Tag: obituary

  • The Aretha Franklin Songs That Inspired Us and Touched Our Lives

    The Aretha Franklin Songs That Inspired Us and Touched Our Lives

    Singer, songwriter, pianist, inspiration, Aretha Franklin, known to many as the Queen of Soul, passed away Thursday. She was 76 years old. In the last 24 hours, as we assume will continue for days, weeks, perhaps years, many artists and people of all walks of life have been sharing stories of how Franklin’s music and…

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  • Remembering Jerry Garcia’s Musical Impact on the Anniversary of His Passing

    Remembering Jerry Garcia’s Musical Impact on the Anniversary of His Passing

    + Welcome to Soundfly! We help curious musicians meet their goals with creative online courses. Whatever you want to learn, whenever you need to learn it. Subscribe now to start learning on the ’Fly. Jerry Garcia was the lead guitarist of the Grateful Dead, a rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco that forever changed how music is written,…

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  • How Adam Yauch Became Rap’s Fun-Loving Social Change Advocate

    Anyway you slice it, Adam “MCA” Yauch of the Beastie Boys was as “cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce,” even when his conversation changed from silly lyrics and dropping beats to deep social commentary and dropping thought bombs. The hip-hop pioneer, who would’ve turned 54 yesterday had life not been cut short…

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  • RIP Cecil Taylor

    RIP Cecil Taylor

    This article originally appeared on Ethan Hein’s blog. When I was nineteen, I was flipping channels on TV late at night, and I stumbled on this: I had no idea what I was seeing, but I was spellbound. I still can’t exactly verbalize what this music means to me, but I know it means something. I’m…

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  • The Spectacle of Hope: Reflections on the Music of Jóhann Jóhannsson

    The Spectacle of Hope: Reflections on the Music of Jóhann Jóhannsson

    By RE Katz Perhaps it’s fitting that the untimely death of composer Jóhann Gunnar Jóhannsson is shrouded in silence and rumor. We do not know why he died so young, we just have the one repeating syllable in our heads. We have this one soaring melodic line, these shimmering strings. Just over a year ago,…

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  • Malcolm Young, Who Led AC/DC from the Shadows, Dies at 64

    Malcolm Young, co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and soulful driving force behind the legendary rock group AC/DC, passed away on November 18, 2017. He died peacefully at the young age of 64 after an extended battle with dementia, surrounded by family members. AC/DC is one of the greatest rock groups of all time, both culturally and financially.…

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  • Fats Domino Was a True King of Rock ‘n’ Roll

    Antoine “Fats” Domino, Jr., one of the early pioneers of a musical style that came to be known as rock ‘n’ roll, whose iconic voice and boogie-woogie piano playing helped inspire entire eras of brilliant songwriting, passed away on October 25, 2017. He was 89. With his flat-top haircut, rotund figure, and buoyant personality, Domino…

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  • Into the Great Wide Open: Tom Petty Gave Us Everything He Had

    Tom Petty, the iconic American songwriter and guitarist music icon, whose hits like “I Won’t Back Down,” “Free Fallin’” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” have blown the lid off rock music’s canon, died unexpectedly on October 2 at the age of 66. He was found unresponsive in his home after a cardiac arrest and could not…

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  • Now It’s Our Turn to Say ‘Adiós’

    Now It’s Our Turn to Say ‘Adiós’

    Just two months after releasing his 64th studio album entitled Adiós, it’s the world who now has to bid farewell to Glen Campbell. A true titan of the fast-changing music industry, Campbell, who passed away on August 8, 2017, was a bonafide crossover sensation who released over 70 albums over the span of his career, appeared on…

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  • Paranoia in the Key of P: “Mac 10 Handle” — Prodigy’s Anxious Classic

    Paranoia in the Key of P: “Mac 10 Handle” — Prodigy’s Anxious Classic

    + Learn the nuances of producing beats, arranging tracks, and creative sampling, drawing on the rich history and influence of hip-hop in Soundfly’s acclaimed online course, The Art of Hip-Hop Production.  By David Abravanel Mobb Deep built their reputation on heart-pounding stress raps. Whether it was their breakthrough single “Shook Ones Part II” or tracks where even…

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