Issue Articles — Obituaries
Obituary: Harold Battiste
Harold Battiste, Jr., saxophonist, arranger, producer, label owner, educator and author, died June 19 after a lengthy illness. He was 83. “Bat” was key in the success of Sam Cooke, […]
Obituary: Brian Ashley White
Louisiana music lost one of its most sensitive chroniclers when photographer and former OffBeat contributor Brian Ashley White, 64, passed away in May due to liver failure. Many of White’s […]
Obituary: B.B. King
B.B. King, the singer and guitarist who took the blues sounds of the Mississippi Delta from the juke joints to palaces and the White House, died May 14 after a […]
Obituary: Travis “Trumpet Black” Hill
“It has always been embedded in us to play music,” Travis “Trumpet Black” Hill once said of his musical family that included his grandfather Jessie “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” Hill […]
Obituary: Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge, a small man with a big voice and heart to match it, an artist who helped launch the Muscle Shoals Sound, died in a Baton Rouge hospice on […]
Obituary: Lady B.J. Crosby
She went from a little New Orleans girl to a Broadway star,” says Vernel Bagneris of Lady B.J. Crosby, his lifelong friend and musical and theatrical cohort. Born Joanne Clayton, […]
Obituary: Alfred “Bucket” Carter
“It’s my life and I love it,” Alfred “Bucket” Carter once proclaimed of being a member of and second lining with the Young Men Olympian Jr. Benevolent Association, Inc. Everyone […]
Obituary: Irvin Smith
Irvin Smith, who played a prominent role in the New Orleans music business for nearly five decades, died January 29 after a lengthy illness. He was 92. Smith owned or […]
Obituary: Big Chief Bo Dollis
In a city of originals, Bo Dollis stood out. Over the last half century, he was an integral part of the Black New Orleans tradition of Mardi Gras Indians as […]
Obituary: Kim Fowley
There is so much to say about Kim Fowley, but rather than tell you about his life, I’ll suggest that you watch two films, The Runaways and The Mayor of […]
