Music Obituaries: February 2026

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Here’s hoping nothing happens worse in the rest of 2026. Every month we lose a number of people in all walks of life. As a music lover, I always highlight the people from the world of music who passed away in the previous month. Well, last month I lost a friend AND one of my all-time favorites. To honor them, and all the others, I give this list of those who took their final bows. Here are the music-related individuals for whom the final curtain fell in February 2026: DON ADAMS (February 1, unknown cause, age 85): not the Get Smart actor (who died in 2005), but a country music singer who worked with the likes of George Jones and Johnny Paycheck. GRAHAM MORGAN (February 1, natural causes, age 88): Australian drummer who, in addition to teaching, authoring books about drumming, and working with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, worked with artists as diverse as Nancy Wilson, Carmen MacRae, and Cleo Laine. KEN PEPLOWSKI (February 1, suspected heart attack, age 66): renown jazz clarinet and tenor sax player. He died on a jazz cruise. STEVE WASHINGTON (February 1, unknown cause, age 67): trumpet player for the jazz-funk band Slave, known for hits “Slide” and “I’ll Be Watching You.” CHUCK NEGRON (February 2, COPD/heart failure, age 83): one of the vocalists for the group Three Dog Night. GREG BROWN (February 3, brief illness, age 56): guitarist and founding member of California-based alternative rock band CAKE and writer of their song “The Distance.” LAMONT MCLEMORE (February 3, natural causes, age 90): one of the members of the 60s vocal group the 5th Dimension. TOMMY CROOK (February 4, unknown cause, age 81): Tulsa-based fingerpick-style guitarist who worked with the likes of JJ Cale, Chet Atkins, Leon Russell, and Porter Wagoner. STAN ZDONIK (February 4, Parkinson’s disease, age 79): co-founder of the Boston Bluegrass Union, a board member of the International Bluegrass Music Association, and a promoter and MC for countless bluegrass festivals throughout New England. FRED SMITH (February 5, unknown cause, age 77): original bassist for the band Blondie, he left them before their first album to join another CBGB new wave alum band: Television. LYNN BLAKEY (February 6, cancer, age 63): a member of the 80s southern college rock bands Let’s Active and Tres Chicas (the latter also featuring Michael Stipe’s sister), and the inspiration for the Replacements’ song “Left of the Dial.” MICROWAVE DAVE (né Dave Gallagher) (February 6, unknown cause, age 80): Huntsville, Alabama-based blues musician who raised money for music education in schools; and, as a younger man, played in a band called the Majestics, who backed a pre-success Aretha Franklin. He counted novelist Stephen King among his biggest fans. BRAD ARNOLD (February 7, kidney cancer, age 47): co-founder, vocalist, and primary songwriter for the band Three Doors Down. PETE FINNEY (February 7, unknown cause, age 70): pedal steel guitarist who played with the likes of Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, Reba McEntire, Robbie Fulks, and many others. He also won the 2016 Chet Flippo Award for his work on the Country Music Hall of Fame’s exhibit on “Nashville Cats.” GARLAND GREEN (February 9, unknown cause, age 83): an “only in America” story. He won a talent contest in Chicago, the prize for which was opening a concert for Lou Rawls. He was discovered that night and signed to a record deal. His only top 20 hit was “Jealous Kind of Fella” in 1969. ANDREW RANKEN (February 10, unknown cause, age 72): drummer for the Irish folk/punk band the Pogues. JERRY KENNEDY (February 11, unknown cause, age 85): Nashville-based session guitarist and record producer who gave us hits like Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley P.T.A.” and Roger Miller’s “King of the Road.” *HAYDEN “JUNIOR” KNIGHT (February 14, metastatic colon cancer, age 76): STEEL GUITAR HALL OF FAMER. A steel guitarist’s steel guitarist, he played with the likes of Ray Price, Gary Stewart, and countless others in a nearly 60-year career. ROBERT DUVALL (February 15, natural causes, age 95): the legendary actor won his only Academy Award for his role as an alcoholic country singer in Tender Mercies. He wrote many of the songs he sang in the film. *BILLY STEINBERG (February 16, cancer, age 75): SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAMER. Co-writer (with songwriting partner Tom Kelly) of hits such as Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” and Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.” *WILLIE COLÓN (February 21, respiratory failure, age 75): LATIN AMERICA MUSIC HALL OF FAMER. A trombonist and pioneer in salsa music. JUNE MARLOW (February 22, natural causes, age 95): a member of the 40s and 50s British vocal quartet the Stargazers, who had the first #1 hit on the British pop charts in the 1953 (“Broken Wings”) by a British group, breaking the streak of #1s by American artists. MONTI ROCK III (né Joseph Montanez Jr.) (February 23, COPD, age 86): the flamboyant front man for ”Disco Tex and His Sex-o-lettes” with their 70s hits “Get Dancing” and “I Wanna Dance Wit Choo.” He was also in the film Saturday Night Fever. *NEIL SEDAKA (February 27, complications from surgery, age 86): SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAMER. Classically Juilliard educated, Brill Building songwriter, and a singer with three careers: 60s pop singer, 70s statesman, and award-winning songwriter of hits such as “Stupid Cupid” and “Love Will Keep Us Together.” *JOHN P. HAMMOND (February 28, cardiac arrrest, age 83): BLUES HALL OF FAMER. The son of record producer John Henry Hammond became a legendary performer in the field of blues, winning multiple Grammy awards in his career that spanned six decades. TERRY WATKINSON (February 28, natural causes, age 85): keyboardist for the Canadian band Max Webster and songwriter behind their breakthrough hit “Let Go the Line.” Farewell, and thank you for the music. I don’t want a worse hit than Neil Sedaka this year. The late, great singer/songwriter with one of my favorite songs of his, “Solitaire.”