State Champ Radio obituary
Todd Snider, a singer whose thoughtfully freewheeling tunes and cosmic-stoner songwriting made him a beloved figure in American roots music, has died. He was 59.
His record label said Saturday (Nov. 15) in a statement posted to his social media accounts that Snider died Friday.
“Where do we find the words for the one who always had the right words, who knew how to distill everything down to its essence with words and song while delivering the most devastating, hilarious, and impactful turn of phrases?” the statement read. “Always creating rhyme and meter that immediately felt like an old friend or a favorite blanket. Someone who could almost always find the humor in this crazy ride on Planet Earth.”
Snider’s family and friends had said in a Friday statement that he had been diagnosed with pneumonia at a hospital in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and that his situation had since grown more complicated and he was transferred elsewhere. The diagnosis came on the heels of the cancellation of a tour after Snider had been the victim of a violent assault in the Salt Lake City area, according to a Nov. 3 statement from his management team.
But Salt Lake City police later arrested Snider himself when he at first refused to leave a hospital and later returned and threatened staffers, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
The scrapped tour was in support of his most recent album, High, Lonesome and Then Some, which released in October. Snider combined elements of folk, rock and country in a three-decade career. In reviews of his recent albums, The Associated Press called him a “singer-songwriter with the persona of a fried folkie” and a “stoner troubadour and cosmic comic.”
He modeled himself on — and at times met and was mentored by — artists like Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark and John Prine. His songs were recorded by artists including Jerry Jeff Walker, Billy Joe Shaver and Tom Jones. And he co-wrote a song with Loretta Lynn that appeared on her 2016 album, Full Circle.
“He relayed so much tenderness and sensitivity through his songs, and showed many of us how to look at the world through a different lens,” the Saturday statement from his label read. “He got up every morning and started writing, always working towards finding his place among the songwriting giants that sat on his record shelves, those same giants who let him into their lives and took him under their wings, who he studied relentlessly.”
Snider would do his best-known and most acclaimed work for Prine’s independent label Oh Boy in the early 2000s. It included the albums New Connection, Near Truths and Hotel Rooms and East Nashville Skyline, a 2004 collection that’s considered by many to be his best.
Those albums yielded his best known songs, “I Can’t Complain,” “Beer Run” and “Alright Guy.”
Snider was born and raised in Oregon before settling and making his musical chops in San Marcos, Texas. He eventually made his way to Nashville, and was dubbed by some the unofficial “mayor of East Nashville,” assuming the title from a friend memorialized thusly in his “Train Song.” In 2021, Snider said a tornado that ripped through the neighborhood home to a vibrant arts scene severely damaged his house.
Snider had an early fan in Jimmy Buffett, who signed the young artist to his record label, Margaritaville, which released his first two albums, 1994’s Songs for the Daily Planet and 1996’s Step Right Up.
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Former Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, 78, died in a hospice facility in Nashville on Sunday (Nov. 2) following a long battle with cancer according to Rolling Stone. After a successful stint as a session singer at the famed Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama where she sang backup on Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 songs by Percy Sledge (“When a Man Loves a Woman”) and Elvis Presley (“Suspicious Minds”), Godchaux-MacKay joined the Grateful Dead in San Francisco along with then-husband keyboardist Keith Godchaux, touring and performing with the band from 1971-1979.
“She was a sweet and warmly beautiful spirit, and all those who knew her are united in loss,” read the statement about her death shared with RS. “The family requests privacy at this time of grieving. In the words of Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, ‘May the four winds blow her safely home.’”
Donna Jean Thatcher was born in Florence, Ala. on Aug. 22, 1947 and began her decades-long music career as a member of the band Southern Comfort before moving on to session work, appearing on No. 1 songs by Sledge and Presley, as well as singing backup on sessions with Cher, Joe Tex, Duane Allman, Neil Diamond, Boz Scaggs and others before moving to the Bay Area and meeting Godchaux.
The couple got married in 1970 and both joined the Dead a year later, with Godchaux singing lead and backing vocals and Keith slipping into the spot formerly held by late band co-founder keyboardist/singer Ron “Pigpen” McKernan. The couple appeared on a string of the group’s classic 1970s albums, including 1973’s Wake of the Flood, 1974’s From the Mars Hotel and 1975’s Blues For Allah, on which Godchaux stepped up from the background to provide a co-lead vocal on “The Music Never Stopped” and the LP’s title suite.
She also appeared on 1976’s Steal Your Face and 1977’s Terrapin Station, where her powerful mezzo-soprano soared on the band’s disco-jam cover of Martha & the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street,” on which she shared the mic with guitarist/singer Bob Weir. She also took lead vocal duties and is credited with co-writing several songs on that album, including the gauzy ballad “Sunrise.” She took lead and composed the loose folky jam “From the Heart of Me” from the Dead’s beloved 1978 Shakedown Street LP, where she also shared vocals on “France” with Weir.
It would be the last Dead LP the Godchaux’s would appear on, though they were also key members of the legendarily road dog band’s 1970s touring ensemble before their departure in 1979, appearing on such beloved bootlegs as the 1977 Cornell University gig and the band’s 1978 shows at the Giza Pyramid in Egypt.
In addition to playing with the band, Donna also released music with husband Keith during their tenure, including 1975’s Keith & Donna duo effort, which in addition to their singing and playing features contributions from late Grateful Dead singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia on almost all the tracks. The couple also performed as part of Garcia’s side project, the Jerry Garcia Band, from 1976-1978 and formed their own side project, The Ghosts (later the Heart of Gold Band); Keith Godchaux, 32, died from injuries in a car accident in July 1980 shortly after the couple’s first concert together.
Donna Godchaux continued releasing solo music under the names The Donna Jean Band and Donna Jean and the Tricksters and issued her final studio album in 2014, Back Around, credited to the Donna Jean Godchaux Band with contributions from Zen Tricksters guitarist Jeff Mattson.
Godchaux was not a part of more recent tours and special anniversary concerts by the Grateful Dead’s various lineups under the names The Other Ones, The Dead, Furthur and Dead & Company. She did, however, make what would be one of her final appearances with the group at the Bonnaroo Festival on June 12, 2016, performing on the songs “Fire on the Mountain,” “Berth,” “Bird Song,” “Playing in the Band,” “Terrapin Station” and “Touch of Grey.” She also sat in for two other shows that summer, at Citi Field in New York in late June and Fenway Park in Boston in July.
Check out some of Godchuax’s performances below.
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Freestyle Fellowship rapper P.E.A.C.E. has died. The West Coast hip-hop group confirmed the rapper’s death in a post to Instagram over the weekend.
“Rest well brother P.E.A.C.E You had a great heart and you were authentic,” the post reads. “One of West coast Hiphop royal treasures. You will be surely missed my friend.”
His age and cause of death are unknown.
P.E.A.C.E. (real name: Mtulazaji Davis) was born in Dallas but raised in Los Angeles. He met Myka 9, Aceyalone and Self Jupiter at the Good Life Café in L.A. and formed the pioneering alternative rap group Freestyle Fellowship in the late ’80s.
The group broke through, showcasing an underground conscious side of West Coast rap with its 1991 debut To Whom It May Concern…
They followed up with Innercity Griots in 1993. Delayed due to Self Jupiter’s incarceration, the group released Temptations in 2001 and 2002’s Shockadoom EP. They returned nearly a decade later with The Promise in 2011, which serves as Freestyle Fellowship’s final release.
There were no details revealed surrounding the cause of P.E.A.C.E.’s death. Fans and plenty of peers paid their condolences with heartfelt messages on social media.
“The heavenly cypher just elevated rest in P.E.A.C.E all love,” rapper Saul Williams commented.
Dilated Peoples member Rakaa added: “This is heavy. RIP P.E.A.C.E. You will always be remembered and celebrated as one of the best to ever touch a mic, an architect of style(s), and a creative force of nature. Thank you for the inspiration, motivation, and laughter, my brother. Love. Strength and guidance to your family, friends, and @freestylefellowship.”
Myka 9 paid tribute to his Fellowship group member. “P.E.A.C.E. is the illest emcee from the most infamous Freestyle Fellowship,” he wrote. “There will never be another. Peace P.E.A.C.E., rest in power & paradise.”
P.E.A.C.E. released a pair of solo albums in the early 2000s with Southern Fry’d Chicken (2000) and Megabite (2004).
He notched collaborations over the years, ranging from Diplo to Abstract Rude and Orko, and he made an appearance in Ava Duvernay’s This Is the Life documentary about Good Life Café.
Cavin Yarbrough, half of the 1980s R&B duo Yarbrough & Peoples, has died at the age of 72. The singer-musician-producer passed away on Thursday (June 19) owing to complications from heart disease. “He was the love of my life, my protector. Now he’s my guardian angel,” Yarbrough’s wife and longtime music partner, Alisa Peoples, said […]
Patrick Walden, former guitarist for the British rock band Babyshambles, has died at the age of 46.
The band, fronted by Pete Doherty, announced Walden’s passing in a social media post on Friday (June 20). A cause of death was not disclosed.
“It is with deep regret and sadness that we share the news of Patrick Walden’s death,” the band wrote on Instagram. “We feel very fortunate to have known/loved and worked with him and we kindly ask for respect and privacy during these difficult times.”
The statement was signed by Doherty and fellow band members Mick Whitnall, Drew McConnell and Adam Ficek.
Babyshambles was formed in 2003 by Doherty after his departure from The Libertines due to substance abuse issues. Walden, a London native, joined as lead guitarist, alongside McConnell on bass and Gemma Clarke on drums.
In addition to his guitar work, Walden co-wrote several songs on Babyshambles’ 2005 debut album, Down in Albion, including “Pipedown,” “Loyalty Song” and “F—k Forever,” which peaked at No. 4 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart.
Before joining Babyshambles, Walden played in various bands including Fluid, the Six Cold Thousand and the White Sport. His time with Babyshambles was brief, ending in 2005 amid struggles with drug addiction and a legal case involving his girlfriend that resulted in a brief jail sentence. The charges were later dropped.
Walden was replaced by Whitnall for the band’s sophomore album, Shotter’s Nation, which dropped in 2007. Though he never officially rejoined the group, Walden occasionally performed with Babyshambles at select shows over the years. The band has reunited sporadically during Doherty’s solo performances.
Doherty had previously hinted at a potential reunion tour to mark the 20th anniversary of Down in Albion, though it was unclear whether Walden was expected to be involved.
“It is on the cards,” Doherty told NME in December 2024. “We will get back together and get in a room with the instruments and play through the old songs, then get on stage and do it. But it’s the ‘who’ and the ‘when’ that needs to be worked out. I think we’ll just keep that one on the horizon and deal with that one next year. Before then, I’ve got a new collection of songs which I’m putting out on my own label, which is tidy.”
Ananda Lewis, who had a celebrated run on MTV as a veejay and as the host of shows including Total Request Live and Hot Zone, has died at age 52. News of Lewis’ death was confirmed in a Facebook post by her sister, Lakshmi Emory. In 2020, Lewis revealed that she had been diagnosed with […]
Billy Jones, a longtime figure in New York’s live music scene, has died at age 45. A statement provided to multiple outlets by a spokesman for the club says Jones died on Saturday morning (June 7) due to “a highly aggressive case of glioblastoma,” a form of brain cancer. Jones was the co-founder/owner of Brooklyn’s […]
Jonathan Mayers, co-founder of Superfly Entertainment and the co-creator of iconic festivals including Bonnaroo and Outside Lands, has died. His age and cause of death are unknown at this time.
Mayers grew up an hour outside New York City and attended Tulane University in New Orleans, graduating in 1995. He was first introduced to the music business through his work with famed New Orleans venue Tipitina’s and the long-running Jazz Fest celebration. He co-founded promotion company Superfly in 1996 with Rick Farman, Richard Goodstone and Kerry Black and staged its first concert during Mardi Gras with the Meters, Maceo Parker and Rebirth Brass Band. In 2002, the four men launched and sold out the first Bonnaroo after discovering the perfect festival site an hour outside of Nashville in Manchester, Tenn. Partnering with promoter Ashley Capps of AC Entertainment, agent Chip Hooper of Paradigm and manager Coran Capshaw of Red Light — and securing headliners like Trey Anastasio from Phish and Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh and Bob Weir — the men created a 70,000-person festival that would become the blueprint for hundreds of other music festivals across the country.
In 2005, Mayers’ Superfly launched Vegoose in Las Vegas with programming at multiplevenues throughout the city. The first festival brought in approximately 37,000 visitors, and Mayers and his team ran the festival for three seasons before opting to shut it down. Mayers would also partner with Another Planet Entertainment in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2008 to launch Outside Lands in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. In 2017, Mayers led efforts to partner with Viacom and Comedy Central to produce a large-scale indoor/outdoor comedy festival in San Francisco called Clusterfest that included performances by Kevin Hart, Amy Schumer, Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah.
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While working on Clusterfest, Mayers began interfacing with major film and TV rights holders and created a new experience concept allowing fans to “step inside” some of their favorite TV shows on recreated TV sets. Mayers and team licensed rights from shows like Seinfeld, The Office, South Park, Arrested Development, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The Daily Show to create immersive fan experiences visited by hundreds of thousands of fans. For the show Friends, Mayers led efforts to create pop-up experiences in multiple cities, including New York, Boston and Atlanta.
Despite his success, Mayers’ relationships with his co-founders at Superfly began deteriorating during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in August 2021, he was terminated from his position at the company. In early 2022, Mayers sued Farman, Goodstone and Black and accused them of civil misrepresentation, breach of contract and fraud for allegedly lowballing him for the value of his shares in Superfly. Also named in the complaint was Virgo Investment Group, a California private equity fund; Mayers alleged that its top executive, Jesse Watson, strung him along for months, promising $5 million in financing before firing him last summer. On Jan. 20, 2023, a New York judge dismissed the lawsuit.
After leaving Superfly, Mayers began work on a new project called Core City Detroit which sought to raise money to invest in a “culturally rich neighborhood anchored by a music campus providing world- class services, infrastructure, and housing for local/national artists & industry along with entertainment experiences for the public,” according to an investment deck on the project. Phase 1 of the Core City Detroit project included a drive-in diner by celebrity chef Kiki Louya and the renovation of an old pickle factory into a music production complex.
Mayers’ longtime friend Peter Shapiro, founder of Dayglo Presents and the Brooklyn Bowl, described him as a creative mastermind who had a deep love for live music and a vision for how it would evolve over the next two decades.
“Jonathan was one of the true real visionaries of the modern concert world and one of the core minds behind Bonnaroo,” Shapiro tells Billboard. “Modern-day festivals are all in some way built off of his vision.”
Company officials at Another Planet Entertainment issued a statement to Billboard following Mayers’ passing. “Jonathan was a bright light, always pushing new and creative ideas in the entertainment space,” they said. “He was a visionary who was integral in the founding and the spirit of Outside Lands. Everyone in the Another Planet family will miss him dearly.”
Wayne Lewis, a founding member of the R&B group Atlantic Starr, has died at the age of 68.
The band confirmed his passing in a social media post on Friday (June 7), noting that the musician died on Thursday. No cause of death has been disclosed.
“It’s with great sadness we have to post the passing of Wayne Lewis on June 5, 2025,” Atlantic Starr wrote on Facebook. “Please keep the family in your prayers and respect their privacy #waynelewis #restinpeace #flyhigh Sunrise 4/13/1957 Sunset 6/5/2025 #restinpeaceWayne.”
Lewis served as a vocalist and keyboardist for Atlantic Starr, which he co-founded in 1976 in White Plains, N.Y., alongside his brothers David Lewis (vocals, guitar) and Jonathan Lewis (keyboards, trombone), as well as drummer Porter Carroll Jr., bassist Clifford Archer and percussionist-flutist Joseph Phillips.
Other early members included lead singer Sharon Bryant, trumpeter William Sudderth III and saxophonist Damon Rentie. Bryant and Rentie were later replaced by Barbara Weathers and Koran Daniels, respectively.
Atlantic Starr became a fixture in R&B throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. The group signed with A&M Records (and later to Warner Bros. Records, among other labels), releasing their self-titled debut album in 1978, followed by their sophomore effort, Straight to the Point, the next year.
The band achieved its first top 10 hit on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart with “Circles” (No. 2) from the 1982 album Brilliance. Their biggest commercial success came in 1987 when “Always,” from 1986’s All in the Name of Love, reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Atlantic Starr earned a total of three top 10 hits on the Hot 100 and 11 top 10s on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. “My First Love” in 1989 was their only other No. 1 on the latter chart.
In recent years, Atlantic Starr continued to perform with Lewis and current members Jonathan Lewis, Melessa Pierce and Shammah Carter. The group’s most recent album, Metamorphosis, was released in 2017.
Following the announcement of Lewis’ death, fans flooded social media with heartfelt tributes and condolences.
“His band gave my generation so much listening pleasure,” one fan wrote. Another shared, “Nooooo I am devastated seeing this. My condolences to all family and friends.” A third commenter added, “A great songwriter. Atlantic Starr was better once he became leader. He will be missed.”
Renée Victor, the veteran movie and TV actress who charmed audiences around the world as the voice of wise and protective Abuelita Elena in Pixar’s 2017 Day of the Dead musical comedy Coco has died at 86. Victor died at her home in Sherman Oaks, CA on Friday night due to lymphoma, a representative confirmed to the New York Times.
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Though her long career stretched back to 1980s, when she scored the first of a series of small roles in TV shows including Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Matlock, and picked up in the 1990s with appearances in films including The Apostle, The Prophecy II and My Brother the Pig, it was her role as the strong-willed Abuelita (grandmother) in Coco that made her an international superstar late in life. The colorful story of a a 12-year-old boy in Mexico who is magically transported to the land of the dead grossed more than $800 million across the world and had Victor sharing billing with stars including Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Edward James Olmos and Alanna Ubach.
Coco‘s studio, Pixar, paid tribute in an Instagram post that read, “We are heartbroken to hear of the passing of Renée Victor, the voice Abuelita in Coco and an incredible part of the Pixar family. We will always remember you.”
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Victor was born in San Antonio, TX on July 25, 1938 and made her acting debut at 10 in a San Antonio production of the opera Carmen, according to her IMDb bio. She later moved to Las Vegas in the 1960s, performed alongside musicians Xavier Cugat and Perez Prado and fronted a popular musical duo with her husband, Ray Victor, “Ray and Renée,” from 1963-1973.
She worked as a singer/dancer at the Stardust Hotel and also performed on the stage in Europe, Latin America and Australia before taking on hosting duties in the early 1970s on KTLA Los Angeles’ talk show Pacesetters, which focused on the Chicago movement.
In addition to her acting gigs, Victor also served as a translator-interpreter for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, translated the Nutcracker Suite into Spanish for the BBC and narrated La Ofrenda — The Day of the Dead for an entry in the Los Angeles Film Festival, as well as recording jingles for RC Cola and Twin Dragon Chinese Cookies.
She first broke into acting in the mid-1980s with brief roles in Hotel, Masquerade and the George Burns Comedy Week, continuing her run on the small screen into the 1990s with spots on The Parent ‘Hood, The Tony Danza Show and Team Knight Rider, among many other credits. After a six-episode run on ER in 2004, Victor landed her longest TV run as housekeeper Lupita in Weeds, which ran from 2005-2012. She also had long runs on the action series Snowpiercer and With Love, most recently appearing as Inez in the ABC family drama A Million Little Things.
Her film career continued apace in the 2000s as well, with appearances in A Night in Old Mexico and Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, before scoring her breakout role as the firm, but loving grandmother in the Oscar-winner Coco, which featured an all-Latin cast.
In a tribute post, her daughter Margot wrote, “She was dignity and beauty till the end. I am shattered, but I celebrate the end of her elegant and defiant battle with illness these last couple of years. She would never allow anything to keep her down. All my life she’s been a force of nature, a world of fun, sharp wit with boundless talents and energy. hroughout her long life, her ability to reach any goal against odds was formidable. She was and will forever remain my hero and inspiration. She was my closest friend who’s awe and support of my endeavors was madness, but I know she is happy where she is now, while still by my side.”
Victor was excited in March about the news that a Coco sequel was set to hit theaters in 2029. “It was my great pleasure and experience working with the incredibly talented [director] Lee Unkrich and [co-director] Adrian Molina! We get to do it again!” she wrote on Instagram. “This is what we’ve all been waiting for! I’m so excited! Coco shared a Mexican tradition that is now celebrated around the world in unity. An amazing amount of work and talent goes into the creation of this unique film.”
