Goodbye to… the musicians (but not only) who passed away in 2025
As happens every year, also in 2025 numerous protagonists of rock, pop, author music and all other musical genres have left us. Let’s open the 2026 remembering those who are no longer here. Below we have collected some of them in chronological order, linking them to the articles published by Rockol at the time of the announcement of their passing. May they rest in peace.
January 1 – Nora Orlandi (1933-2025) – Goodbye to Nora Orlandi
January 10 – Sam Moore (1935-2025) – Farewell to the legendary ‘soul man’ Sam Moore
January 14 – Fausto Cogliati (1959-2025) – Farewell to producer Fausto Cogliati
January 15 – David Lynch (1946-2025) – Goodbye to David Lynch. All his records
January 21 – Garth Hudson (1937-2025) – Goodbye to Garth Hudson. The Band musician was 87 years old
January 24 – Gianfranco Manfredi (1948-2025) – Farewell to the singer-songwriter, cartoonist and actor Gianfranco Manfredi
January 30 – Marianne Faithfull (1946-2025) – Goodbye to Marianne Faithfull: a legendary voice in 10 songs
February 4 – Christian Le Bartz (1951-2025) – Farewell to Christian Le Bartz, historic frontman of the Rockets
February 17 – Rick Buckler (1955-2025) – Goodbye to Rick Buckler, the Jam’s drummer
February 22 – Gianni Pettenati (1945-2025) – Gianni Pettenati: farewell to the voice of “Bandiera Gialla”
February 24 – Roberta Flack (1937-2025) – Farewell to Roberta Flack, the R&B icon of “Killing me softly”
February 28 – David Johansen (1950-2025) – Goodbye to David Johansen, frontman of the New York Dolls
March 1 – Angie Stone (1961-2025) – Goodbye to Angie Stone, the American R&B singer was 63 years old
March 4 – Roy Ayers (1940-2025) – Goodbye to Roy Ayers, precursor of jazz-funk
March 6 – Brian James (1951-2025) – Goodbye to Brian James, founder of the Damned
March 16 – Fabio Testoni ‘Dandy Bestia’ (1952-2025) – Goodbye to Dandy Beast of Skiantos
April 1 – Val Kilmer (1959-2025) – Goodbye to Val Kilmer, he was 65 years old
April 4 – Amadou Bagayoko (1954-2025) – Goodbye to Amadou Bagayoko of the duo Amadou & Mariam
5 April – Antonello Fassari (1952-2025) – Goodbye to Antonello Fassari, the Roman actor was 72 years old
April 5 – Dave Allen (1955-2025) – Goodbye to Dave Allen, former bassist of Gang of Four
April 6 – Roberto De Simone (1933-2025) – Farewell to Roberto De Simone, author of the opera La Gatta Cenerentola
April 6 – Clem Burke (1954-2025) – Blondie, farewell to drummer Clem Burke
April 11 – Max Romeo (1944-2025) – Goodbye to Max Romeo, legend of reggae music
April 15 – Les Binks (1948-2025) – Goodbye to Les Binks the former Judas Priest drummer
April 21 – Jorge Bergoglio ‘Pope Francis’ (1936-2025) – Farewell to Pope Francis, the pontiff was 88 years old
April 23 – David Thomas (1953-2025) – Goodbye to David Thomas founder of Pere Ubu
April 29 – Mike Peters (1959-2025) – Goodbye to Mike Peters, leader of the Alarm
May 16 – Teo Ciavarella (1960-2025) – Farewell to jazz musician Teo Ciavarella
May 26 – Domenico Canu (1959-2025) – Planet Funk, goodbye to Domenico “GG” Canu
May 26 – Rick Derringer (1947-2025) – Farewell to guitarist and producer Rick Derringer
June 9 – Sly Stone (1943-2025) – Goodbye to Sly Stone, leader of Sly and the Family Stone
June 11 – Brian Wilson (1942-2025) – Farewell to Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson
June 20 – Patrick Walden (1978-2025) – Goodbye to Patrick Walden, former Babyshambles guitarist
June 23 – Mick Ralphs (1944-2025) – Goodbye to Mick Ralphs, guitarist of Bad Company and Mott The Hoople
June 26 – Lalo Schifrin (1932-2025) – Goodbye to Lalo Schifrin, he composed the theme song for ‘Mission Impossible’
July 16 – Connie Francis (1937-2025) – Goodbye to Connie Francis, successful singer in the 50s and 60s
July 22 – Ozzy Osbourne (1948-2025) – Ozzy Osbourne has died
July 27 – Celso Valli (1950-2025) – Goodbye to Celso Valli, the architect of Italian pop
July 29 – Livio Macchia (1941-2025) – Goodbye to Livio Macchia dei Chameleonti
July 31 – Justin Yamanouchi ‘Jesto’ (1984-2025) – Who was Jesto, the Roman rapper (son of art) who died at 40 years old
August 6 – Eddie Palmieri (1936-2025) – Goodbye to Eddie Palmieri, pioneer of Latin jazz
16 August – Pippo Baudo (1936-2025) – Goodbye to Pippo Baudo
August 20 – Brent Hinds (1974-2025) – Goodbye to Brent Hinds, former singer and guitarist of Mastodon
September 6 – Rick Davies (1944-2025) – Goodbye to Rick Davies, frontman and co-founder of Supertramp
September 18 – Fausto Amodei (1934-2025) – Goodbye to Fausto Amodei
September 19 – Sonny Curtis (1937-2025) – Goodbye to Sonny Curtis of the Crickets, he wrote “I fought the law”
September 23 – Danny Thompson (1939-2025) – Goodbye to Danny Thompson, bassist of Pentangle and John Martyn
September 25 – Chris Dreja (1945-2025) – Goodbye to Chris Dreja of the Yardbirds: Jimmy Page’s message
September 26 – Christian (1943-2025) – Goodbye to Christian, the ‘Italian Julio Iglesias’
October 10 – John Lodge (1943-2025) – Goodbye to John Lodge, singer and bassist of the Moody Blues
October 14 – Michael Eugene Archer ‘D’Angelo’ (1974-2025) – D’Angelo, the Black Messiah of soul, has died
October 16 – Ace Frehley (1951-2025) – Goodbye to Ace Frehley, founding member of Kiss
October 18 – Sam Rivers (1977-2025) – Limp Bizkit, farewell to bassist and founder Sam Rivers
October 22 – Dave Ball (1959-2025) – Goodbye to Dave Ball of Soft Cell
October 26 – Jack DeJohnette (1942-2025) – Goodbye to Jack DeJohnette, iconic drummer of the jazz world
October 29 – James Senese (1945-2025) – Goodbye to James Senese
8 November – Peppe Vessicchio (1956-2025) – Goodbye to Peppe Vessicchio
November 14 – Todd Snider (1966-2025) – Goodbye to Todd Snider
November 20 – Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield (1962-2025) – Farewell to Gary “Mani” Mounfield (Stone Roses, Primal Scream)
21 November – Ornella Vanoni (1934-2025) – Ornella Vanoni has died
November 24 – Jimmy Cliff (1944-2025) – Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican reggae legend, has died
December 3 – Steve Cropper (1941-2025) – Goodbye to Steve Cropper
5 December – Sandro Giacobbe (1949-2025) – Goodbye to Sandro Giacobbe
December 22 – Chris Rea (1951-2025) – Chris Rea has died
December 25 – Perry Bamonte (1960-2025) – Goodbye to Perry Bamonte of The Cure
December 28 – Brigitte Bardot (1934-2025) – The Brigitte Bardot singer was nothing less than the actress
