Richard Swift Dies; Musician Was 41 Years Old

Richard Swift, a musician best known for playing with the Shins, Black Keys, and the Arcs, passed away on Tuesday morning, his representative has confirmed.

He was 41 years old.

This sad piece of news was confirmed to Pitchfork, which writes that Swift died in Tacoma, Washington several hours ago.

Swift had been suffering from an undisclosed “life-threatening condition,” insiders have reported, as a GoFundMe was launched last month to pay for his medical expenses.

The musician was also a solo artist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist.

He played with the Shins from 2011–2016; was a touring bassist for the Black Keys in 2014; a drummer for Dan Auerbach’s side project the Arcs; and a keyboardist for Starflyer 59.

Swift’s extensive resume included work with Sharon Van Etten, Guster, Foxygen and others from across various genres.

“Today the world lost one of the most talented musicians I know,” Auerbach wrote on Instagram.

As you can see above, a post on Swift’s Facebook page reads as follows:

“And all the angels sing ‘Que Sera Sera.’”

In just 13 days las month, the aforementioned GoFundMe campaign raised over $ 87,000.

This is what it stated at the time:

“Dear friends of Swift, Richard needs your love and support now as he is up against some tough odds. He has been hospitalized due to a serious medical condition.

“He is receiving excellent care in Tacoma Washington and everything is being done to allow his body time to repair and heal.

“He is uninsured and the cost of the care he is getting is a lot. If you can afford to share the weight of this burden, it would be most deeply appreciated. Anything helps.

“Mostly, thank you for supporting our beloved Richard and his family.”

In an update just a few days later, Swift was seemingly doing a lot better.

Read this update:

“Thank you so much for your support, friends!! We are so grateful you have extended so much generosity and love to our beloved Swift.

“He has been making some progress the last two days and Drs are impressed with the way be has been responding to the care he’s been getting.

“I wanted to let you know I have set up your donations to go directly into Richard’s bank account so that bills can be paid and expenses met while he is staying in the hospital.”

Concluded this post:

“I will continue to post updates here. Thank you again for all your donations!! This campaign will not only help pay medical bills, your kind words and hope are very encouraging.

“It means the world to the whole family.”

Tragically, it’s now evident that Swift never did recover from this illness.

May he rest in peace.

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Avicii Dies: Swedish DJ and Musician Was 28

Sad news out of the music world today, as several sources have now confirmed that the wildly popular Swedish DJ and music producer known as Avicii has passed away.

The artist – whose real name was Tim Berling – was just 28 years old.

“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the loss of Tim Bergling, also known as Avicii,” reads a publicist’s statement issued moments ago.

“He was found dead in Muscat, Oman this Friday afternoon local time, April 20th. The family is devastated and we ask everyone to please respect their need for privacy in this difficult time. No further statements will be given.” 

A two-time Grammy nominee, Avicii scored a number of international hits during his tragically foreshortened career.

He is best known for making music that transcended the world of EDM to achieve mainstream success on Top 40 radio, as well as in film and television soundtracks.

Songs such as “Wake Me Up,” “Hey, Brother,” and “Without You,” helped make Avicii one of the most revered performers in his genre

No cause of death has been announced, but Avicii’s health issues and struggles with alcoholism have been well-documented over the years.

In 2016, he retired from performing live in order to focus on his health, but in an online message to fans, Avicii stated that he felt he had many years of making music to look forward to:

“WE ALL REACH A POINT IN OUR LIVES AND CAREERS WHERE WE UNDERSTAND WHAT MATTERS THE MOST TO US,” he wrote.

“For me it’s creating music. That is what I live for, what I feel I was born to do.”

“Last year I quit performing live, and many of you thought that was it. But the end of live never meant the end of Avicii or my music. Instead, I went back to the place where it all made sense – the studio.

“The next stage will be all about my love of making music to you guys. It is the beginning of something new.”

News of Avicii’s death instantly made his name a worldwide trending topic on Twitter with tributes pouring in from friends, family, and fans all over the globe.

Many have quoted one of Avicii’s most beloved songs, “The Nights,” which begins with a recording of a young man saying:

“When I die, I want to be remembered for the life I lived, not the money I made.”

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Grammys 2018 Gift Bag Perfect For Traveling Musician

None of the Grammy nominees will be going home empty-handed, because the Grammys gift bag is filled with thousands of dollars worth of swag that’s perfect for the traveling musician or pop star, especially if they’re an animal lover or just lonely…

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Walter Becker Dies; Steely Dan Musician Was 67

The world has lost yet another legendary musician today …

Walter Becker, one of the co-founders of Steely Dan, passed away earlier this morning.

He was only 67 years old.

The announcement of his death was first made on his personal website, with no other information than the date of his birth and today’s date — the day he passed.

As of now, we don’t know the cause of death, but we do know that he was having health problems earlier this summer that caused him to miss some Steely Dan concerts.

Donald Fagen, the other co-founder of the band, said in July that ‘Walter’s recovering from a procedure and hopefully he’ll be fine very soon.”

Tragically, as we know now, that was not to be the case.

Walter and Donald founded Steely Dan together all the way back in 1972, with Walter playing guitar and bass and co-writing the songs with Donald.

They were successful up until 1981 when they broke up, but they reunited in 1993, and they’ve been touring since then.

Though we don’t have any details about Walter’s death at this time, we do have a touching tribute written by Donald for his longtime bandmate and friend.

Read the tribute in full below:

Walter Becker was my friend, my writing partner and my bandmate since we met as students at Bard College in 1967.

We started writing nutty little tunes on an upright piano in a small siting room in the lobby of Ward Manor, a mouldering old mansion on the Hudson River that the college used as a dorm.

We liked a lot of the same things: jazz (from the twenties through the mid-sixties), W.C. Fields, the Marx brothers, science fiction, Nabokov, Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Berger, and Robert Altman films come to mind.

Also soul music and Chicago blues.

Walter had a very rough childhood — I’ll spare you the details. Luckily, he was smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter.

He was cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny.

Like a lot of kids from fractured families, he had the knack of creative mimicry, reading people’s hidden psychology and transforming what he saw into bubbly, incisive art.

He used to write letters (never meant to be sent) in my wife Libby’s singular voice that made the three of us collapse with laughter.

His habits got the best of him by the end of the seventies, and we lost touch for a while.

In the eighties, when I was putting together the NY Rock and Soul Review with Libby, we hooked up again, revived the Steely Dan concept and developed another terrific band.

I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band.

Our condolences to the people close to Walter — it sounds like he will be missed.

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Chuck Berry Dies; Legendary Musician Was 90

Chuck Berry, the long-time musician who many credit with popularizing the entire genre of rock ‘n roll, Saturday in Missouri, the St. Charles County police has confirmed.

He was 90 years old.

“St. Charles County police responded to a medical emergency on Buckner Road at approximately 12:40 p.m. today (Saturday, March 18),” the department said via statement this afternoon.

The statement continued as follows:

“Inside the home, first responders observed an unresponsive man and immediately administered lifesaving techniques. Unfortunately, the 90-year-old man could not be revived and was pronounced deceased at 1:26 p.m.

“The St. Charles County Police Department sadly confirms the death of Charles Edward Anderson Berry Sr., better known as legendary musician Chuck Berry.”

Concludes the post, which was written on Facebook: 

“The family requests privacy during this time of bereavement.”

The singing, guitar playing and general showmanship of Berry have often been credited as having enormous influence on Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys, among other legends.

The latter group’s “Surfin’ USA,” for example, so overly copied Berry’s song “Sweet Little Sixteen” that the rock pioneer complained and was eventually given a co-writing credit on the track.

Berry performed for over seven decades.

His best known hits likely remain Roll Over Beethoven, My Ding-a-Ling, Maybelline (his first real hit, released in 1955) and Johnny B. Goode.

The veteran musician received a lifetime achievement Grammy Award in 1984 and was among the first inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

By the late 1970s, after years of success in the spotlight, Berry career took a nosedive.

In 1979, was found guilty of tax evasion and sentenced to four months in prison.

However, he remained a worshiped figure by the music icons he had inspired.

When Keith Richards inducted Berry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, saying at the time that he “lifted every lick” that Berry ever played for himself.

Upon learning of his death, motown group The Jacksons Tweeted the following:

“Chuck Berry merged blues & swing into the phenomenon of early rock’n’roll. In music, he cast one of the longest shadows. Thank You Chuck.”

Expect many more tributes to follow.

We send our condolences to those who knew Chuck Berry best. What a legend.

May he rest in peace.

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Guru Josh Dies; Pioneering EDM Musician Was 51

Josh Walden – the infuential EDM musician better known to fans as Guru Josh – has passed away at the age of 51.

Walden is perhaps known for his breakthrough single “Infinity,” which helped usher in the modern rave era in his native UK.

No cause of death has been officially announced, but early reports indicate that Walden committed suicide.

Walden’s body was found last night in an apartment in Ibiza, Spain that he shared with his longtime manager.

While studying to be a dentist near his childhood home on the European island of Jersey, Walden began playing keyboards with various nightclub bands.

In 1988, Walden tried the popular club drug ecstasy for the first time, and described it as a life-changing experience.

Walden made the jump from rock to house music shortly thereafter, and he released his hit debut single less than a year later.

He went on to work with several popular musicians British musicians of the time, including Seal and Adamski.

Walden remained active in the worlds of art and music throughout his life, and a 2008 remake of “Infinity” became a top 10 hit in 10 European countries, reaching number one in France and the Netherlands.

Tributes to Walden from friends, collaborators and current musicians who were influenced by his work have begun pouring in on social media.

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