Category: News

Legendary Guitarist Jeff Beck Dead at 78

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British guitarist Jeff Beck has passed away at the age of 78. His family said in a statement that he passed away “after suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis.”

Jeff Beck initially played in a band called “The Tridents” but became known to the general public in 1965 when he replaced Eric Clapton in “The Yardbirds.” Although he remained in The Yardbirds for only 20 months, the band recorded most of their Top 40 hits while he was in the band, including “Over Under Sideways Down,” “Heart Full of Soul” and “Shapes Of Things.”

The guitar virtuoso went on to form “The Jeff Beck Group” and recorded “Truth,” one of rock’s great debut albums. Despite a constantly changing lineup the group’s unique approach to blues and rock had a lasting impact on popular music. In 1975, Jeff went solo, recording his first album “Blow By Blow” with “The Beatles” producer George Martin. The record went on to chart in the Top 10 in the US.

Jeff Beck has won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, once with “The Yardbirds” in 1992 and once as a solo artist in 2009. In 2015 Beck was ranked fifth in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” list. Many would consider him the greatest of all time.

“Special” Terry Hall Dead at 63

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Terry Hall, the lead singer of British Ska group “The Specials,” has died. He was 63 years old. The band reported this on Twitter describing him as “a great man and father” and “a very sincere soul”. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists in this country,” the band wrote. Hall died after a short illness.

He began his musical career with the punk group “Squad” in his hometown of Coventry. He later continued with “The Specials,” founded in 1977. The band’s debut single, Gangsters (1979), was immediately well received by the general public and reached number 6 in the UK charts. The Specials’ biggest success came in 1981 with the number 1 hit Ghost Town, a song was about urban decay and unemployment. Ghost Town received a lot of attention during the many riots over racism that broke out between young black people and the police in the United Kingdom that year.

After Ghost Town was released Hall left the band to start a new group called “Fun Boy Three” with two of his Specials band mates. In 1992, Hall joined forces with “Dave Stewart,” most famous for his role as one half of “Eurythmics.” The duo took on the name “Vegas” and released Vegas, a slick electronic pop album which spawned the moderately successful single Possessed.

Earlier this year Hall was still performing with “The Specials” who had reformed in 2008.

Fleetwood Mac star Christine McVie dead at 79

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English musician and songwriter “Christine McVie” has passed away at the age of 79. She died in hospital after a short illness. The singer and songwriter is best known for her time with the band “Fleetwood Mac” in which she sang and played keyboards. She left the band in 1998 after 28 years but returned in 2014. Between 1970 and 1976, she was married to singer and bassist John McVie. Outside of Fleetwood Mac, Christine was also an accomplished solo performer, releasing several solo albums as well as a collaboration with longtime Fleetwood Mac bandmate Lindsey Buckingham.

Dan McCafferty Dead

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Dan McCafferty, the former lead singer of Scottish hard rock band “Nazareth,” has died aged 76. McCafferty co-founded Nazareth in 1968. The group’s best known album, Hair Of The Dog, their sixth album, was released in 1975 and included the rock classic Love Hurts which topped the charts in Canada, South Africa and The Netherlands.

Jerry Lee Lewis dies aged 87

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Rock and Roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, perhaps the last true icon of the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, has died. He was there at the beginning, with artists like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino and Buddy Holly. It was his 1957 hit Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On that shot Lewis to fame worldwide. Major hits like Great Balls of Fire, Breathless, and High School Confidential followed. Sam Phillips, who launched the careers of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis at Sun Records in Memphis, called Lewis the most talented person he had ever seen. Musicians and music journalists called him a true virtuoso whose music was so rich and complex that some of them swore there were two pianos on stage instead of one.

His popularity quickly eroded in the wake of his marriage to “Myra Gale Brown,” his 13-year-old cousin once removed but his career was re-ignited in 1968 when he made a transition into country music and had 30 songs reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Country and Western Chart. His successes continued throughout the decades as he released new albums and continued to tour around the world. His 2006 album Last Man Standing was his best selling release, with over a million copies sold worldwide. His last album was a gospel record with his cousin, lifetime televangelist “Jimmy Swaggart,” who had preached against his music when they were younger. He received numerous awards including a Lifetime Achievement Grammy. Judith, his seventh wife, was by his side when he passed away at his home in Desoto County, Mississippi.

RadiJohan is three years old!

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RadiJohan started broadcasting on the internet on 26 July 2019. To mark our third birthday on 26 July 2022 we played every song that made it to number one on the RadiJohan Top 10 during these three years. You’ll find a list of the songs here!