18 Soul Music Artists who have died in 2025

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One of our saddest jobs at SoulTracks is to inform SoulTrackers about the deaths of soul music artists. And 2025 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 running list of those artists who have died during 2025, 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.

Sam Moore of Sam & Dave

Brenton Wood (soul singer)

Gary Grier of The Contours

Bobby Hamilton of Choice Four

Irv Gotti (hip-hop legend)

Jerry Butler (singer and politician)

Gwen McCrae (soul and disco singer)

Roberta Flack (singer and educator)

Chris Jasper (Isley Brothers and solo artist)

Angie Stone (soul singer)

Harry Elston of The Friends of Distinction

Randy Brown (singer)

Roy Ayers (jazz and R&B legend)

D’Wayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Tone!

Beau Dozier (musician and producer)

Stedman Pearson of Five Star

Sheri Osborne (wife and manager of Jeffrey Osborne)

Fred Jenkins of The Gap Band

Clarence “Chet” Willis of the Ohio Players

Ann Sexton (Southern Soul singer)

Lenny Welch (Pop and Soul singer)

J.T. Carter of The Crests

Eddie Fluellen of Switch

Nino Tempo of The Wrecking Crew

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