, becoming his first hit to reach both the US and UK Top 10 in nearly 25 years.

John Mayall

John Mayall  (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer.

In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians. A singer, guitarist, harmonica player, and keyboardist, he had a career that spanned nearly seven decades, remaining an active musician until his death aged 90. Mayall has often been referred to as the "godfather of the British blues", and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical influence category in 2024.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mayall

 Little Richard

Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter.

He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Architect of Rock and Roll", Richard's most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s, when his charismatic showmanship and dynamic music, characterized by frenetic piano playing, pounding backbeat and powerful raspy vocals, laid the foundation for rock and roll. Richard's innovative emotive vocalizations and uptempo rhythmic music played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk. He influenced singers and musicians across musical genres from rock to hip hop; his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Richard

Robert Palmer

Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003) was an English singer and songwriter.

He was known for his powerful and soulful voice, his sartorial elegance, and his stylistic explorations, combining soul, funk, jazz, rock, pop, reggae, and blues. Over his four-decade career, Palmer is perhaps best known for the song "Addicted to Love" and its accompanying video, which came to "epitomise the glamour and excesses of the 1980s".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Palmer

Ben E King

Benjamin Earl King ( September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He rose to prominence as one of the principal lead singers of the R&B vocal group the Drifters, notably singing the lead vocals on three of their biggest hit singles "There Goes My Baby", "This Magic Moment", and "Save the Last Dance for Me" (their only U.S. No. 1 hit).

As a soloist, King is best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", which became a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later in 1986 (when it was used as the theme to the film of the same name), and a number one hit in the United Kingdom in 1987.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_E._King

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935 – October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studio in New Orleans, Louisiana, and early recordings in 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. "Crazy Arms" sold 300,000 copies in the Southern United States, but it was his 1957 hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" that shot Lewis to worldwide fame. He followed this with the major hits "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless", and "High School Confidential".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Lee_Lewis

                               Kris Kristofferson

Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American country singer, songwriter, and actor.

Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night", all of which were hits for other artists.

In 1985, Kristofferson joined fellow country artists Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash in the country music supergroup the Highwaymen, which was a key creative force in the outlaw country music movement that eschewed the traditional Nashville country music machine in favor of independent songwriting and producing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kristofferson

Liam Payne

Liam James Payne (29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024) was an English singer and songwriter.

He was best known as a member of the pop group One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.Payne twice appeared as a solo auditionee on the British television series The X Factor; in the 2010 series, he was invited to join the newly formed One Direction, who placed third and went on to achieve global success.

After One Direction's hiatus in 2016, Payne pursued a solo career, signing with Republic Records in North America. In 2017, he released his debut solo single "Strip That Down", which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart and number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100, and was certified platinum in both countries. His debut studio album, LP1, was released in December 2019. During the first three years of his solo career, Payne sold over 18 million singles, 2.4 million albums, and amassed 3.9 billion streams.In addition to his solo work, Payne produced remixes under the monikers "Big Payno" and "Payno". He collaborated with other artists and remixed tracks for both his group and singer Cheryl.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Payne

Johnny Cash 

John R. Cash ( February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. 
Most of Cash's music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career . He was known for his deep, calm, bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his backing band, the Tennessee Three, that was characterized by its train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, and his free prison concerts. Cash wore a trademark all-black stage wardrobe, which earned him the nickname "Man in Black".
 He traditionally began his concerts by introducing himself with "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash".He began to follow that by "Folsom Prison Blues", one of his signature songs. His other signature songs include "I Walk the Line", "Ring of Fire", "Get Rhythm", and "Man in Black".
During the last stage of his career, he covered songs by contemporary rock artists; among his most notable covers were "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails, "Rusty Cage" by Soundgarden, and "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode.

Cash is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 90 million records worldwide. His genre-spanning music embraced country, rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, folk, and gospel sounds. This crossover appeal earned him the rare honor of being inducted into the Country Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Music Halls of Fame.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Cash

Paul Di'Anno

Paul Andrews (17 May 1958 – 21 October 2024), better known by his stage name Paul Di'Anno, was an English heavy metal singer who was the lead vocalist for Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981.

In his post-Maiden career, Di'Anno issued numerous albums over the years, as both a solo artist and as a member of bands such as Gogmagog, Di'Anno's Battlezone, Killers, Rockfellas, and Warhorse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Di%27Anno

Phil Lesh

Philip Chapman Lesh (March 15, 1940 – October 25, 2024) was an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career.

After the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of Grateful Dead family music with side project Phil Lesh and Friends, which paid homage to the Dead's music by playing their repertoire, as well as songs of the members of his own group. Lesh operated a music venue called Terrapin Crossroads. From 2009 to 2014, he performed in Furthur alongside former Grateful Dead bandmate Bob Weir. He scaled back his touring regimen in 2014 but continued to perform with the Lesh family band, Phil, Cory, Heidi, and Joseph Lesh through early 2024.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Lesh

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert Sinatra ( December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998 ) was an American singer and actor. 
Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes," he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the mid-20th century. Sinatra is among the world's best-selling music artists, with an estimated 150 million record sales globally.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinatra

Quincy Jones

Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer.
 His career spanned over 70 years, with 28 Grammy Awards won out of 80 nominations, and a Grammy Legend Award in 1992.

Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor before working on pop music and film scores. He moved easily between genres, producing pop hit records for Lesley Gore in the early 1960s (including "It's My Party") and serving as an arranger and conductor for several collaborations between the jazz artists Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. In 1968, Jones became the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "The Eyes of Love" from the film Banning. Jones was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score for his work on the 1967 film In Cold Blood, making him the first African American to be nominated twice in the same year. Jones produced three of the most successful albums by pop star Michael Jackson: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987). In 1985, Jones produced and conducted the charity song "We Are the World", which raised funds for victims of famine in Ethiopia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincy_Jones

Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Genius". Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother Ray". Charles was blinded during childhood, possibly due to glaucoma.

Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records. He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, notably with his two Modern Sounds albums. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company.

Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'

by Ray Charles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Charles

Michael Hutchence

Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian singer.
 He was the co-founder, lead singer, and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. The band sold over 50 million records worldwide, making them one of Australia's highest-selling music acts of all time. They were also inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001.

Hutchence was also a member of the short-lived band Max Q and recorded some solo material, alongside acting in films such as Dogs in Space (1986) and Frankenstein Unbound (1990). 

By My Side

by INXS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hutchence

Marie Fredriksson

Gun-Marie Fredriksson ( 30 May 1958 – 9 December 2019) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, pianist, and lead vocalist of pop-rock duo Roxette, which she formed in 1986 with Per Gessle. The duo achieved international success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with their albums Look Sharp! (1988) and Joyride (1991), and had multiple hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four number ones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Fredriksson

Marc Bolan

Marc Bolan ( born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan strongly influenced artists of many genres, including glam rock, punk, post-punk, new wave, indie rock, Britpop and alternative rock. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of T. Rex .

In the late 1960s, he rose to fame as the founder and leader of the psychedelic folk band Tyrannosaurus Rex, with whom he released four critically acclaimed albums and had one minor hit "Debora". Bolan had started as an acoustic singer-writer before heading into electric music prior to the recording of T. Rex's first single "Ride a White Swan" which went to number two in the UK singles chart. From 1970 to 1973, T. Rex encountered a popularity in the UK comparable to that of the Beatles, with a run of eleven top ten singles, four of which reached number one: "Hot Love", "Get It On", "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru". The 1971 album Electric Warrior, with all songs written by Bolan, received critical acclaim, reached number 1 in the UK and became a landmark album in glam rock. From 1973, he started marrying rock with other influences, including funk, soul, gospel, disco and R&B.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Bolan