Some were barely into middle age, still touring and recording. Others were in their twilight years and hadn't played onstage in ages.
Musicians who died in 2018 represented every note on the scale, from genre-blurring string wizard Roy Clark to singer Dolores O'Riordan of Ireland's alternative-rock band the Cranberries.
Dallas-Fort Worth lost two of its native sons this year: Vinnie Paul, the hard-hitting drummer for Pantera, Damageplan and Hellyeah, and jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove. Jazz fans said more than their share of goodbyes, to singer Nancy Wilson, South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela and pianists Cecil Taylor, Henry Butler and Bob Dorough.
Punk, considered a youth subculture not so long ago, lost Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks and Mark E. Smith of the Fall. Fans of 1960s and '70s rock did their share of mourning, too, for Ray Thomas of the Moody Blues, Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Marty Balin of the Jefferson Airplane.
The blues community paid its last respects to guitarists Otis Rush, Matt "Guitar" Murphy and Eddie Clearwater, as well singer Denise LaSalle and harmonica ace Lazy Lester. But the R&B world was perhaps the hardest hit of all genres, as it bid adieu to saxophonists Jay McNeely and Charles Neville, singers Dennis Edwards of the Tempations and Yvonne Staples of the Staple Singers, and of course, "The Queen of Soul" herself, Aretha Franklin.
Here are some of the dozens of notable musicians who died in 2018, starting with the most recent:
- Dec. 13: Nancy Wilson, 81, undisclosed
- Dec. 6: Pete Shelley, 63, heart attack
- Nov. 15: Roy Clark, 85, complications from pneumonia
- Nov. 2: Roy Hargrove, 49, cardiac arrest
- Oct. 24: Tony Joe White, 75, heart attack
- Oct. 2: Geoff Emerick (Beatles engineer), 72, heart attack
- Sept. 29: Otis Rush, 84, complications from stroke
- Sept. 27: Marty Balin, 76, undisclosed
- Sept. 16: Big Jay McNeely, 91, prostate cancer
- Aug. 22: Lazy Lester, 85, cancer
- Aug. 22: Ed King, 68, undisclosed
- Aug. 16: Aretha Franklin, 76, pancreatic cancer
- July 2: Henry Butler, 69, cancer
- June 22: Vinnie Paul, 54, heart disease
- June 15: Matt "Guitar" Murphy, 88, heart attack
- June 13: D.J. Fontana (Elvis Presley's band), 87, undisclosed
- June 8: Danny Kirwan (Fleetwood Mac), 68, complications from pneumonia
- June 3: Clarence Fountain (Blind Boys of Alabama), 88, complications from diabetes
- June 1: Eddy Clearwater, 83, heart failure
- May 13: Glenn Branca, 69, throat cancer
- May 4: Tony Kinman (Rank & File), 63, cancer
- April 26: Charles Neville, 79, pancreatic cancer
- April 23: Bob Dorough, 94, undisclosed
- April 10: Yvonne Staples, 80, colon cancer
- April 5: Cecil Taylor, 89, undisclosed
- March 12: Nokie Edwards (The Ventures), 82, complications of hip surgery
- Feb 11: Vic Damone, 89, respiratory disease
- Feb. 1: Dennis Edwards, 74, complications from meningitis
- Jan. 29: Eddie Shaw (Howlin' Wolf band), 80, undisclosed
- Jan. 24: Mark E. Smith (The Fall), 60, lung and kidney cancer
- Jan 23: Hugh Masekela, 78, prostate cancer
- Jan. 20: Jim Rodford (Argent/Kinks/Zombies), 76, injuries from a fall
- Jan. 16: Dave Holland (Judas Priest), 69, undisclosed
- Jan 15: Dolores O'Riordan, 46, accidental drowning due to alcohol intoxication
- Jan. 15: Edwin Hawkins, 74, pancreatic cancer
- Jan. 10: "Fast" Eddie Clarke (Motorhead), 67, complications of pneumonia
- Jan. 8: Denise LaSalle, 78, undisclosed
- Jan. 4: Ray Thomas (Moody Blues), 76, undisclosed, though he was battling prostate cancer
- Jan. 2: Rick Hall (Muscle Shoals producer-songwriter), 85, prostate cancer
