but the songs live on forever

Songwriter

Christian Gospel Musician Singer Songwriter

Richard Smallwood, Contemporary Gospel Great, Dies at 77

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Photo Credit: Richard Sawyers via Wikimedia

Richard Smallwood, the Grammy-nominated gospel singer, composer, pianist, and choir leader whose music reshaped modern gospel with classical discipline and emotional depth, died on December 30, 2025. He was 77. His death was attributed to complications from kidney failure.

Born in Atlanta on November 30, 1948, and raised in Washington, D.C., Smallwood displayed extraordinary musical ability at an early age, teaching himself piano and organizing his first gospel group while still a child. He later studied music at Howard University, graduating cum laude, and became a founding member of the school’s pioneering gospel ensemble, the Celestials.

In 1977, Smallwood formed the Richard Smallwood Singers, a group that brought refined arrangements, rich harmonies, and spiritual intensity to contemporary gospel. Their 1982 self-titled debut spent an extraordinary 87 weeks on Billboard’s Spiritual Albums chart, establishing Smallwood as one of Gospel’s revered new voices while opening the door to a string of influential recordings throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Smallwood earned eight Grammy nominations over the course of his career and became widely respected for compositions that balanced technical sophistication with congregational power. His 1996 live album Adoration: Live in Atlanta introduced “Total Praise,” a song that became one of the most enduring works in modern gospel, performed by choirs and worship leaders across denominations and continents.

His writing extended beyond the church world. “I Love the Lord” gained international recognition when recorded by Whitney Houston for The Preacher’s Wife soundtrack, while other compositions such as “Center of My Joy” became staples for gospel artists and choirs alike. Smallwood’s influence could be heard not only in gospel, but in R&B and pop, where his harmonic language and emotional directness resonated with artists across genres.

In addition to his work as a performer and composer, Smallwood was a mentor and educator, deeply invested in the spiritual and musical development of younger artists. He later earned a master’s degree in divinity, reflecting a lifelong commitment to faith that remained inseparable from his art.

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R&B Singer Songwriter

Don Bryant, Memphis-Born R&B Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 83

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Photo credit: Matt White via Wikimedia

Don Bryant, the Memphis-born R&B singer and songwriter whose emotionally direct writing and gospel-honed voice helped shape the legacy of Hi Records, died on December 26, 2025. He was 83. Bryant was born on April 4, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Raised in the church, Bryant began singing gospel at an early age, a foundation that would inform the intensity and conviction of his later soul recordings. He emerged in the late 1960s as a solo artist, cutting a series of impassioned singles that blended Southern soul with spiritual urgency. Tracks such as “How Many More Years” and “There’s a Better Day Coming” earned him a devoted following, even if mainstream success remained elusive.

Bryant’s most lasting impact came as a songwriter. As a key contributor to Hi Records, he helped define the label’s understated yet emotionally potent sound. His writing credits include “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” co-written with Bernard Miller and recorded by Bryant’s wife, Ann Peebles, along with “98.6 Degrees (The Shade)” and “You’re What’s Happening (In the World Today).” Working closely with producer Willie Mitchell, Bryant’s songs became central to the Memphis soul canon.

After stepping away from the music industry for several decades to focus on family life, Bryant returned with Don’t Give Up on Love in 2017. The album was widely praised, with critics noting that his voice, though aged, carried even greater emotional depth and authority.

In his later years, Bryant was widely recognized as a revered figure in Southern soul, celebrated for songwriting that valued honesty over flash and feeling over excess. His work continues to resonate through samples, covers, and reissues, reaffirming his place in the lineage of Memphis music.

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Classic Rock Musician Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (December 22, 2025) Chris Rea / Yacht Rock Pioneer

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Photo Credit: Dutch Simba via Wikimedia

Chris Rea, the English singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his gravelly vocals and blues-influenced sound, died on December 22, 2025. He was 74. His family said he died peacefully in hospital following a short illness.

Rea was born March 4, 1951, in Middlesbrough, England, to an Italian father and Irish mother. He began playing guitar in his early 20s and signed his first record deal in the mid-’70s. His debut album, Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?, was released in 1978 and included “Fool (If You Think It’s Over),” which became an international hit and earned a Grammy nomination.

Over the next four decades, Rea released more than 25 studio albums and sold an estimated 30 million records worldwide, with his strongest commercial success in the UK and Europe. His best-known albums include On the Beach (1986), Dancing with Strangers (1987), The Road to Hell (1989), and Auberge (1991). Several of these releases topped the UK Albums Chart and established him as a consistent presence in British popular music through the 1980s and early 1990s.

Rea was widely recognized for his distinctive slide guitar style, rooted in blues and soul, and for songwriting that often focused on work, travel, relationships, and everyday experience. His voice and guitar tone became defining elements of his recordings and live performances.

One of his most enduring songs, “Driving Home for Christmas,” was first released in 1986 and grew steadily over time into one of the UK’s most frequently played holiday recordings. The song regularly re-entered the charts decades after its initial release.

In the early 2000s, Rea faced significant health issues, including pancreatic cancer, which led to major surgery, and later a stroke in 2016. After these setbacks, he shifted his focus toward blues-based projects and released a large volume of music independently, often through his own label, Jazzee Blue.

Chris Rea continued recording and releasing music well into his later years, largely outside the mainstream music industry. His career spanned nearly fifty years and remained closely aligned with the musical influences that shaped his earliest work.

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Americana Musician Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (December 15, 2025) Joe Ely / Alt-Country Legend

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Photo Credit: Republic Country Club via Wikimedia

Joe Ely, the Texas-born singer, songwriter, and bandleader whose music carried the dust, humor, and hard-earned poetry of the Lone Star State far beyond its borders, has died. He was 78.

Born on February 9, 1947 in Amarillo and raised in Lubbock, Ely came out of a West Texas scene that quietly reshaped American music. Alongside Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, he co-founded the Flatlanders, a group whose early work planted the seeds for what would later be called progressive country. Though the band’s influence would take decades to fully register, its impact proved lasting and profound.

Ely’s solo career brought that restless West Texas spirit into sharper focus. Beginning with his 1977 self-titled debut, followed by albums like Honky Tonk Masquerade, Down on the Drag, Live Shots, and Letter to Laredo, Ely wrote songs that felt road-tested and lived-in. His music blurred lines between country, rock, folk, and border sounds, delivered with a voice that sounded both conversational and battle-worn. He sang about small towns, long nights, border crossings, and the quiet resolve of people who keep moving forward.

Onstage, Ely earned a reputation as a fearless performer. His shows were physical, loud, and unpredictable, powered by a band that matched his intensity. That same energy caught the attention of the Clash in the late 1970s, leading to shared bills in the UK and a rare cultural exchange that proved Texas songwriting and punk urgency spoke the same language.

Collaboration remained central to Ely’s life in music. He worked with Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, and many others, while repeatedly returning to the Flatlanders for reunions and new recordings that deepened the group’s legacy. Even later in life, albums like Panhandle Rambler, Satisfaction Guaranteed, and Love and Freedom showed an artist still curious, still engaged, and still writing from experience rather than nostalgia.

Joe Ely leaves behind a catalog that reads like a map of American roots music, marked by detours, borderlines, and back roads. His songs remain out there, rolling down the highway, exactly where they belong.

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Americana Country Musician Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (December 8, 2025) Raul Malo / Frontman Of The Mavericks

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Raul Malo
August 7, 1965 – December 8, 2025

Photo Credit: Bryan Ledgard via wikimedia

Raul Malo, the singular voice behind the Mavericks and a fearless interpreter of American music, died at 60 after a long fight with cancer. Born in Miami to Cuban parents, Malo grew up surrounded by boleros, rock, country, and the rhythms of Latin street culture, a mix that shaped everything he would become. When he launched the Mavericks in 1989, that wide-open worldview came with him, turning a country band into something far richer: a collision of honky-tonk, Tex-Mex swing, surf-soaked guitars, torch-song balladry, and the kind of romantic croon that could stop a room cold.

With songs like “What a Crying Shame,” “Dance the Night Away,” “Here Comes the Rain,” and “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down,” Malo helped reshape the idea of what country rooted music could sound like. His tenor, soaring and unguarded, carried heartbreak and celebration in equal measure, and his bilingual, genre-blending instincts made the Mavericks a beacon for listeners who never fit into one box. Tours around the world followed, along with Grammy recognition, loyal crowds, and a reputation for shows that felt like the most vibrant party in town.

Away from the band, Malo carved out a vivid solo career built on range rather than repetition. He recorded intimate acoustic work, Latin infused originals, holiday albums, and collaborations that widened his reach even further. Whether backed by mariachi horns, steel guitar, or a small acoustic trio, he sang with the same emotional voltage. His voice, more than production or category, defined him. It was the through line of a life steeped in culture, curiosity, and musical risk.

In 2024 Malo publicly revealed his colon cancer diagnosis, choosing honesty over privacy as fans rallied around him. Even as the disease progressed, he continued to share moments of work, family, and gratitude. Those updates spoke to the same generosity he showed on stage, the belief that music is a shared space, not a guarded one.

Raul Malo is survived by his wife, Betty, their three sons, his mother, and his sister, along with bandmates and fans across multiple continents who found pieces of their own story in his voice. His legacy lives in packed dance halls, late-night car radios, and every listener who hears possibility instead of borders.

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