Bands at The Great Gig in the Sky

[Joey Russ 7,227]

The topic of seeing which members of music groups are still alive and which bands are completely dead has been discussed a lot on the forums, but as far as I can tell, there was never a thread for this topic. So I made a topic on this discussion. Obviously it isn’t as clear as film casts, as bands often have many lineup changes within their career, so it might be better at this point to look at different lineups. For example, all four Ramones who appeared on their debut (and most acclaimed album) is dead, but Marky Ramone, who replaces Tommy in their later albums, is still alive. That said, some classic lineups can be safely considered dead, like the previously mentioned Ramones, Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Motörhead. There are also groups who are almost all dead, like The Bee Gees, Cream, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. So, what bands/band lineups can we safely consider to be deceased? I think it’d be interesting to discuss...

[Joey Russ 7,227]

Music duos can count if you want too.

[msc 18,472]

Well for duos you've got the London Boys, two UK top ten hits in the 80s, who both died when their car was hit on a tour by a drunk driver in 1996.

 

 

 

Yes, it does get stuck in your head over and over and over again...

[Slackhurst Broadcasting 374]

There's the Arrows ("Touch Too Much" and "I Love Rock And Roll"), whose guitarist and singer Alan Merrill died of coronavirus the other week. The other two members of the original trio had died within the last decade or so.

[Joey Russ 7,227]

I know someone is going to take note that the entire Viola Beach died when their car fell off a bridge a few years back, so in before somebody does...

[Slackhurst Broadcasting 374]

Re bands with a lot of members, Canned Heat have 53 present and former members listed on Wikipedia, 17 of whom are deceased.

[Joey Russ 7,227]

We’re going to have to wait for Jerry Allison before we can cross off the original Crickets line up. Also of note, Bowie’s group during his glam era The Spiders From Mars only feature one original member as well, that being Mick Woodmansy

[Toast 16,140]

I suspect some bands are like Trigger's broom.

[msc 18,472]

The original Dubliners are all the pub in the sky, and of the main 5 man group (Drew/Terry/McKenna/Bourke/Sheahan), only John Sheahan lives.

[YoungWillz 21,046]

Fairly similar title here:

 

Hmm.

[Joey Russ 7,227]

4 minutes ago, YoungWillz said:

Fairly similar title here:

 

Hmm.

It’s a bit different there. That one focused on which bands will never reunite (say, The Smiths won’t reunite cause Morrisey doesn’t want that to happen) whereas this one is focused on those bands who members have actually all died or are close to all dying out. Might need to change the title to differentiate the two, but not sure what it could change too...

[Toast 16,140]

9 minutes ago, Joey Russ said:

It’s a bit different there. That one focused on which bands will never reunite (say, The Smiths won’t reunite cause Morrisey doesn’t want that to happen) whereas this one is focused on those bands who members have actually all died or are close to all dying out. Might need to change the title to differentiate the two, but not sure what it could change too...

 

Think that's splitting hairs.

[Persephone 14]

The classic T. Rex lineup of 1971-73 is long gone with the exception of drummer Bill Legend. Bolan's partner Steve Peregrin Took from the band's first incarnation as a duo is also dead, but there are a handful of later members still living.  

[YoungWillz 21,046]

18 minutes ago, Joey Russ said:

It’s a bit different there. That one focused on which bands will never reunite (say, The Smiths won’t reunite cause Morrisey doesn’t want that to happen) whereas this one is focused on those bands who members have actually all died or are close to all dying out. Might need to change the title to differentiate the two, but not sure what it could change too...

 

8 minutes ago, Toast said:

 

Think that's splitting hairs.

I don't know enough about the distinction to make a call Joey, Toast may be right.

 

If there's enough of a difference, the similar titles going to be confusing, and the current one here is practically unsearchable, "gig" and "sky" not going to help, so you are left with "great".

[YoungWillz 21,046]

And indeed "bands". Ha! 

[Joey Russ 7,227]

2 minutes ago, YoungWillz said:

 

I don't know enough about the distinction to make a call Joey, Toast may be right.

 

If there's enough of a difference, the similar titles going to be confusing, and the current one here is practically unsearchable, "gig" and "sky" not going to help, so you are left with "great".

Well, there is a mention of ABBA in this thread, a band where all four members a clearly alive both back in 2006 and today.

 

On 04/12/2006 at 10:36, Vinegar Tits said:

Surprised there's been no mention of Abba in this thread yet.

 

I believe that thread is focused on bands that aren’t getting back together, which is a bit of a difference than seeing which bands have their members actually die. So I think there’s a distinct difference. 

[YoungWillz 21,046]

4 minutes ago, Joey Russ said:

Well, there is a mention of ABBA in this thread, a band where all four members a clearly alive both back in 2006 and today.

 

 

I believe that thread is focused on bands that aren’t getting back together, which is a bit of a difference than seeing which bands have their members actually die. So I think there’s a distinct difference. 

Well, good luck with it. 

[Slackhurst Broadcasting 374]

Incidentally Caravan are still going. Their drummer Richard Coughlan lived till 2013, and all the other members past and present are still alive.

[Youth in Asia 1,087]

The classic Tight Fit lineup is still intact (Grant/Gyngell/Harris)

[harrymcnallysblueandwhitearmy 1,689]

1 hour ago, Youth in Asia said:

The classic Tight Fit lineup is still intact (Grant/Gyngell/Harris)

 

Excuse my ignorance, but who was in the non-classic line-up? 

[harrymcnallysblueandwhitearmy 1,689]

5 hours ago, Toast said:

 

Think that's splitting hairs.

 

Agree - a niche thread among niches if ever there was one. The sort of subject that pops up every now and then, like a virus (or summat)

 

 

[DemBones 36]

50’s one-hit wonder group The Penguins (“Earth Angel”) has no surviving original members as of last year.

 

The Blue Moon Boys (Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and DJ Fontana), Elvis Presley’s original backing band, have all passed on - the last one died in 2018.

 

Duke Fakir (age 84) is the last original member of The Four Tops

 

I looked up Manfred Mann out of curiosity and found that all of their former members except Jack Bruce are actually still alive, and in fact they’re another band that would qualify for the “all members made it to age 70” list that was being tossed around last week.

[Spade_Cooley 9,527]

The Ink Spots had ten members during their original run, all of who are now dead. Impressively the last one only died in 2009 aged 105 (Huey Long)

 

Bands with surprisingly high death rates considering when they had their recording careers:

 

LFO - debut album 1999, 2/3 already dead (Rich Cronin in 2010, Devin Lima in 2018)

Original line up of Slum Village - debut album 1997, 2/3 already dead (J Dilla in 2006, Baatin in 2009)

Cali Swag District - debut album 2011, 2/4 already dead (M-Bone in 2011, JayAre in 2014)

[Joey Russ 7,227]

Is the Glenn Miller Orchestra (the original one) the oldest group that we can’t cross out yet since we’re still waiting on Ray Anthony? 

[Spade_Cooley 9,527]

I think this is the release that has the oldest living person on it, Al G. Wright is still with us aged 103 (turns 104 in July).