STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
As we end this yr, let’s hearken to a few of the musicians we misplaced in 2024.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Liam Payne was a member of the massively profitable boy band One Course. His demise on the age of 31 shocked followers again in October.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “STORY OF MY LIFE”)
ONE DIRECTION: (Singing) Appears to me that after I die these phrases will likely be written on my stone.
INSKEEP: We additionally should inform you a few member of a boy band from a distinct period, Tito Jackson of The Jackson 5. He died in September.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “I’LL BE THERE”)
THE JACKSON 5: (Singing) And I will be there (I will be there). Oh.
FADEL: The final authentic member of the 4 Tops handed away. Duke Fakir was 88.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “REACH OUT I’LL BE THERE “)
FOUR TOPS: (Singing) Hah. I will be there.
INSKEEP: And he or she could also be generally known as the mom of Whitney, however Cissy Houston was a wonderful singer in her personal proper, and we misplaced her in October.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “I’LL BE THERE”)
CISSY HOUSTON: (Singing) Deep down in my coronary heart I’ll miss you.
FADEL: One of many nice guitarists of the Allman Brothers Band, Dickey Betts, handed away this April.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND SONG, “RAMBLIN’ MAN”)
INSKEEP: And let’s hear one other guitarist, Wayne Kramer of the MC5, who additionally helped to encourage the punk motion.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “INTRO 2/KICK OUT THE JAMS”)
MC5: (Singing) Kick out the jams.
INSKEEP: And the MC5 additionally misplaced drummer Dennis Thompson and supervisor John Sinclair in 2024.
FADEL: And in Might, one of many architects of other rock died. Engineer Steve Albini produced acts just like the Pixies, PJ Harvey and Nirvana.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “HEART-SHAPED BOX”)
NIRVANA: (Singing) Hey. Wait. I acquired a brand new criticism.
INSKEEP: The influential rock band from Germany, Can, misplaced the singer of a few of their most vital work, Damo Suzuki.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “VITAMIN C”)
CAN: (Singing) You are dropping. You are dropping. You are dropping. You are dropping your vitamin C.
FADEL: Bassist Phil Lesh was a founding member of the Grateful Lifeless, and he wrote one in every of their signature songs, “Field Of Rain.” He handed away in October.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BOX OF RAIN”)
GRATEFUL DEAD: (Singing) What do need me to do to observe for you whilst you have been sleeping?
INSKEEP: Oh, and for many individuals, this one harm. Kris Kristofferson was a Rhodes scholar, a film star and in his spare time wrote some rattling fantastic songs. He was 88.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT”)
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON: (Singing) Assist me make it by means of the night time.
FADEL: And the demise of Toby Keith took numerous followers abruptly. He was one of many top-selling nation artists of his day. He was solely 62.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW?!”)
TOBY KEITH: (Singing) How do you want me now, now that I am on my manner?
INSKEEP: For those who’re simply becoming a member of us, we’re listening to a few of the musicians we misplaced in 2024.
FADEL: Ella Jenkins was known as the primary woman of kids’s music. She was 100 years previous when she handed away.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “YOU’LL SING A SONG AND I’LL SING A SONG”)
ELLA JENKINS: (Singing) You will sing a tune, and I am going to sing a tune. And we’ll sing a tune collectively.
INSKEEP: Along with his band, Maze, Frankie Beverly turned out loads of celebration music and one tune that’s the soundtrack to yard cookouts.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BEFORE I LET GO”)
MAZE: (Singing) I acquired to ensure I am proper earlier than I let go.
FADEL: And one of many masterminds of Southern hip-hop died in April. Producer Rico Wade helped craft the sounds of Goodie Mob, Future and OutKast.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “PLAYER’S BALL”)
OUTKAST: (Rapping) I made it by means of one other yr. Cannot ask for nothing far more. It is OutKast for the boots. I believed you knew, so now . Let’s go.
INSKEEP: We additionally misplaced a rapper whose verses made all of it the way in which to the Supreme Court docket. Brother Marquis was a member of two Dwell Crew. And its lyrics have been so raunchy, they examined the boundaries of free speech. And we are actually going to play you the lyrics. No, we’re not.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ME SO HORNY”)
2 LIVE CREW: (Rapping) Picked up the phone, then dialed the seven digits. Mentioned, yo, this Marquis, child. Are you down with it?
FADEL: In 2024, we misplaced the twangy guitar abilities of Duane Eddy. His sound within the Nineteen Fifties helped outline the surf rock of the subsequent decade.
(SOUNDBITE OF DUANE EDDY SONG, “REBEL ROUSER”)
INSKEEP: Oh, and this is one other signature guitar sound from Vic Flick, identified for this lick…
(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN BARRY SEVEN AND ORCHESTRA’S “THE JAMES BOND THEME”)
INSKEEP: …The unique “James Bond” theme. He was 87.
FADEL: Chita Rivera was one of many nice Broadway figures of all time. She’s maybe greatest identified for originating the function of Anita in “West Aspect Story.” She died final winter.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “AMERICA”)
UNIDENTIFIED ENSEMBLE: (As characters, singing) I prefer to be in America. OK by me in America.
INSKEEP: Conductor Seiji Ozawa led the Boston Symphony Orchestra for nearly 30 years and opened doorways for Japanese classical musicians.
(SOUNDBITE OF BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, ET AL.’S “FAURE: PELLEAS ET MELISANDE, OP.80: 1.PRELUDE. QUASI ADAGIO”)
FADEL: The clown prince of classical music died this yr as properly. Peter Schickele wrote beneath the pseudonym PDQ Bach, as he imagined what the least proficient member of the Bach household would have written.
(SOUNDBITE OF PETER SCHICKELE’S “CONCERTO FOR HORN AND HARDAR, S.27”)
INSKEEP: (Laughter) It’s good to have a good time these lives. Jazz drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath performed with everyone from Sonny Rollins to Nina Simone to John Coltrane. And on this recording, he is joined by Benny Golson, who additionally died this yr.
(SOUNDBITE OF EMMET COHEN’S “IT DON’T MEAN A THING (IF IT AIN’T GOT THAT SWING)”)
FADEL: We misplaced one other pair of jazz musicians inside days of one another final month, the bluesy saxophonist Lou Donaldson and the ingenious drummer Roy Haynes.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHICK COREA’S “MATRIX”)
INSKEEP: This is one other nice percussionist, Zakir Hussain, a grasp of the tabla, the Indian hand drums.
(SOUNDBITE OF ZAKI HUSSAIN’S “QAIDA IN FOUR”)
FADEL: I really like the tabla.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
FADEL: We additionally misplaced Sergio Mendes. He helped flip People onto bossa nova along with his band, Brasil ’66.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MAIS QUE NADA”)
BRASIL ’66: (Singing in Portuguese).
INSKEEP: And we have to spend a second with one of many biggest musical minds this nation has produced, Quincy Jones, who died on the age of 91. He began his profession as an arranger for jazz bands and for singers like Frank Sinatra.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “FLY ME TO THE MOON”)
FRANK SINATRA: (Singing) Fill my coronary heart with tune. Let me sing forevermore.
FADEL: He wrote movie scores. He wrote TV theme songs. And as a producer, Jones shaped an historic partnership with Michael Jackson, collaborating on the albums “Off The Wall,” “Dangerous” and one of many largest sellers of all time.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “THRILLER”)
MICHAEL JACKSON: (Singing) ‘Trigger that is thriller, thriller night time.
INSKEEP: By the Eighties, Quincy Jones had the credibility, the clout to convey collectively dozens of the most important stars on the planet in a single room, for one night time. And their charity’s single, “We Are The World,” raised greater than $80 million for the ravenous in Africa.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “WE ARE THE WORLD”)
USA FOR AFRICA: (Singing) We’re the world.
INSKEEP: Quincy Jones, who died final month.
FADEL: And people have been only a few of the musicians we misplaced in 2024. We’re sorry if we left off somebody you really liked.
INSKEEP: However glad to listen to these songs as soon as once more.
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