2010 Notable Deaths: In music

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2010 Notable Deaths: In music

Notable music stars who died in 2010.

TEDDY PENDERGRASS, March 26, 1950-Jan. 13, 2010: As a Philadelphia R&B singer, he helped define seductive singing in the 1970s and 80s. He was known for hits like 'Love TKO' and 'Turn off the Lights' and some of his concerts were for females only. A car accident in 1982 left him paralyzed but he continued record and perform through 2008.

JIMMY DEAN, Aug. 10, 1928-June 13, 2010: Dean had successful careers as a country musician, an actor and entrepreneur of sausage products, the latter earning him the title of "sausage king."

LENA HORNE, June 30, 1917-May 9, 2010: Singer, actress and civil rights activist whose film and Broadway career spanned nearly seven decades.

DOUG FIEGER: Aug. 20, 1952-Feb. 14, 2010: Lead singer of The Knack, co-wrote the band's biggest hit, 1979's "My Sharona."

EDDIE FISHER, Aug. 10, 1928-Sept. 22, 2010: Singer and entertainer was a mega-star in the 1950s. His 1959 divorce from Debbie Reynolds and marriage to Elizabeth Taylor was a Hollywood scandal.

RICH CRONIN, Aug. 30, 1974-Sept. 8, 2010: Singer and songwriter fro the pop group LFO. He died of complications of leukemia.

SOLOMON BURKE, Mar. 21, 1940 - Oct. 10, 2010: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee performed blues, gospel, R&B and soul during a career spanning a half-century.

ROBERT WILSON, 1957-Aug. 15, 2010: Noted bassist for the funk and R&B group the Gap Band, originally the Greenwood Archer Pine Street Band. The group's hits include "You Dropped A Bomb On Me," "I Don't Believe You Want To Get Up And Dance (Oops)," "Party Train" and others. Known as the "Godfather of bass guitar," Wilson played bass with the likes of Eric Clapton and Billy Preston.

MARK LINKOUS, Sept. 9, 1962-March 6, 2010: The singer-songwriter whose music was released under the name Sparklehorse was renowned in indie-rock and alt-country circles.

KEITH ELAM ("Guru"), July 17, 1966-April 19, 2010: Gang Starr MC Guru rose to fame in the late 1980s as part of the duo Gang Starr with partner DJ Premier. Together they helped define the New York underground rap sound in the 1990s, according to MTV.com.

ALEX CHILTON, Dec. 28, 1950-March 17, 2010: Chilton was the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star. He is credited with being one of the founding fathers of the power-pop movement.

ALBERTINA WALKER, Aug. 29, 1929 - Oct. 8, 2010: Grammy Award-winning gospel singer who founded The Caravans was also inducted into Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

SUSAN REED, Jan. 11, 1926-April 25, 2010: Reed was among the top folk singers of the 1940s and 1950s. She also starred in the 1948 movie Glamour Girl with Gene Krupa.

TULI KUPFERBERG, Sept. 28, 1923-July 12, 2010: Tuli Kupferberg once called himself the "world's oldest rock star." Along with Ed Sanders, he led the Fugs, a 1960s group that expressed antiwar sentiment and prefigured punk rock. He was a poet, a Beatnik celebrity and was the inspiration for a character in Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl.

MARVIN ISLEY, Aug. 8, 1953-June 6, 2010: Isley was the bass player in the R&B group, the Isley Brothers. An advocate of diabetes awareness, he died from complications of the disease, which over the years had led to a stroke, high blood pressure, the loss of both legs and use of his left hand. Isley stopped performing in 1996 due to his health.

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TEDDY PENDERGRASS, March 26, 1950-Jan. 13, 2010: As a Philadelphia R&B singer, he helped define seductive singing in the 1970s and 80s. He was known for hits like 'Love TKO' and 'Turn off the Lights' and some of his concerts were for females only. A car accident in 1982 left him paralyzed but he continued record and perform through 2008.

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