What’s goin’ on? 50 great soul music artists have died (suddenly?) in 2022

Guest Post by Mark Crispin Miller

Why is this not news, beyond one website? Why has (say) the New York Times not picked it up, to look into the CAUSE of all those deaths? We know why….

One thing (among many) that the COVID Crisis has made painfully clear is that black lives DON’T matter when those “vaccines” take them.

Hear, and heed, what Marvin Gaye sings in the first verse of his 1971 classic (scroll down for it).

https://www.soultracks.com/deaths-2022

One of our saddest jobs at SoulTracks is to inform SoulTrackers about the deaths of soul music artists. And 2022 is a year in which we’ve already lost some great ones.

We feel it is part of our mission to pay tribute to the legacies of these all time greats. On this page we provide a list of those artists who have died during 2022, and a link to our tributes to them. They are shown in the order of the date we reported on their deaths during the year.

Nick Colionne (singer and guitarist)

Jessie Lee Daniels of The Force MDs

Calvin Simon of Parliament-Funkadelic

James Mtume (songwriter, producer and group leader)

R. Dean Taylor (Motown songwriter and singer)

Ronnie Spector (singer)

Sonny Turner of the Platters

Fred Parris of The Five Satins

Rosa Lee Hawkins of The Dixie Cups

Greg Webster, Sr of The Ohio Players

Lew Kirton (singer)

Freddie Hughes (singer)

Philip Paul (drummer)

Darrell Crooks (guitarist)

Donny Gerrard of Skylark

Syl Johnson (blues and soul singer)

Johnny Brown (singer and actor)

Betty Davis (singer)

Clifton “Fou Fou” Eddie (drummer)

David Tyson of the Manhattans

Billy Bannister (Tempations emcee)

Richard Pratt of Blue Magic

Timmy Thomas (singer)

John Barnes (keyboardist and producer)

Lashun Pace of the Anointed Pace Sisters

Donald Tabby Shaw of the Mighty Diamonds

Lola Gulley (blues singer)

Joe Messina (Motown musician)

Charles McCormick of Bloodstone

Andrew Woolfolk of Earth Wind & Fire

Allan “Grip” Smith (musician and producer)

Tommy McConnell of Skyy

Bernard Wright (musician and singer)

Phlenoid Dismuke of Smooth Approach

Patrick Adams (producer and songwriter)

Bernard Belle (songwriter and musician)

Reggie Andrews (songwriter and producer)

Ken Williams (songwriter)

Adam Wade (singer and television personality)

Reginald “Sonny” Burke (keyboardist and songwriter)

William “Poogie” Hart of the Delfonics

Michael Henderson  (singer and musician)