Died On This Date (March 12, 2010) Rockie Charles / New Orleans’ “President of Soul”
themusicsover Rockie Charles (Born Charles Merrick)
November 14, 1942 – March 12, 2010
Rockie Charles was a beloved New Orleans R&B singer and guitarist who had been called “The President of Soul.” Born into a musical family, Charles was schooled in reading and writing music at a very young age. As he grew older, he generally won local talent competitions and occasionally shared the stage with the likes of Aaron Neville and Ernie K-Doe. He formed his first band while still in high school and by the late ’60s he was playing the chitlin’ circuit, opening for some of the biggest names in R&B at the time. Like many traditional R&B artists, Charles’ career slowed down during the ’70s as local clubs began booking disco acts, but he experienced a nice renaissance during the ’90s. Since then, he was a popular draw throughout the region’s music festivals, and had been working on a new album at the time of his death. On March 12, 2010, Rockie Charles, 67, died of cancer.
Sonny Terry was a blind blues singer and harmonica player from North Carolina. He was one of the most popular of the Piedmont blues scene. During his early days, he performed and recorded with guitarist, 
As one of disco’s family groups, the Sylvers, Edmund Sylvers scored a huge hit with “Boogie Fever” in 1976. He was also the voice of the Marlon Jackson character in the popular Jackson 5 cartoon. After the disco fever died off, Sylvers continued to work as a percussionist and a producer with such artists as Jackson 5, the Whispers, Gladys Knight and Janet Jackson. He succumbed to cancer on March 11, 2004.
Although Andy Gibb was the baby brother of 
As lead singer and songwriter for Molly Hatchet, Danny Joe Brown helped the Southern Rock band achieve success with such hits as “Flirtin’ With Disaster” and “Satified Man.” After an early stint in the US Coast Guard, Brown helped form the band which would be named after a 17th Century prostitute who earned her name by chopping off the heads of her johns. Diabetes started to take its toll on Brown so he was forced to retire from the band in 1980. He had a massive stroke in 1998 and passed away from renal failure due to the diabetes on this date in 2005.