MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN JULY 2023
MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN JULY 2023
JULY 14 (THE ACTUAL DATE UNKNOWN)
ANTHONY MEO ( ) / AMERICAN HARDCORE PUNK DRUMMER, FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY BAND BIOHAZARD, SOMETIMES DESCRIBED AS HARDCORE BUT CROSSOVER OR RAP METAL IS MORE PRECISE. IT IS SAID THAT BIOHAZARD FUSED PUNK, HEAVY METAL AND HIP HOP. ANTHONY MEO FORMED THE BAND IN 1987 WITH BASS PLAYER AND SINGER EVAN SEINFELD AND GUITARIST BOBBY HAMBEL. THEN GUITARIST AND SINGER BILLY GRAZIADEI JOINED. IN 1988 BIOHAZARD RELEASED THEIR FIRST DEMO. THEY WERE OFTEN ACCUSED OF RACIST AND FASCIST VIEWS BUT THE BAND EXPLAINED IT WAS JUST A PROMOTIONAL / PUBLICITY TRICK. MEO LEFT IN 1988.
JULY 24
BRAD HOUSER (62) / AMERICAN ALTERNATIVE ROCK AND JAM ROCK MUSICIAN FROM DALLAS, TEXAS. PLAYED BASS GUITAR, BARITONE SAXOPHONE AND BASS CLARINET. WORKED WITH MANY BANDS BUT MOST FAMOUSLY WITH NEW BOHEMIANS WHICH HE CO-FOUNDED AS A TRIO IN THE EARLY 1980s, LATER TO BECOME A BIGGER GROUP KNOWN AS EDIE BRICKELL AND NEW BOHEMIANS. THEY PLAYED LOTS OF CLUB GIGS AND ONCE EVEN BACKED THE FORGOTTEN GENIUS BO DIDDLEY IN 1985. THEIR DEBUT ALBUM SHOOTING RUBBERBANDS AT THE STARS FROM 1988 CONTAINED THE SUPER HIT "WHAT I AM". IN 1993 IN WASHINGTON, SEATTLE BRAD HOUSER CO-FOUNDED ANOTHER IMPORTANT GROUP CRITTERS BUGGIN WHO MIXED PUNK, FUNK, JAZZ, INDUSTRIAL AND ROCK.
JULY 26
SINÉAD O'CONNOR (56) / AKA MAGDA DAVITT AND SHUHADA' SADAQAT, IRISH VOCALIST, MUSICIAN, SONGWRITER AND PROTEST SINGER. ALSO SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTIVIST AND FEMINIST. BEGAN CAREER AT 20, DEBUT ALBUM THE LION AND THE COBRA IN 1987 WAS A SUCCESS (INCLUDED THE HIT SINGLE "MANDINKA"). SECOND ALBUM I DO NOT WANT WHAT I HAVEN'T GOT WAS HER BIGGEST SELLER (SEVEN MILLION COPIES) AND INCLUDED THE EXCEPTIONAL SINGLE WRITTEN BY PRINCE "NOTHING COMPARES 2 U" AND SINÉAD'S VERSION WAS PERFECT. O'CONNOR MADE TEN STUDIO ALBUMS AND MOST WERE VERY SUCCESSFUL. IN 1999 WAS ORDAINED AS A PRIEST BY THE LATIN TRIDENTINE CHURCH. IN 2018 CONVERTED TO ISLAM AND CHANGED HER NAME. IN 2021 SINÉAD O'CONNOR PUBLISHED REMEMBERINGS, HER MEMOIR WHICH WAS A BEST SELLER. SHE OFTEN COLLABORATED WITH IMPORTANT ARTISTS LIKE MATT JOHNSON OF THE THE, PETER GABRIEL, JAH WOBBLE, TERRY HALL, MOBY, MASSIVE ATTACK, ANDY ROURKE (THE SMITHS), MARCO PIRRONI (ADAM AND THE ANTS), SLY & ROBBIE, IAN BROWN, MARY J. BLIGE, THE EDGE. SHE GOT MANY AWARDS, WAS GRAMMY-NOMINATED MANY TIMES AND IN 1991 GOT GRAMMY FOR I DO NOT WANT WHAT I HAVEN'T GOT. SINÉAD O'CONNOR HAD A VERY COMPLICATED LIFE PLAGUED BY MANY TRAUMAS AND PERSONAL TRAGEDIES.
RANDY MEISNER (77) / AMERICAN MUSICIAN, SINGER, SONGWRITER PLAYED BASS GUITAR AND GUITAR. FROM A FAMILY OF VOLGA GERMANS IMMIGRANTS. AT 15 PLAYED WITH THE DYNAMICS, LATER WITH THE POOR (IN 1967 FOR TWO WEEKS SUPPORTING THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE). 1968-1970 WITH POCO AND RICKY NELSON'S STONE CANYON BAND. IN SEPTEMBER 1971, WITH DON HENLEY, GLENN FREY AND BERNIE LEADON, RANDY MEISNER FORMED THE EAGLES, MAKING THE DEBUT ALBUM IN 1972. IN 1975 HE WROTE AND SANG "TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT" (ITS LYRICS WAS FINISHED BY DON HENLEY AND GLENN FREY) WHICH WAS THE THIRD SINGLE FROM THE EAGLES' FOURTH ALBUM ONE OF THESE NIGHTS AND ALSO THEIR FIRST MILLION-SELLING SINGLE. ACTUALLY MEISNER DID NOT WANT TO SOING IT AND LEFT THE EAGLES IN SEPTEMBER 1977 GOING SOLO. 1985 IN SUPERGROUP BLACK TIE. IN 2016 HIS WIFE ACCIDENTALLY SHOT AND KILLED HERSELF WITH A RIFLE, A SITUATION NOT UNUSUAL IN A COUNTRY WHICH HAS MORE GUNS THAN CITIZENS.
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