Musicians Who Died In 2025 And No One Noticed

With a never-ending stream of famous people coming to prominence in the late 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century, there is no shortage of celebrities. Yet, with the plethora of events being reported in traditional journalistic outlets, entertainment news complex, social media, and the internet at large, sometimes even what ought to be major stories fall through the proverbial cracks and become underreported, at least relative to other, flashier, and perhaps more pressing news. The deaths of older musicians, who were once at the top of the entertainment world and have since faded from public view, are especially vulnerable to this phenomenon. 

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It is a sad consequence of our increasingly crowded media ecosystem that some important, bestselling, award-winning, and acclaimed singers, band members, and composers miss out on well-earned public grief and remembrances, simply because their deaths didn't get a lot of news attention. Here are the major musical luminaries of the past who died in 2025 without as much attention as they probably deserved.

Sam Moore

Many of the most definitive, beloved, and enduring R&B songs of the 1960s happen to be Sam and Dave songs. The duo, consisting of Sam Moore and Dave Prater, unleashed classics like "Hold On, I'm Coming," "When Something is Wrong with My Baby," "I Thank You," and "Soul Man" on Stax Records. A solo career stalled in the 1970s and Moore dealt with addiction issues, but he and Prater enjoyed a huge boost in popularity when Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi used "Soul Man" prominently in both their Blues Brothers sketches on "Saturday Night Live," as well as the 1980 spinoff movie. In 1992, shortly after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was founded, voters inducted Sam and Dave into the institution.

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Moore had complications following a surgical procedure, and on January 10, 2025, he died in Coral Gables, Florida. The Sam and Dave half was 89 years old.

Roberta Flack

After developing her cool, sweet, and affecting vocal style in church and attending college as a teenage piano prodigy, Roberta Flack turned to thoughtful, soulful, adult-oriented pop and broke out in the early 1970s. In 1972, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" hit No. 1 and was Billboard's biggest song of the year, and it also won the Grammy for Song and Record of the Year. Both awards were secured the following year with another Flack tune, "Killing Me Softly with His Song," a No. 1 hit with a fascinating back story. Flack remained a fixture on the R&B and adult contemporary scenes well into the late 1980s.

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In 2022, Flack announced that she would retire from making music, as the effects of the degenerative neurological condition ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, had taken away her ability to perform. On February 24, 2025, Flack died at her home in New York City. The soft pop and R&B legend was 88 years old.

Marianne Faithfull

Closely associated personally and professionally with the Rolling Stones, London scenester Marianne Faithfull hit the upper reaches of the charts in the U.S. and the U.K. in 1964 with her cover of that band's song, "As Tears Go By." She'd deliver more signature, well-received takes on other acts' works, including Jackie DeShannon's "Come and Stay with Me" and the Beatles' "Yesterday." Following a lengthy period out of the spotlight, Faithfull launched a comeback in 1979 with the album "Broken English," a mix of art rock and electronic music that won accolades and award nominations. Her last mainstream work was in 1997, when her ethereal voice could be heard singing backup on Metallica's hit "The Memory Remains."

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On January 30, 2025, Faithfull's representative informed the media that their client had died. "Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family," the statement to NPR read. "She will be dearly missed." No cause was disclosed, although in her last years Faithfull had dealt with breast cancer and smoking-related emphysema, as well as a COVID-19-related hospitalization in 2020 from which she was not predicted to survive. Faithfull was 78 years old.

Rick Derringer

A rock n' roll lifer, Rick Derringer found success across many disparate decades of American music, evolving his sound and product as mainstream tastes changed. In the 1960s, Derringer and his brother Randy created the garage rock band the McCoys, and the group's first single "Hang On Sloopy" hit No. 1 in the United States in 1965. A few more top-40 hits followed before Derringer became the guitarist and producer for the Edgar Winter Group, best known for the '70s arena rock staples "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride." At the same time, Derringer struck out as a solo act, and he enjoyed a big hit with "Rock and Roll, Hootchie Koo." By the 1980s, Derringer had become an in-demand studio and session musician and producer, working with Steely Dan, Todd Rundgren, Meat Loaf, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and Cyndi Lauper. That's also when Derringer started making rock for wrestlers, writing and recording theme songs for WWF stars, including "Real American" for Hulk Hogan.

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Following a prolonged period of poor health, Derringer died on May 26, 2025, while under the purview of a caretaker in Ormond Beach, Florida. The musician was 77.

David Johansen

In the early 1970s, the New York Dolls tried to make rock n' roll seem dangerous again. Taking the stage in garish outfits and heavy makeup, the glam rock band — which was really a prototypical punk band — was only together for about four years, expanded their lineup with the addition of the charismatic, chaotic, and raspy-voiced lead singer David Johansen. A series of shows at the Mercer Arts Center in New York made Johansen a local underground favorite, and the New York Dolls became national cult figures after the release of just two albums and frenetic songs like "Personality Crisis." About a decade after the demise of the Dolls, Johansen resurfaced with a unique solo effort — he publicly presented himself as the silly, lounge lizard party guy Buster Poindexter and had a hit with "Hot Hot Hot." 

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Privately diagnosed with cancer in the 2010s, Johansen learned in early 2020 that the cancer had metastasized and developed into a brain tumor. Already very ill with what was by then Stage 4 cancer, Johansen sustained a serious fall over Thanksgiving 2024, which broke the musician's back in two spots. After surgery, Johansen was unable to get out of bed. In late April 2025, just weeks after those details were revealed to the media, Johansen died at home in New York City. He was 75 years old.

Clem Burke

While it burst out of New York City's bubbling punk scene of the late 1970s, Blondie eventually became one of the most genre-busting bands to ever achieve blockbuster success. Whether the band fronted by Debbie Harry was taking punk mainstream with "One Way or Another," attempting reggae on "The Tide is High," trying out disco with "Heart of Glass," dabbling in rap on "Rapture," or embracing New Wave with "Dreaming," it put a lot of pressure on its drummer, Clem Burke. An agile and energetic drummer, Burke could keep up with the various whims of his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted bandmates. After Blondie took a long hiatus beginning in the late 1980s, Burke returned to his roots and joined the Ramones as its drummer, performing under the stage name of Elvis Ramone.

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On April 7, 2025, Blondie released a statement to major media outlets announcing that Burke had died the day before. In one of the most tragic details about Blondie, the 70-year-old drummer died from cancer.

Wayne Osmond

Throughout the 1970s, one very large and squeaky-clean family seemed to lurk everywhere in pop culture: the Osmonds. Five of the nine siblings formed a family proto-boy band, the Osmonds, which hit No. 1 in 1971 with "One Bad Apple," while breakout stars Donnie and Marie Osmond hosted their own variety TV show. Wayne Osmond brought genuine musical chops to the Osmonds, playing multiple instruments and singing, too.

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The second-oldest member of the family musical collective, Wayne Osmond's health problems make up much of the tragedy of the Osmond family. In 1994, he started experiencing serious health issues while on stage, and further medical examination uncovered a cancerous brain tumor. The illness and the methods undertaken to improve Osmond's health resulted in an inability to play the saxophone and almost complete hearing loss, while a stroke in 2012 left the musician unable to play the guitar. Osmond sustained another stroke on January 1, 2025, and it ended the former pop star's life at age 73.

Jill Sobule

Mid-1990s alternative rock was characterized largely by fuzzy, buzzy, droning, and achingly serious songs told from a traditionally masculine perspective. Jill Sobule brought something different: acoustic guitar-based songs built around wordplay and winking humor, all told from the point of view of complex characters. "I Kissed a Girl" became one of the first and few songs about same-sex relationships to attain significant airplay and popularity in the decade, and Sobule followed it up with playful works like "Supermodel" and "Bitter." In 2025, Sobule released what would be her final recording, a profane and politically charged protest against Vice President J.D. Vance.

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Sobule was staying with friends in Minneapolis when the house caught fire in the early morning hours of May 1, 2025. The residents believed that the singer-songwriter had escaped the blaze, only to discover too late that she'd become trapped inside. Sobule's death was confirmed; the musician was 66 years old.

Alf Clausen

Alf Clausen played a vital role in making "The Simpsons" into one of the most acclaimed and artistically significant television shows of all time. Clausen earned 23 nominations and won twice at the Emmy Awards for his work composing and recording (with a 35-member orchestra) the original humorous songs frequently employed by the long-running animated comedy series, as well as individual episode scores. The victories came for the tunes"You're Checkin' In (A Musical Tribute to the Betty Ford Center)" and "We Put the Spring in Springfield." Clausen also helped make the music for the movies "Splash" and "The Beastmaster," and TV shows including "Fame," "Moonlighting," "The Critic," and "Alf." Clausen was forced into retirement in 2017, after "The Simpsons" terminated him after 27 years of service in order to save on production costs.

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In the early morning hours of May 29, 2025, Clausen died at the age of 84. His death followed a diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy by a period of about 10 years.

Nino Tempo

The career of Nino Tempo runs almost parallel with the history of 20th-century popular music. As a child in the 1940s, he was a featured singer in Benny Goodman's big band, and when he got a little older, he found plenty of work as a session musician, contributing saxophone tracks to Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin recordings. After a foray into funk in the 1970s, he returned to jazz in the latter days of his musical life. Tempo also charted plenty of hits under his own name. In 1963, he made what's arguably the definitive version of the standard "Deep Purple." Performed with his sister, traditional pop singer April Stevens, the duet spent a week at No. 1 and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock and Roll Recording.

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On April 17, 2025, Tempo's friend, Jim Chaffin, told the media that the 90-year-old singer had died a week earlier at home in West Hollywood, California.

Robert John

Often characterized as a one-hit wonder, Robert John actually scored a handful of hit singles throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. After recording a record as Bobby Pedrick Jr. at 12 years old in 1958, as well as fronting the vocal group Bobby and the Consoles, the singer adopted the stage name of Robert John and had a minor soft rock hit with "If You Don't Want My Love" in 1968. In 1972, his version of the pop standard "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" peaked at No. 3, leading to his smooth 1979 single for which he's best known, "Sad Eyes," which topped the pop chart.

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The pop star, studio musician, and producer's son, Michael Pedrick, told news outlets that his father died on February 24, 2025. John was 79 years old, and while no cause of death was disclosed to the public, the singer-songwriter had been in recovery from a stroke.

Jerry Butler

While the Impressions would later become known as the first vehicle for the songwriting and vocalizing of R&B icon Curtis Mayfield, the band's first star was Jerry Butler. The group's earliest hit recordings in the very late 1950s were credited to Jerry Butler and the Impressions, or the Impressions featuring Jerry Butler, or the Impressions with Jerry Butler, such was his star power and dynamic, powerhouse singing on "For Your Precious Love" and "Gypsy Woman." The man also known as "The Ice Man" left the Impressions for a solo career, and he was a regular presence on R&B radio throughout the 1960s and 1970s, belting out tunes like "He Will Break Your Heart," "I Stand Accused," and "I Dig You Baby."

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After being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease some time earlier, Butler, also a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and a Chicago politician for more than three decades, died at the age of 85 on February 20, 2025.

Roy Ayers

Roy Ayers' journey to legendary jazz musician status began at the age of 5 when, during a concert by vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, the musician gifted Ayers his mallets. Ayers took up the instrument for good in high school and soon became a master. By the 1970s, Ayers had formed Roy Ayers Ubiquity, a collective that allowed for explosive experimentation inside and outside of the structures of jazz, combining various jazz forms with R&B, dance music, and psychedelia to create a sophisticated brand of funk. The vibraphonist's vast catalog became a library of samples for hip-hop artists in the 1990s and 2000s, while Ayers was also responsible for the now ubiquitous summertime and soundtrack staple, "Everybody Loves the Sunshine."

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On March 5, 2025, Ayers' Facebook page revealed that the vibraphonist had died in New York City the day before, following a lengthy period of illness. "He lived a beautiful 84 years and will be sorely missed," Ayers' family representative wrote on Facebook.

Mick Ralphs

Mick Ralphs was a big part of the story of Bad Company, as well as that of another widely liked '70s classic rock band, Mott the Hoople. The latter, a part of the British glam rock scene, found some success with "All the Young Dudes" and "Honaloochie Boogie," co-written by Ralphs, before Ralphs departed to join Bad Company, a supergroup that defined the arena rock sound. Along with members of King Crimson and Free, Bad Company made numerous radio staples powered by Ralphs' hooky riffs, including "Can't Get Enough," the eponymous "Bad Company," and "Feel Like Making Love."

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Just after a slew of Bad Company revival shows in the U.K. in 2016, Ralphs was had a stroke that required hospitalization. By the mid-2020s, he was living in a care facility and was largely incapacitated, up until his death towards the end of June 2025, at the age of 81.

Bobby Sherman

In the 1970s, when the teen idol-generating machine was at its peak, Bobby Sherman was one of that phenomenon's biggest success stories. While establishing himself as an actor on the TV series "Here Come the Brides" and "Getting Together," Sherman's recording career benefited from the exposure. Between 1969 and 1971, Sherman racked up seven top-40 singles. Most notable of those are the smashes "Little Woman," "Easy Come, Easy Go," and "Julie, Do Ya Love Me?" When his career cooled down, Sherman joined the ranks of famous musicians who went on to work totally normal jobs, becoming a paramedic, CPR instructor for the Los Angeles Police Department, and reserve deputy for the San Bernardino County Sheriff.

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Sherman's wife, Brigitte Poublon, revealed the news through family friend John Stamos' Instagram account on June 24, 2025, that the teen idol of yore had died. "Bobby left this world holding my hand—just as he held up our life with love, courage, and unwavering grace through all 29 beautiful years of marriage," Poublon wrote. Sherman was 81 years old, and his death followed by just a few months the singer's announcement of a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis.

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