Soul Music Artists Who Died in 2026

One of our saddest jobs at SoulTracks is to inform SoulTrackers about the deaths of soul music artists.

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 running list of those artists who have died during 2026, 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.

Richard Smallwood (Gospel legend)

Josie Falbo (Chicago singer)

John Forte (Grammy nominated musician)

Bryan Loren (singer, songwriter and producer)

Sly Dunbar of Sly & Robbie

Demond Wilson of Sanford & Son

Billy Bass Nelson of Funkadelic

Steve Washington of Aurra and Slave

LaMonte McLemore of The Fifth Dimension

Garland Green (singer)

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