Death notices and obituaries
\ TORONTO, Sept. 28, 2015 \ Another Toronto music icon has passed away with the death of guitarist Brian Miller, who was part of the progressive Rock band Zon that briefly flew close to the sun in the late 1970s and early 80s. A Facebook announcement was made by his friend and co-worker Chris Bennett…
\ TORONTO \ One of the most familiar faces of all time at Fat Albert’s Open Stage & Coffee House over the past several decades never strummed a guitar at its weekly open stage. Ray Peak, who, along with Ed Matthews, was one of the original team that ran the event when it started in…
\ HAMILTON \ Expressions of shock and accolades honouring his many contributions to music and art in Hamilton erupted yesterday as news of the death of Bill Powell began to spread. His longtime wife and partner in all his endeavours, Lynne Powell, posted on Facebook yesterday morning that the painter, founder of the Festival of…
\ TO DOWNTOWN \ I was delighted to discover early today, only a few hours before it starts, that there’s another memorial/tribute concert tonight for the late James Gray, multi-instrumentalist and accompanist extraordinaire. It’ll be two years tonight (or early tomorrow) since Gray unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack overnight, the news spreading through…
It was our sad duty a few weeks ago to have to report the unexpected and sudden passing of drummer/poet Steve Hunt, well known to members of TO’s Rock and Metal scenes. A funeral was held on June 12 for the amiable and sardonically witty former member of several bands and regular at east-TO jams,…
\ TORONTO EAST 150609 \ Energetic and charismatic east-Toronto drummer and poet Steve Hunt passed away in his sleep overnight on the morning of June 8, family and friends have reported. According to a knowledgeable source he had been visiting a friend and stayed over, slipping away during the night. Steve, who started playing drums…
Veteran R&B/Blues and Rock guitarist and singer Roy Buna passed away of natural causes at age 63 on Friday, April 24 at his GTA home, his family announced today. Buna, who had a long career as a journeyman player teamed up with acts such as the late Buddy “Bear” Armstrong and the James Anthony Band…
It’s been reliably reported that one-of-a-kind musician, entertainer and promoter Peter “SAB” Sabourin of Pembroke, Ontario has passed away, presumably due at least in part to the cancer with which he was diagnosed a few years ago. As reported in the Timmins Press in February of last year, when SAB did a stellar “comeback” show…
\ TORONTO, 150216Mo \ It’s not yet been 16 months since Toronto Folk balladeer Sam Larkin passed away, as we reported on October 29, 2013. But while his bodily flame may have gone out, his soul —his musical legacy— shows no sign of being extinguished any time soon. Last April a group of talented songwriting…
\ ETOBICOKE \ It’s been over a month now since veteran crooner and genial entertainer Buddy “The Bear” Armstrong passed away suddenly December 22 while in hospital receiving dialysis treatment following a surgery also related to his chronic diabetes. As is so often the case with people who are mainstays of the music scene, his…
\ BRAMPTON \ A benefit show taking place tonight at All Stars Bar & Grill in Brampton (73 Bramalea Rd.) that had been organized with the goal of helping music promoter Gil Rogers recover from a sudden recent illness is now planning to donate proceeds to his family to cover the costs of his funeral.…
\ MISSISSAUGA \ The family of one of the GTA’s most loved and most enduring and engaging singers spent the Christmas holiday coping with his unexpected death Monday. Mary Armstrong, wife of Buddy “The Bear” Armstrong, who died of heart failure at 66 years of age while undergoing a routine medical procedure on Mon., Dec.…
140927Sa Please note this article has been updated from its original posting due to an unintentional error of attribution made by your editor. Tonight’s show tribute to Nik Beat likely first of many \ TORONTO EAST \ Although a funeral and life celebration for the late Nik Beat (born Michael Barry) already took place earlier…
The September 23 Celebration of Life for poet/musician/broadcaster and craft-artist Nik Beat (born Michael Barry) at St. John The Baptist, Norway, Anglican Church on Woodbine Avenue in east TO was an emotional event that evolved into a love-in. Another writer will describe her sentiments about it an a separate piece. But here I want to…
Memorial for enigmatic musician Garry O’Keefe this afternoon \ TORONTO EAST \ I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one on the east-Toronto music scene who felt like he never really knew guitarist, singer and songwriter Garry O’Keefe all that well. And when he passed away on August 26 at 60 years of age, what…
\ TORONTO EAST Sunday, September 21, 2021 \ by Gary 17 \ Friends of the late Nik Beat, who passed away at his apartment suddenly sometime Wednesday, apparently from a stroke or heart attack, are being asked to help prepare a memorial video for a visitation Monday and funeral Tuesday by sharing their photos of…
R.I.P. Nik Beat … passed away suddenly September 17, 2021 \ TORONTO \ Shockwaves are rippling through the Toronto poety, music and media communities tonight as word spreads about the sudden passing of author, songwriter and radio host Nik Beat of unknown causes. His sister, Teresa Barry Longley, made the announcement at approximately 7…
Breast cancer claims Gypsy Soul/Thinktank Fish musician Cathy Craig Gypsy Soul co-founder and trumpeter Cathy Craig last week succumbed to Stage 4 breast cancer according to an online obituary published by The Toronto Star. The Toronto native was 38 at the time of her death on September 12, the report says. She had been working…
R.I.P. Gary Latimer, veteran bass player \Toronto\ Another veteran musician hailing all the way back to the halcyon days of the Yorkville village scene in the 1960s has gone to that great stage in the sky. Gary Latimer, who was also adept on guitar, passed away earlier this week after battling for the past few…
Some of us remember when the club Stratengers, at 1130 Queen St. E., was a hopping hotbed of live music, with a wide range of musical attractions that included lots of hard Rock, Metal, Punk and just plain out-there acts, in good part thanks to the dogged efforts of one James “Ratch” Ratch. Ratch was…
/TORONTO EAST/ The recent accidental drowning death of Blues harmonica player and singer Robbie “The Blues Butcher” Bellmore while vacationing in Cuba has left a big hole in the hearts of many fellow TO musicians as well as those of his family and non-musical friends. While a family funeral service was held for the ebullient…
