2020 Obituaries Thread

[wpghi5]

Singer Helen Reddy, known for her songs “I Am Woman", “Delta Dawn”, and “Angie Baby" passed away this afternoon at the age of 78. Cause of death not disclosed though it was reported in 2015 that she was suffering from dementia.

RIP Helen Reddy. 

[pannoni1]

Ms. Reddy was also the original, and only regular host of the Midnight Special on NBC late night Fridays after Johnny.

That's two singers with a Billboard #1 hit in 1972 that have passed on in the same year, and Ms. Reddy also was a host of Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Too bad both are now considered undesirable by commercial radio, and they'll pretty much join the Patti Pages and Ray Conniff as long forgotten singers that will remain "thrift store junk" in terms of being low value.

Reddy and Davis join Don McLean, Al Green, Bill Withers, Harry Nilsson, Chuck Berry, Eugene Record (lead singer of the Chi-Lites), the Staple Singers (except for Mavis), and Sammy Davis, Jr. as performers with a #1 single from the same year the most popular version of TPIR debuted in Celebrity Heaven.

We've still got Neil Diamond, Neil Young, America (minus Dan Peek), Roberta Flack, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Mavis Staples (lead singer of the Staple Singers), Looking Glass, and Billy Paul left from the class of '72.

[SamJ93]

Billy Paul passed away in 2016.

[88JRFAN]

Stephen Barnes, one half of the famous Cellino and Barnes firm in NY passed away today in a plane crash in Pembroke, NY. He was flying with his niece and was returning from Manchester, NH. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family

[Superballer]

Kuwait's Emir Sabah IV passes on; he was 91 and had ruled for 14 years.  His half brother Nawaf I now ascends to the throne to succeed him: 

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/29/918248313/kuwaits-emir-sheikh-sabah-al-ahmad-al-sabah-dies-at-91

[JayC]

Sadly another baseball legend is gone-- St. Louis Cardinals great Bob Gibson died at age 84 after a bout with cancer.
https://sports.yahoo.com/bob-gibson-cardinals-legend-and-hall-of-fame-pitcher-dies-at-84-030215119.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALeTg1nOqjfNYXYTOnKDjWfTpxBQROFYetKtLxArpqdHauXnJGVUNXyb8TIOrjAvjrwySWvJeJWdF07I2twjXEFvOGBZrMomt4AaB1Kh_eMbZL2rcVNdnujzmUSrbTxjqq0vohxYB5Lw10A2TJpbJEpAhpa0Ayi1MNfzOuXAg-cl

[Superballer]

I had his autobiography From Ghetto to Glory, written after he'd helped lead the Cardinals to the 1967 title, as a child; it was one of my first exposures to the injustices too many African-Americans have gone through, especially in the days before civil rights legislation.  On the field, Gibson might not have been among the best remembered names in the game, but there's no denying that at his peak, there was no one who pitched better. 

[Alfonzo]

Eddie Van Halen has passed away at age 65 from cancer. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/eddie-van-halen-dead-200051/ F*** cancer.

[Off_trak]

Eddie Van Halen has passed away at age 65 from cancer. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/eddie-van-halen-dead-200051/ F*** cancer.

Whoa.. that's shocking

[SeaBreeze341]

Man that loss sucks.  I imagine Eddie is now feeling better and in a better place, but the history and legacy will live on forever.

[jude_este]

Eddie Van Halen has passed away at age 65 from cancer. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/eddie-van-halen-dead-200051/ F*** cancer.

Fork cancer indeed, as Van Halen's death was also as shock to me.

And the music industry has lost another legend today as Johnny Nash, the pop and reggae singer whose song “I Can See Clearly Now” topped the charts in 1972, has passed away at the age of 80. Cause of death was reported by his son as natural causes.

[pannoni1]

Fork cancer indeed, as Van Halen's death was also as shock to me.

And the music industry has lost another legend today as Johnny Nash, the pop and reggae singer whose song “I Can See Clearly Now” topped the charts in 1972, has passed away at the age of 80. Cause of death was reported by his son as natural causes.

I looked to have jinxed myself when I forgot to include Mr. Nash in my "Class of '72 survival club" post (which we've also lost all the classic members of the Temptations except for Otis Williams), but I guess my ESP was at work, and the "death in threes" rule prevailed again in that aspect. RIP to him and Eddie.

[moneygamelover]

Another baseball legend is gone. Whitey Ford, the Yankees all time wins leader has died at age 91

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30078282/hall-famer-whitey-ford-new-york-yankees-all-wins-leader-dies-age-91

[Ccook]

Margaret Nolan, who appeared in the films Goldfinger (as the girl covered in gold paint) and A Hard Day's Night (as the casino girl), age 76, no cause given.

[Ccook]

Cincinnati Reds legend Joe Morgan, age 77, no cause given.