obituary
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Adrian Olivares, an ex-member of famed Latin boy band Menudo, died at the age of 48 on Monday (July 8). The news was confirmed by fellow bandmate Robert Avellanet, who shared a photo carousel on Instagram of the time they were both part of the group. “I’m still in shock! Strength for your family,” he […]
Joe Bonsall, the tenor in The Oak Ridge Boys, died on Tuesday (July 9) from complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the group announced on its website and social media accounts. He was 76, and died in Hendersonville, Tenn. Bonsall had announced his retirement from touring at the beginning of the year.
In 1973, Bonsall left his position with gospel group The Keystones to join The Oak Ridge Boys. The Oaks, in which Bonsall teamed with Duane Allen, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban, first found success as a gospel group. They segued into country music in 1977 with “Y’All Come Back Saloon,” their first of 34 top 10 hits on Billboard’s Top Country Songs chart.
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The Oaks landed 17 No. 1 hits on that chart, the third-highest total among duos and groups after Alabama (33) and Brooks & Dunn (20). Two of the Oaks’ country chart-toppers became top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Elvira” (No. 5 in 1981) and “Bobbie Sue” (No. 12 in 1982).
The group landed three No. 1 albums on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, two of which became top 20 albums on the all-genre Billboard 200 – Fancy Free (No. 14 in 1981) and Bobbie Sue (No. 20 in 1982).
The Oaks won five Grammys. The first four were in gospel categories; the fifth in country, for “Elvira.” That platinum-selling smash won best country performance by a duo or group with vocal.
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The Oaks won two CMA awards – vocal group of the year in 1978 and single of the year in 1981 for “Elvira.”
They won four ACM Awards – top vocal group in 1978, album of the year that same year for Ya’ll Come Back Saloon, single record of the year in 1981 for “Elvira” and the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award in 2007.
The Oaks’ 1979 concert trek with headliners Kenny Rogers and Dottie West is considered the first full-fledged country arena tour, Tom Roland reported in this recap of the group’s 50 years.
As a 50-year member of the The Oak Ridge Boys, Bonsall was a member of the Grand Ole Opry and was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Hall of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame, the latter in 2015.
“For 50 years, Joe Bonsall was the Oak Ridge Boys’ sparkplug,” Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a statement. “He was as exciting a performer as any who ever hit a gospel or country stage. His tenor voice was high and clear, and his jovial spirit always provided a jolt of energy, immediately rousing audiences to come on in and take a load off. He certainly lightened our cares every time he sang.”
“When I think of the Oak Ridge Boys and their place in country music history, the image of Joe with his huge smile and boundless energy comes to mind so clearly,” Sarah Trahern, Country Music Association CEO, said in a statement. “His commitment to serving others while developing country music into a worldwide sensation will never be forgotten and our industry has been made better because of him. Today, we lost an incomparable energy and voice in music. He will be missed greatly by all who were fortunate to know him.”
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Bonsall was also the author of 11 books including his latest, a memoir entitled I See Myself, which is set for release in November.
Bonsall’s final show with the Oaks was on Dec. 17, 2023. In January, he revealed that he had battled the slow onset of a neuromuscular disorder for more than four years. “I am now at a point where walking is impossible, so I have basically retired from the road. It has just gotten too difficult,” he said in a statement. “It has been a great 50 years, and I am thankful to all the Oak Ridge Boys band crew and staff for the constant love and support shown to me through it all. I will never forget, and for those of you who have been constantly holding me up in prayer, I thank you and ask for you to keep on praying.”
At Bonsall’s request, there will be no funeral. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The ALS Association or to the Vanderbilt Medical Center ALS and Neuroscience Research Center.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Ann; daughters Jennifer and Sabrina; granddaughter Breanne; grandson Luke; two great grandsons, Chance and Grey; and a sister, Nancy. He is preceded in death by his parents, Joseph S. Bonsall Sr. and Lillie Bonsall.
Bonsall’s death comes just eight days after the death of William “Rusty” Golden, a musician, songwriter and son of The Oak Ridge Boys member William Lee Golden. The younger Golden died on July 1 at his home in Hendersonville, Tenn. He was 65. William Lee Golden said in a statement at that time, “This is the hardest thing ever for a father to have to face. I love family more than anything. Rusty was a great musician, a talented songwriter and a wonderful son. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers for the days ahead. I love you, son.”
See The Oak Ridge Boys’ announcement below:
Veteran music manager and record label executive Mary Martin — a champion, career guider and musical connector for artists including Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill — died on Thursday (July 4) at age 85, according to a statement from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Born on June 15, 1939, Martin, a Toronto native, studied briefly at the University of British Columbia before moving to New York in the 1960s and working as an executive assistant to Albert Grossman, a manager for Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot and Peter, Paul and Mary.
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“Working for Albert Grossman in those days, it didn’t matter how menial the task was,” Martin said during a 2009 interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, where she was honored as part of the Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum. “It was that we were surrounded and enveloped by all these great artists.”
After returning to Toronto, Martin got involved with the folk music scene and became aware of the band The Hawks, which inclueded members Levon Helm, Garth Hudson and Rick Danko. The group would later become known as The Band, and Martin is credited with connecting the group with Dylan in the mid-1960s.
Martin went on to become an artist manager for artists including Cohen, who would later release songs including “Suzanne” and “Sisters of Mercy.” She began managing Morrison just as he released such star-making albums as Astral Weeks, Moondance and Tupelo Honey.
Throughout much of the 1970s, Martin worked as an influential A&R executive for Warner Bros. Records, signing and developing the careers of artists including Emmylou Harris and Leon Redbone.
“If you take her out of the equation, my life would be very, very different,” Harris said in the trailer for the documentary Mary Martin: Music Maven.
After leaving Warner Bros., Martin began managing Crowell, a relationship that lasted from 1979 to 1983. In 1983, she became the manager for Gill, who was at the time a guitarist in Crowell’s band The Cherry Bombs. After Martin connected Gill with then-RCA Records Nashville head Joe Galante, he signed a label deal with RCA, which would launch Gill to country music stardom on the strength of songs including “Oklahoma Borderline,” “When I Call Your Name” and “I Still Believe in You.”
In the Music Maven documentary trailer, Gill calls Martin “one of the special people on earth that uses her gift for the right reasons. There’s no question she’s a rare breed.”
“Mary and I started working together in ’85,” Galante tells Billboard in a statement. “Her knowledge, frankness, humor and wit were a powerful combination. We hit it off instantly. She was never interested in musical trends. Mary was focused on artists that could make music that would last. She was respected and loved by people throughout the industry. Mary raised the bar for us all creatively. I will miss that smile and distinctive laugh.”
Martin halted work as Gill’s manager when she joined RCA in an A&R role. While at the label, she signed artists including singer-songwriter Matraca Berg and guided the careers of artists including Lorrie Morgan and Clint Black.
Over the course of her career, Martin also worked at Asylum and Mercury Records (where she co-produced the Grammy-winning Hank Williams tribute album Timeless). It was also Martin who offered early career encouragement to another triple-threat singer-songwriter-guitarist named Keith Urban, encouraging him to move to Nashville from Australia to pursue his musical aspirations.
“Time and again, Mary Martin spotted great talents and elevated their careers,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, in a statement. “Early on, she connected Bob Dylan to her friends the Hawks, who became the Band. She managed Leonard Cohen in his first musical outings, then guided the budding solo careers of Van Morrison, Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill. At Warner Bros., she signed future Country Music Hall of Fame member Emmylou Harris, at RCA she helped sign and develop Clint Black and Lorrie Morgan, and she encouraged a young Keith Urban to move from Australia to Nashville. Mary’s unerring feel for songs and performers was legendary, and she was a fierce ally for the artists she represented.”
Martin was also a survivor of sexual assault and became a strong advocate for justice for fellow survivors.
In 2007, Martin was given a lifetime achievement award by the Nashville music industry group SOURCE and celebrated with the Americana Music Association’s Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009, she was honored by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum as part of the Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum.
Kinky Friedman, the country singer-songwriter known for songs like “Sold American” and his quick wit in his writings, interviews and beyond, died at his home in Texas. He was 79 years old. His death was announced via a statement posted to X. “Kinky Friedman stepped on a rainbow at his beloved Echo Hill surrounded by family & […]
Rapper Julio Foolio is dead at 26 after being shot outside a hotel in Florida early Sunday morning (June 23), his attorney confirmed to NBC News. The “Pain” rapper — born Charles Jones — was celebrating his 26th birthday Saturday night (June 22) before relocating to a Holiday Inn, where, according to his lawyer Lewis […]
Shifty Shellshock, the frontman of rap rock band Crazy Town, has died at 49, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. The musician died at home on Monday (June 24), and the cause of death is still pending investigation.
Shellshock was born Seth Binzer on Aug. 23, 1974. He met Crazy Town co-founder Bret Mazer in 1992, and the band went on to add various members, including Adam Goldstein (better known as DJ AM, who died from an accidental overdose in 2009), Rust Epique, Antonio Lorenzo Valli, James Bradley Jr., among others. The band released its debut album The Gift of Game in November 1999. It peaked at No. 9 on the all-genre Billboard 200 on the chart dated March 3, 2001, and remained on the tally for 34 weeks.
The set’s first two singles, “Toxic” and “Darkside,” failed to chart, but the third time was the charm for Crazy Town. “Butterfly” — which sampled the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Pretty Little Ditty” — arrived in October 2000 as the album’s third single and climbed to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, where it held the top spot for two weeks with its catchy chorus: “Come my lady, come come my lady / You’re my butterfly, sugar baby/ Come my lady, you’re my pretty baby/ I’ll make your legs shake, you make me go crazy.”
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In all, the track remained on the chart for 23 weeks and is the group’s biggest hit to this day. (The track made Billboard‘s One-Hit Wonders of the 2000s list in 2014; the band did not land another song on the tally during its career.)
Sophomore album Darkhorse was released in November 2002 and debuted at No. 120. It failed to reach any higher, and fell off the chart after one week. The band broke up shortly after.
Binzer was open about his struggles with substance abuse. He appeared on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew in 2008, and VH1’s Sober House from 2009 to 2010.
He is survived by his kids Halo, Gage and Phoenix.
James Chance, the singer-saxophonist of the Contortions and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, who helped launch the No Wave scene in the late 1970s, has died. He was 71.
News of Chance’s passing was confirmed by his brother, David Siegfried, and shared through the late punk-funk artists’s Facebook page on Tuesday (June 18).
“His death was announced by his brother David Siegfried of Chicago, who did not specify a cause of death but noted that the musician’s health had been in decline for several years,” the lengthy post reads. “His final live performance is believed to have taken place in March 2019 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.”
Chance, who was known for blending jazz, punk and funk, died June 18 at Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center in New York, according to the statement.
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Born James Alan Siegfried in Milwaukee, Chance began playing piano while attending a Catholic elementary school and later took up the alto saxophone in his late teenage years. During his education at Michigan State University and Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, he formed the jazz band James Siegfried Quintet and the Stooges-influenced Death.
In 1975, Chance moved to New York, where he officially began using his stage name, and a year later formed the influential group Teenage Jesus and the Jerks with singer Lydia Lunch. In 1977, after studying with saxophonist David Murray, he formed the first version of the Contortions. The group released its debut album, Buy, in 1979. Chance was known for his confrontational stage presence and known to start fights with members of the crowd.
The Contortions broke up in 1979 and Chance reunited with some members of the band in 2003 for a series of shows, including All Tomorrow’s Parties in Los Angeles. They later toured together in the following years. Chance also performed with the Chicago band Watchers.
He is survived by his mother, Jean Siegfried; brother, David Siegfried; and sisters, Jill Siegfried and Mary (Randy) Koehler.
Jeremy Tepper, a musician, journalist and the program director of SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country channel, has died. He was 60.
Tepper passed away on Friday (June 14) from a heart attack at his home in New York City, according to a social media post by his wife, singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell.
“Lost my good friend Jeremy Tepper last night,” Steven Van Zandt, guitarist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and founder of Underground Garage, wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “An incredibly tragic loss so young. He ran my Outlaw Country station on SiriusXM brilliantly. It is actually quite a complicated format and he made it look easy. Our deepest love and condolences to Laura and his family and friends.”
Lost my good friend Jeremy Tepper last night. An incredibly tragic loss so young. He ran my Outlaw Country station on SiriusXM brilliantly. It is actually quite a complicated format and he made it look easy. Our deepest love and condolences to Laura and his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/WA8tj3kkA1— 🕉🇺🇦🟦Stevie Van Zandt☮️💙 (@StevieVanZandt) June 15, 2024
Born in 1963, the New York native graduated with a degree in journalism from NYU and served as the frontman for the band World Famous Blue Jays.
During his career, Tepper founded independent country label Diesel Only Records and held A&R and marketing positions for CDuctive and eMusic.com. He was also a journalist, having previously served as editor of The Journal of Country Music and as a country music critic for Tower Records’ Pulse! magazine.
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In 2004, he joined Sirius as format manager of the radio giant’s Outlaw Country channel, which was created by Zandt, who served as its executive producer. The channel mixes music by country and Americana artists such as Waylon Jennings, Dale Watson, Dwight Yoakam, Johnny Cash and Lucinda Williams with rockers Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and the Band.
Tepper’s two-decade run with Sirius also found him working on the Willie’s Roadhouse and Road Dog Trucking channels.
“Jeremy Tepper, a beloved member of SiriusXM, profoundly influenced us with his unwavering dedication to music and innovative spirit,” SiriusXM wrote on X. “His contributions, in shaping Outlaw Country and Willie’s Roadhouse, are beyond measure. Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this time.”
Tepper is survived by his wife, Cantrell, and their daughter, Bella.
Jeremy Tepper, a beloved member of SiriusXM, profoundly influenced us with his unwavering dedication to music and innovative spirit. His contributions, in shaping Outlaw Country and Willie’s Roadhouse, are beyond measure. Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this time. pic.twitter.com/rZxB8LZHsS— SiriusXM (@SIRIUSXM) June 15, 2024
Angela Bofill, the R&B singer known for songs including “I Try,” “This Time I’ll Be Sweeter” and “Angel of the Night,” has died. She was 70.
News of her death was shared Friday (June 14) on her personal Facebook account by manager and friend Rich Engel.
“On behalf of my dear friend Angie, I am saddened to announce her passing on the morning of June 13th,” Engel wrote in his first post.
He added in a second message, “Just to clear up the confusion. On behalf of Shauna Bofill, husband Chris Portuguese, we are saddened but must report that the passing of Angela yesterday is indeed true. We thank Melba Moore and Maysa for their early condolences. Thank for your many posts.”
Iconic percussionist Sheila E. took to the comments section to share her condolences. “The Escovedo family is sad by the loss of this amazing beautiful soul. We are praying for the family. You will truly be missed my sister my queen. Rest in peace,” she wrote.
Bofill passed away at her daughter’s home in Vallejo, Calif., according to TMZ. A cause of death was not provided, but she had suffered two strokes in 2006 and 2007 that caused paralysis on the left side of her body.
She spoke to the Denver Post in 2011 after taking a five-year break to recover.
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“I feel happy performing again,” Bofill said at the time. “I need crowd. In the blood, entertain. Any time a crowd comes to see me, I’m surprised. No sing no more and still people come. Wow. Impressed.”
Born in New York City, the vocalist began recording music during her teenage years and released her debut album, Angie, in 1978. She continued recording into the 1990s. Last year, the singer was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Bofill’s funeral will be held at St. Dominic’s Church in California at 1 p.m. on June 28, according to Engel’s Facebook post.
She is survived by her husband, Chris Portuguese, and daughter, Shauna Bofill.
Sam Holdsworth, former editor-in-chief and publisher of Billboard, died May 18 at 72 of a heart attack.
Holdsworth, who was also co-founder of Musician magazine, was part of a consortium that bought Billboard Publications Inc. (BPI) in 1984 from the Littleford family in a move that led him to become Billboard’s publisher.
The consortium was helmed by investor Boston Ventures and an internal BPI management group fronted by Holdsworth and Jerry Hobbs in a move that was seen as a non-disruptive way to keep BPI — which included Billboard, Musician and Amusement Business, among other titles — intact. Hobbs, who had served as executive vp of BPI and Billboard’s publisher, became president/CEO of the new entity, while Holdsworth became publisher of Billboard and then publisher/editor-in-chief. BPI had purchased Musician in 1981, which brought Holdsworth into the company.
“As publisher, Sam had a wonderful calming influence on all around him in an otherwise stressful publishing environment. I’ll always appreciate the faith he showed in me and his willingness to delegate crucial tasks to his trusted management team,” Ken Schlager, who served as managing editor under Holdsworth, tells Billboard.
“He and Jerry Hobbs brought Billboard into a new era,” says Adam White, who was Billboard‘s editor-in-chief when Holdsworth became publisher, before leaving in 1985 and then coming back as international editor in 1989. “For that alone, he should be remembered.”
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Holdsworth and his childhood friend, Gordon Baird, founded Musician magazine in 1976. “He was the brains and taste and I was the mouth and energy…Our early days as a magazine for school music programs were so rocky, until Sam proposed a left sharp turn after our first year to jazz and rock,” Baird wrote in a piece published Monday (June 10) in The Gloucester (Maine) Times. The two had met in Gloucester 70 years earlier as tots, as their mothers were best friends.
With its new direction, Musician quickly became a must-read for music aficionados and artists alike and was able to attract top-notch music journalists who appreciated the trust Holdsworth gave them to steer their own pieces. “Sam was able to cajole them in to writing major pieces at a fraction of the price [that Rolling Stone paid writers],” Baird continued. “The photogs followed. Musician took off. Readers came to us, record company publicists came to us, Paul McCartney came to us, Springsteen, Michael Jackson, George Harrison, Bono, Clapton and Steely Dan came to us to be interviewed. Sam’s formula was the music first and the lifestyle a distant second.”
When BPI approached Holdsworth and Baird to buy Musician, “Sam was totally visionary and bargained for half the purchase price in Billboard stock,” Baird added.
“At that time, I was responsible for the growth and development of Billboard and its numerous ancillary products,” Hobbs says. “After a lunch in NYC, we quickly decided the fit would be a good one and in early 1981 our partnership began when Billboard Publications acquired [Musician]. Little did we anticipate our relationship would be so fruitful, exciting and long-lasting. Moreover, that it’d evolve into a lifelong personal friendship.”
Hobbs had found the perfect partner to help realize his goal of acquiring and expanding BPI to include not only music properties but also those devoted to film and theater as well as art and design. “During my first year working with Sam, his talents, personality and entrepreneurial spirit became apparent,” Hobbs says. “I realized I’d need a partner to help orchestrate a deal, raise the funds and execute on a plan we would develop to take the business forward.”
Hobbs and Holdsworth’s plan changed how Billboard moved forward with a model that still works today. “We were keen to develop data to complement and expand the information we would gather for our publications and the audiences we served,” Hobbs says. “In effect, we would utilize Billboard as the model for our new venture. Unlike most other B2B publishers then who were mainly dependent on advertisers for their revenue, we wanted to create and own products and services that our audiences would be willing to pay for to receive.”
In 1994, Dutch publisher VNU acquired the American titles, at which point Holdsworth left Billboard and moved with his family to New Mexico. He later became part of an investment group led by JP Morgan Partners. One of their acquisitions was Ryko Corporation, which included the Rykodisc label; Holdsworth oversaw the company until Warner Music Group bought it in 2006. “He was very good at looking beyond the past and around the corner,” says Baird, who talked to Holdsworth hours before he died. “He was also good at being the in right place at the right time for some of those label buyouts and sales, some of them came to him.”
Holdsworth continued to work with investments, as well as paint and write, from his farm in Silver City, N. Mex. He was working on the farm when his heart attack occurred. At the time of his death, he was managing director of Sword, Rowe and Company, a New Jersey-based investment banking and M&A firm, according to his LinkedIn profile.
As Hobbs says, Holdsworth was a rare blend of both creative and business acumen and had a discerning eye. “‘Sam was, indeed, a Renaissance man. He exhibited an alluring blend of the mandatory characteristics: authenticity, creativity, curiosity and resilience, the sine qua non elements that draw people in,” Hobbs says. “And he never confused the most with the best.”
Survivors include Holdsworth’s wife, Betsy, and his three children.