One of our saddest jobs at SoulTracks is to inform SoulTrackers about the deaths of soul music artists. And 2024 is a year in which we have lost some great ones.
We feel it is part of our mission to pay tribute to the legacies of these all time greats. On this page we provide a list of those artists who have died during 2024, and a link to our extensive tributes to them. They are shown in the order of the date we reported on their deaths during the year.
Rest in peace, friends.
Les McCann (jazz great)
Marlena Shaw (singer)
Michael Watford (house singer)
Cynthia Garrison of The Three Degrees
Henry Fambrough of The Spinners
Etterlene DeBarge (matriarch of the DeBarge family)
Ernest “Bilbo” Berger of Heatwave
Everett Collins (drummer for the Isley Brothers)
Kevin Toney (jazz pianist)
Vincent Bonham of Raydio
Joe Blunt of The Drifters
Donald Hepburn of Pleasure
Casey Benjamin (musician and producer)
Arthur “Pooch Tavares (of the group Tavares)
Mandisa (Gospel singer, American Idol alum)
David Sanborn (jazz saxophonist)
Peggi Blu (singer)
Angela Bofill (singer)
Cedric Napoleon of Pieces of a Dream
Duke Fakir of The Four Tops
Winzell Kelly of The Dramatics
Maurice Williams (singer)
Russell Stone of R&J Stone
Charles Simmons (songwriter)
Russell Malone (jazz guitarist)
Pat Lewis (singer)
Frankie Beverly of Maze
Tito Jackson of The Jackson Five
Philip ‘Daddae’ Harvey of Soul II Soul
Benny Golson
Cat Glover (singer and Prince dancer)
Cissy Houston (singer and mother of Whitney Houston)
Quincy Jones (producer and musician)
Diva Gray (soul and disco singer)
Harry Williams of Bloodstone
