As our Entertainment Year draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment and reflect upon the numerous artist losses that we found happening over the past year in 2018. While its true that there is often a longer “In Memoriam” post done for some of the artists here on the PiercingMetal website, it’s all too difficult to do such a piece for every single musician or entertainment personality that we lose. I think I’d need a dedicated writer for that alone. In similar fashion to the full listing that I began last year in this fashion, I culled the research sources and tried to cite all the names that our demographic might be most familiar with. Should a longer “In Memoriam” post exist on the site, I will highlight the name so you can examine that article at your leisure. Let’s say goodbye to these talented people once more before 2018 end.
January 1, 2018: Jon Paul Steuer (33), American punk singer and actor
January 2, 2018: Rick Hall (85), American record producer
January 3, 2018: Josiah Boyd (32), American heavy metal bassist (A Hill to Die Upon)
January 4, 2018: Ray Thomas (76), British progressive rock flautist (The Moody Blues)
January 5, 2018: Mikio Fujioka (36), Japanese heavy metal guitarist (Babymetal)
January 9, 2018: Paul Antingnani, American heavy metal drummer (Sworn Enemy)
January 10, 2018: “Fast” Eddie Clarke (67), British heavy metal guitarist (Motörhead, Fastway)
January 15, 2018: Dolores O’Riordan (46), Irish alternative rock singer-songwriter (The Cranberries)
January 16, 2018: Dave Holland (69), English heavy metal drummer (Judas Priest, Trapeze)
January 20, 2018: Jim Rodford (76), British rock bassist (Argent, The Kinks, The Zombies)
February 7, 2018: Pat Torpey (64), American hard rock drummer (Mr. Big)
February 9, 2018: Craig MacGregor (68), American rock bassist (Foghat)
March 13, 2018: Charlie Quintana (56), American punk rock drummer (The Plugz, Cracker, Social Distortion, Agent Orange)
March 18, 2018: Killjoy (48), American death metal singer (Necrophagia, Viking Crown)
March 20, 2018: Peter “Mars” Cowling (72), British blues rock bassist (Pat Travers Band, The Flying Hat Band, Gnidrolog)
April 30, 2018: Tim Calvert (52), American heavy metal guitarist (Nevermore, Forbidden)
May 9, 2018: Ben Graves (46), American horror punk drummer (Murderdolls)
May 28, 2018: Josh Martin (46), American grindcore guitarist (Anal Cunt)
June 5, 2018: Ralph Santolla (51), American metal guitarist (Deicide, Obituary, Iced Earth)
June 8, 2018: Danny Kirwan (68), British rock and blues guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
June 22, 2018: Vinnie Paul (54), American metal drummer (Pantera, Damageplan, Hellyeah)
June 27, 2018: Steve Soto (54), American punk rock bassist (Adolescents, Agent Orange, Manic Hispanic)
June 29, 2018: Steve Ditko (90) American comics artist and writer.
July 2, 2018: Alan Longmuir (70), Scottish pop bassist (Bay City Rollers)
July 7, 2018: Brett Hoffmann (51), American death metal singer (Malevolent Creation)
July 27, 2018: Mark Shelton (60), American heavy metal guitarist (Manilla Road)
August 10, 2018: Jason “J-Sin” Luttrell (40), American nu-metal vocalist (Primer 55)
August 14, 2018: Jill Janus (42), American heavy metal singer (Huntress)
August 14, 2018: Randy Rampage (58), Canadian thrash metal and punk singer and bassist (Annihilator, D.O.A., Stress Factor 9)
August 16, 2018: Aretha Franklin (76), American R&B and soul singer
August 22, 2018: Ed King (68), American rock guitarist (Strawberry Alarm Clock, Lynyrd Skynyrd)
August 25, 2018: Kyle Pavone (28), American metalcore singer (We Came as Romans)
September 2, 2018: Conway Savage (58), Australian alternative rock keyboardist (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)
September 5, 2018: Nasty Savage (50), American thrash metal bassist (Nasty Savage)
September 10, 2018: Johnny Strike (70), American punk singer and guitarist (Crime)
September 16, 2018: Maartin Allcock (61), British folk multi-instrumentalist (Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull)
September 27, 2018: Marty Balin (76), American psychedelic rock singer and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship)
October 17, 2018: Oli Herbert (48), American metalcore guitarist (All That Remains)
October 27, 2018: Todd Youth (47), American punk rock guitarist (Murphy’s Law, Danzig, The Chelsea Smiles)
October 29, 2018: Jimmy Farrar (67), American southern rock singer (Molly Hatchet, Gator Country)
November 6, 2018: Hugh McDowell (65), British progressive rock cellist (Wizzard, Electric Light Orchestra)
November 15, 2018: Roy Clark (85), American country singer
November 12, 2018: Stan Lee (Stanley Martin Lieber) (95) American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer.
November 29, 2018: Erik Lindmark (46), American technical death metal singer and guitarist (Deeds of Flesh)
December 6, 2018: Pete Shelley (63), British punk singer, songwriter and guitarist (Buzzcocks)
December 14, 2018: Joe Osborne (81), American rock bassist (The Wrecking Crew)
That will bring us to the end of this rather sad installment to our narratives. We truly lost some greats this past year and thankfully we still have lots of music and video to enjoy from all of them so they never leave our memories. As we close this piece up I once again say “Rest In Peace” and “Thanks For The Numerous Gifts” that were left. The countdown to the New Year commences. Are you ready? I “think” that I am. I’ll know more in a couple of days. See you soon.