Died On This Date (June 25, 2012) John Koko / Popular Hawaiian Musician
themusicsover John Kapulani Koko
August 24, 1960 – June 25, 2012
John Koko was a stand-up bassist who is best remembered for his many years playing in the popular Hawaiian trio, Makaha Sons. Raised in Oahu, Koko began performing live as far back as the age of 12. Koko started with the Makaha Sons (then, the Makaha Sons of Niihau) during the mid ’70s. They eventually shortened their name and went on to help popularize Hawaiian music throughout the world while picking up several prestigious awards along the way. With the group, Koko had the opportunity to play Carnegie Hall twice and perform for President Bill Clinton. Suffering from heart related issues, John Koko passed away on June 25, 2012. He was 51.
Hal Roach was a jazz pianist who, for the better part of 36 years, held court at the popular Eli’s The Place For Steak in Chicago. Roach was just a young child living in Mississippi when he learned to play the piano on a piece of cardboard. He eventually moved to Chicago with his family, and after serving in the US Army in Korea, Roach focused on his music and soon landed the gig at The Place For Steak. In 1994, Roach was at the piano when in walked President Bill Clinton who was in town for a fundraiser. Despite being forewarned by the Secret Service to keep it on the down-low, Roach immediately kicked into “Hail To The Chief.” Over the course of his career, Roach also entertained the likes of 
Phoebe Snow was an American singer-songwriter who is perhaps best remembered for her 1975 hit, “Poetry Man.” Regularly exposed to music while growing up, Snow picked up the guitar at an early age. She was still in her teens when she began playing at amateur nights throughout New York’s storied Greenwich Village folk clubs. It was at one of these venues that Snow was discovered by an executive at Shelter Records who signed her and released her self-titled debut album, Phoebe Snow in July of 1974. The album included her Top 5 hit, “Poetry Man.” The album ultimately reached #4 on the Billboard album charts and earned Snow a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, a cover of Rolling Stone, and several memorable appearances on Saturday Night Live. In 1975, Snow gave birth to her severely brain-damaged daughter Valerie, but instead of placing her in a care facility like most, she opted to care for her herself, which she did until Valerie passed away in 2007. Throughout Snow’s career, she released numerous critical and fan favorite albums and performed with a who’s who of pop royalty. That list includes Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, Queen, and Bonnie Raitt, to name just a few. In 1997, Snow sang the Rosanne theme during the closing moments of the final episode, and years later, became perhaps the most unlikely person in history to sing at both Camp David (for President Bill Clinton), AND at Howard Stern’s wedding. On January 19, 2010, Phoebe Snow suffered a brain hemorrhage and was placed in a medically induced coma. She briefly regained consciousness but ultimately passed away on April 26, 2011. She was 58.
Karl Mueller played bass for Minneapolis alternative rock band, Soul Asylum who came out of the same scene that gave us Husker Du and the Replacements. But while the latter were building critical and commercial success, Soul Asylum seemed to have a hard time getting out of their shadows. But that all changed in 1992 with the release of Grave Dancers Union. The first single, “Runaway Train” became a worldwide hit thanks to a striking video that put focus on the plight of runaway teens. The video struck a chord and suddenly, Soul Asylum became household names. The band even performed at Bill Clinton’s Inaugural Ball. The band was on a lengthy hiatus by the end of the ’90s, and were beginning to work up new material when Mueller was diagnosed with throat cancer in May of 2004. He would succumb to the cancer on June 17, 2005 at the age of 41.
Odetta Holmes was a politically charged folk, blues and gospel singer-songwriter and activist who has been called “the voice of the civil rights movement.” Most prominent during the folk movement of the ’60s, Odetta was not only a peer, but an influence on such folk greats as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Harry Belafonte. She was born in Birmingham, AL but raised in Los Angeles where she studied music and received opera singing lessons as a young teen. After taking a stab at musical theater, she turned her focus to folk singing in 1950 and set out across America to sing at all the usual suspect folk clubs and gatherings. She began releasing albums in 1954, and over the course of her career, recorded for such highly regarded labels as Fantasy, Folkways, RCA Victor, and Vanguard Records who continue to keep her legacy alive thanks to the tireless work of Morgana Kennedy, Dan Sell and Stephen Brower. In September of 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Medal of Arts, the highest honor presented to an artist on behalf of the American people. Odetta stayed active as a performer and activist up until her final days. In 2008, she embarked on what would be her final tour of North America at the age of 77. Odetta ill in late 2008 and though planning to perform at President Barack Obama’s inauguration in January of 2009, she died of heart disease on December 2, 2008.