Charles Bradley November 5, 1948 – September 23, 2017
2011. Photo by Vince Hans
Charles Bradley, the revered soul singer who found success late in life, died after a his battle with stomach cancer at the age of 68. Born in Gainesville, Florida, Bradley moved to New York City at the age of eight to live with his mother who had left him with his grandmother when he was a toddler. In 1962, his sister took the young teen to James Brown’slegendary show at the Apollo Theater, and like many kids who saw the Godfather of Soul perform, Bradley immediately took to practicing Brown’s songs and dance moves. When he was 14, he ran away from home to escape his family’s life of poverty. He spent the first couple of years living on the streets until he found Job Corps who taught him to cook and help him find a job. The next 25 years or so found Bradley working as a chef mostly along the west coast and into Canada while playing small club gigs along the way. Bradley moved back to New York to be with his mother in 1996, and finally started making some decent money impersonating James Brown under the stage name, Black Velvet. It was during one of these shows that he was discovered by up-and-coming soul revival label, Daptone Records. After releasing a series of 7″ singles by him, Daptone put out Bradley’s debut album, No Time For Dreaming, in 2011. Two more albums followed, including 2016’s Changes, which included his staggering cover of the Black Sabbath song of the same name. In 2012, the documentary, Soul of America, which told his story and included live performances, was released to critical acclaim. Label mate and soul great, Sharon Jones lost her battle with cancer on November 18, 2016.
Geoff Nicholls February 28, 1948 – January 28, 2017
Photo by Chris Walter
Geoff Nicholls was the longtime keyboardist for Black Sabbath. Although not nearly as recognized as core group since he primarily played off stage for some 25 years. Born in Birmingham, England, Nicholls helped form his first band of note, Quartz (initially called Bandy Legs) during the mid-’70s. Quartz, an influential band that helped usher in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, built a sizable enough following to sign with Jet Records in 1976. They released their debut album, the Tony Iommi-produced Quartz in 1977 and went on to tour with Black Sabbath after its release. In 1979, Nicholls left Quartz to play with Black Sabbath. Although unaccredited, his debut was on their Heaven and Hell album of 1980. He went on to play on every subsequent Sabbath album through 1995’s Forbidden. In later years Nicholls played with former Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin. Geoff Nicholls died of lung cancer on January 28, 2017. He was 68.
Kevin McDade was the bassist and lead singer of the up-and-coming Los Angeles stoner metal band, Behold! The Monolith. With a sound influenced by such acts as Celtic Frost, Motorhead and Black Sabbath, Behold! The Monolith were no strangers to positive press from the likes of Decibel, Terrorizer, blabbermouth.net and Metal Hammer. They self-released their debut EP in 2008 and their self-titled full-length album in 2009 Defender, Redeemist in 2012. McDade had been part of the trio since 2007. Kevin McDade was killed in a car accident on June 22, 2013.
Storm Thorgerson February 28, 1944 – April 18, 2013
Storm Thorgerson was a renowned graphic artist whose catalog includes some of rock music’s most famous album covers. Born in Middlesex, England, Thorgerson went to high school with Syd Barrett and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame. He eventually joined a graphic arts collective called Hipgnosis which created many popular album cover designs until closing shop in 1983. He then went on to form his own design house, Storm Studios. Arguably, Thorgerson’s most famous cover is the one he designed for Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Often surreal in nature, his canon of work includes the covers of most of the Pink Floyd albums; the Cult‘s Electric; Led Zeppelin‘s Presence and In Through the Out Door; Peter Gabriel‘s three self-titled albums; as well as visually stunning covers for Muse, Phish, Megadeth, Catherine Wheel, Black Sabbath, the Cranberries, Genesis, Alan Parsons and many more. Thorgerson also directed popular videos by the likes of Bruce Dickinson, Nik Kershaw, Paul Young, David Gilmour, and of course, Pink Floyd. He suffered a stroke in 2003 but recovered and went back to work. Sometime later, he was diagnosed with cancer and ultimately died from it on April 18, 2013. Storm Thorgerson was 69 when he passed away.