Musician Tribute

Chuck Berry (1926-2017) Charles Edward Anderson Berry was an American singer and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive. Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music. Born into a middle-class African-American family in St. Louis, Missouri, Berry had an interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance at Sumner High School. While still a high school student he was convicted of armed robbery and was sent to a reformatory, where he was held from 1944 to 1947. After his release, Berry settled into married life and worked at...

Bernie Torme (1952-2019) Bernie Tormé (born Bernard Joseph Tormey) was an Irish rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, record label and recording studio owner. Tormé is best known for his work with Gillan, as well as his brief stints with Ozzy Osbourne's backing band and Atomic Rooster. Inspired by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Rory Gallagher, and Gary Moore, Tormé formed his first band at a young age. His first paid performance came when Don Harris, a 14-year-old drummer he played alongside when he was 17, secured a gig at the local Girl Guides' dance in Kilmainham in Dublin. Tormé then played in Dublin band The Urge in the early 1970s before relocating to London in 1974, where he initially played with heavy rockers Scrapyard, whose bass player, John McCoy would later be re-united with Tormé in Gillan. Inspired by England's burgeoning mid-1970s punk rock scene, Tormé formed the Bernie Tormé Band in 1976. With this group, Tormé toured with successful grou...

Chad Hanks (1971 -2017) Chad Hanks was the bassist and co-founder of Minneapolis nu-metal band American Head Charge. Achievements: American Head Charge emerged as major players from the late '90s nu-metal boom. The success of their 1999 indie debut, Trepanation, caught the ear of mega-producer Rick Rubin, who signed the band to his American Recordings label. The band has earned two nominations at the Kerrang! Awards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Head_Charge#Discography 

Michael Walker (1969 - 2019) Mike Walker joined the band Aranda to record "The 405 Sessions" in 2004 and became a permanent member when the band signed to Astonish records in 2006. Achievements: The band's first full-length record, Aranda, was released on April 22, 2008. The first single, "Still in the Dark", peaked at No. 31 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Aranda has toured with bands like The All-American Rejects, Buckcherry, Sevendust, Anew Revolution, Since October, Edisun, Saliva, Shinedown, Puddle of Mudd, Theory of a Deadman, Black Stone Cherry, Shaman's Harvest, and Tantric. They also were on tour with Halestorm, Adelitas Way, 3 Doors Down, and Daughtry. In 2010 Aranda performed at Rocklahoma in Pryor, Oklahoma. They were nominated in 2012 for a RadioContraband Rock Radio Award for Indie Artist of the Year. In 2015 it was announced that Aranda will perform at the 10th Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio in May 2016...

Randy Castillo (1950-2002) Randolpho Francisco Castillo was an American musician. He was Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999 to his death in 2002. Castillo was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was inspired to take up the drums after seeing the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Achievements: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Castillo#Discography In 1984, Castillo was hired to play drums for Lita Ford and was featured on her Dancin' On The Edge album. Ford introduced Castillo to her boyfriend, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, and Nikki’s bandmate Tommy Lee. Shortly after the “Dancin’ on the Edge” tour, Lee called Castillo from a party he was at with Ozzy Osbourne and told him Ozzy was looking for a new drummer. Despite being unable to audition right away due to a broken leg he suffered while skiing, Castillo was hired by Osbourne a couple months later and ended ...

Robbin Crosby (1959-2002) Robbinson Lantz Crosby was an American guitarist who was a member of glam metal band Ratt, earning several platinum albums in the US in the 1980s. Crosby was born in La Jolla, California, and had two sisters, Ristin and Bronle. Robb attended Bird Rock Elementary, Muirlands Junior High and La Jolla High School. He previously played baseball prior to shifting his focus to the guitar. He was the son of Harry W. Crosby, a science schoolteacher at La Jolla High and an author of books about California history. Achievments: Crosby was one of the original members of the Los Angeles rock band Ratt. He would end up co-writing many of Ratt's songs including "Round and Round", "Wanted Man" and "Lay it Down". The album Out of the Cellar went to triple platinum based on Crosby's co-penned "Round and Round". Crosby was dating actress Tawny Kitaen (who would go on to appear in several Whitesnake videos) at th...

Lorna Doom (1958-2019) Teresa Marie Ryan, better known by her stage name Lorna Doom, was an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for the punk rock band the Germs from 1976–1980 and again after they got back together from 2005–2009. Doom grew up in Thousand Oaks, California, and attended Newbury Park High School, where she met Belinda Carlisle, who would be the Germs' first drummer. Doom was a friend of The Germs' founders Darby Crash and Pat Smear and joined despite lack of musical ability, having answered a flyer looking for "two untalented girls" with Belinda Carlisle. She quit the band originally in 1980 after Crash fired Don Bolles, the band's drummer. After Crash's death, Doom moved from California to New York City where she lived until the late 1990s. Achievments: The Germs received a star on the Guitar Center RockWalk in 2008. When the movie What We Do Is Secret came out in 2007, Doom was played by Bijou Phillips. B...

Bruce Corbitt (1962-2019) Bruce Kendall Corbitt was an American heavy metal vocalist from Dallas, Texas, best known for alternately fronting the bands Rigor Mortis and Warbeast. His aggressive vocals were first showcased on Rigor Mortis’ self-titled debut, which was released by Capitol Records in 1988. The album is regarded as a landmark of speed metal, and the band is one of the first of its type to have a major label release. Achievements: Rigor Mortis: After signing with Capitol Records, Rigor Mortis went on to tour North America and continued to terrorize the Dallas/Fort Worth metal underground. Violence and chaos followed the band wherever they performed, often involving room-clearing brawls. This culminated in Corbitt surviving being stabbed repeatedly at one of the band's concerts in 1987, mere days after their contract with the label had been finalized. After departing Rigor Mortis in 1989, Corbitt remained mostly off the stage w...

James Ingram   (1952-2019) James Edward Ingram was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and instrumentalist. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song. Since beginning his career in 1973, Ingram had charted eight Top 40 hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart from the early 1980s until the early 1990s, as well as thirteen top 40 hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In addition, he charted 20 hits on the Adult Contemporary chart (including two number-ones). He had two number-one singles on the Hot 100: the first, a duet with fellow R&B artist Patti Austin, 1982's "Baby, Come to Me" topped the U.S. pop chart in 1983; "I Don't Have the Heart", which became his second number-one in 1990 was his only number-one as a solo artist. In between these hits, he also recorded the song "Somewhere Out There" with fellow recording artist Linda Ronstadt for the animat...

Alex Brown (1966 -2019) Alex Brown was a renowned visual artist and guitarist in the seminal NYHC band Gorilla Biscuits. Brown was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1966 and studied art at the Parsons School Of Design in New York. As a student, he started the prominent hardcore label and fanzine Schism along with John Porcelly and played in numerous bands throughout the period. Gorilla Biscuits formed in 1987 and released their self-titled EP the next year. Brown later joined, playing on their landmark sophomore release Start Today. Though the band technically broke up in 1991, they reunited to perform together numerous times in the years to follow. In addition to his work with Gorilla Biscuits, Brown was an established painter, with solo shows at Feature Inc. (New York), Min Min (Tokyo), Blondeau Fine Art Service (Geneva), and Twig Gallery (Brussels). Achievements: Gorilla Biscuits released their second album Start Today in 1989. Start Today gave Gorilla Biscuits u...