Music plays such an important part in our lives, and today we celebrate the artists who gained their wings into heaven with our RIP 2017 playlist. This year was a tough one as we were shaken with the unexpected news of losing a rock-and-roll legend, Tom Petty.
Our friends up north were served quite a blow when Gord Downie from the Tragically Hip lost his battle with brain cancer. Let’s not forget that we lost Chuck Berry and Fats Domino, both rock-and-roll pioneers in their own right from the ’50s and ’60s.
This year we lost another two members of the Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman and Butch Trucks. Gregg struggled for years with drugs and alcohol and in 2007 discovered he had liver cancer. Even after a liver transplant in 2007, he died from complications of liver cancer in May. Trucks was a drummer and another founding member of the band, who committed suicide earlier this year.
We lost two other artists from suicide this year: Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave, who helped pave the way for alternative/grunge music, and 41-year-old Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington.
Malcolm Young, co-founder and guitarist of AC/DC, passed at the age of 64 after suffering for years with dementia. And just last week, we learned the tragic news of 1970s teenage heartthrob David Cassidy, who passed away from organ failure.
To these and the other musicians who passed this year—thank you. Thank you for the music, and thank you for the joy you brought to the world. Rest in peace.