One of our saddest jobs at SoulTracks is to inform SoulTrackers about the deaths of soul music artists. And 2023 is a year in which we 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 2023, 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.
(click on links below to see full tributes)
Anita Pointer of The Pointer Sisters
Freddie White of Earth Wind & Fire
George White of The Dynamics
Grady Harmon of The Whispers
Keith Beaton of Blue Magic
Sonny Baker of The Dynamics
Barrett Strong (Motown writer and singer)
Charlie Thomas of The Drifters
Lillian Walker-Moss of The Exciters
Chuck Jackson (singer)
Wayne Shorter (jazz legend)
James Holland of The Holidays
Leon Hughes of the Coasters
Bobby Caldwell (singer and songwriter)
Fuzzy Haskins of Parliament Funkadelic
Peggy Scott-Adams (singer)
“Sweet Charles” Sherrell (James Brown music director)
Ronald Coleman of The Broadways
Booker Newberry (singer)
Otis Redding III (singer and musician)
Isaac Wiley of The Dazz Band
Harry Belafonte (singer and activist)
Tina Turner (singer)
Vicki Anderson (singer)
Bobby Eli (songwriter and producer)
Toussaint McCall (singer)
Clarence Avant (music empresario)
Wendell B (Blues singer)
Sunny Hawkins (Gospel singer)
Katherine Anderson of The Marvelettes
Fred Lewis of Lakeside
Rudolph Isley of The Isley Brothers
Richard Roundtree (actor and singer)
George Brown of Kool & the Gang
Nidra Beard of Dynasty
Amp Fiddler (singer and musician)