The year’s greatest musical highlight to me had been unthinkable for 16 years: an Oasis reunion concert. The comically feuding Gallagher brothers who dissolved the band in 2009, and had traded vicious insults since, somehow managed to play 41 shows across 5 continents in front of over 2.2 million disbelieving fans, reportedly grossing in excess of $400 million. Hell yeah. Did I complete a bucket list item seeing them re-appear, clasped hands held aloft as they strode triumphantly onto a stadium stage together in Wales? No, I did not. (add that, instead, to my “buffet of regrets”). Still, the existence of the prior sentence, as previously likely as one reporting sightings of pigs flying, is enough for me. And it renews hope, I suppose, that anything is possible.

On the other hand, 2025 marked a year of altogether too many dispiriting departures in the music world. Let’s face it, given the demographics of the classic rock characters, this is only going to continue and get worse. Yet the breadth of losses was no less jarring, either at the time they occurred or when assessing as a calendar year aggregate. Which is what I did this week, and what I now offer as a review. Though it may, admittedly, be a bit glib, everyone does love lists. So I’m presenting it here as an R.I.P. Top 20 for 2025 – arranged primarily for their overall significance but also as viewed through the lens of how much their deaths specifically affected the world inhabited by So Much Great Music. Several of these struck me deeply, and, in some way, personally (while a couple of others, as you’ll see, just did not).

So let’s get started, tracking some music greats whose time sadly ended.

SMGM’s Top 20 “In Memoriam” for 2025

20. Donna Jean Godchaux – The powerful female voice in the Grateful Dead from 1972-1979.
19. D’Angelo – The neo-soul crooner became a reluctant icon of sultry ‘90’s R&B.
18. Flaco Jiménez – The dean of roots/country-rock accordion, he helped popularize Tejano/Conjunto music into Tex-Mex.
17. Todd Snider – An occasional misfit and shrewd songwriting hero to outlaw country insiders.
16. Mick Ralphs – He pounded melodic power chords as guitarist for Mott The Hoople and Bad Company.
15. Chuck Mangione – Among some 30 album releases, his flowing jazz-pop composition ‘Feels So Good’ was possibly the last hit instrumental song.
14. Bobby Whitlock – The other grief-stricken voice wailing alongside Eric Clapton in Derek & the Dominos.
13. Brent Hinds – The prog-metal mastermind of powerhouse Mastodon.
12. David Johansen – Groundbreaker with the New York Dolls, then rules-breaker reinvented as Buster Poindexter.
11. Rick Derringer – He sang the garage rock classic ‘Hang on Sloopy’ fronting The McCoys and firebombed ‘Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo’ into a classic rock staple.

A quick break for what were basically One-Hit Wonders but still impactful artists:

• Jesse Colin Young – His tune ‘Get Together’ with The Youngbloods was as emblematic as any idealistic, counterculture song of the ‘60’s.
• Marianne Faithfull – Mick Jagger’s muse for four years, her recording of ‘As Tears Go By’ was a hit before his with The Stones.
• Lou Christie – A striking falsetto often mistaken for Frankie Valli rang out in ‘Lightning Strikes.’
• Carl Carlton – Actually two enduring ‘70’s R&B gems, with both ‘Everlasting Love’ and ‘She’s a Bad Mama Jama.’

Alright, back to the demise countdown with the Top 10.

10. Jimmy Cliff – A pioneer who introduced reggae, and Jamaican culture, to a world audience, becoming a mentor to Bob Marley in the process.
9. Roberta Flack – The sublime singer of immortal ballads such as ‘Killing Me Softly’ and duets like ‘Where Is the Love’ with Donny Hathaway.
8. Rick Davies – On vocals, songwriting, and especially the Wurlitzer keyboard, he co-created the distinctive radiance of Supertramp.
7. Joe Ely – A country troubadour and raconteur with punk bonafides (that’s Ely hollering in Spanish in the background of The Clash’s ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go,’ among other products of his long friendship with Joe Strummer).
6. Sam Moore – His eruptive, gospel-infused tenor as half of Sam & Dave drove crossover leaps and helped them become history’s most successful soul duo.

By the way, this seems like the right time to mention two big names you will not find listed here: Ozzy Osbourne and Ace Frehley. It’s unbecoming to speak ill of the dead, so I’ll just say that their music (with Black Sabbath and Kiss, respectively) meant next to nothing to me. Moving on.

5. Garth Hudson – A mad professor on keyboards, he had been the last surviving member of The Band, the original Americana group before that category even existed.
4. Raul Malo – As leader of The Mavericks as well as solo, “The Pavarotti of Americana” had one of the most spectacular voices I’ve ever heard.
3. Steve Cropper – A pivotal shaper of generational Memphis soul music at Stax Records, he’s also the Steve being addressed when “Play it, Steve!” gets shouted in ‘Soul Man.’
2. Sly Stone – The eccentric leader of his eponymous family band, he fused unity and revolution while making the poppiest of pop music with the funkiest of funk nastiness.
1. Brian Wilson – A visionary genius, summer’s poet laureate, and probably the greatest American composer-arranger in popular music history. His good vibrations will live forever.

Happy New Year, and here’s to, hopefully, more highlights and fewer farewells in 2026. As Brian might’ve said, wouldn’t it be nice.