Mel Galley
March 8, 1948 – July 1, 2008

Mel Galley is best remembered as a guitarist for David Coverdale’s  Whitesnake.  Galley joined the band in 1982, contributing to their most fruitful years.  His guitar can be heard on such hits as “Here I Go Again” and “Crying In The Rain.”  Galley later had to leave the group due to a bad arm injury made worse by a botched surgery.  For a time, he likely could never play the guitar again, but was able to come back thanks to a device he had fitted over his hand.  Prior to his stint with Whitesnake, Galley played alongside Deep Purple’s Glenn Hughes in a band called Trapeze. He also played on Phenomena's debut album in 1985 alongside Hughes and many other famous hard rock musicians. Galley died of esophagus cancer at the age of 60.

Another rock star to go to rock heaven... 

Lou Reed
March 2, 1942 – October 27, 2013

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Lou Reed was a Brooklyn-born singer, songwriter and musician who is as much remembered as the leader of the Velvet Underground as he is for the successful solo career that followed.  Influenced early on by rock ‘n roll , jazz, and rhythm and blues, Reed learned to play the guitar by mimicking songs he heard on the radio.  By the time he was in high school, Reed was already playing in a handful of bands.  While attending Syracuse University during the early ’60s, he hosted a radio program that focused primarily on doo wop, free jazz and R&B.  He later claimed that much of his guitar playing was influenced by jazz saxophonists like Ornette Coleman.  During the mid ’60s, Reed was living in New York City where he worked as a staff writer for Pickwick Records.  At one point, the label decided to form a group around Reed in an attempt to better pitch his songs.  That outfit, the Primitives, included a Welsh multi-instrumentalist by the name of John Cale. The two became fast friends and began building a group that would soon become the Velvet Underground which also includedSterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker.  On the behest of Andy Warhol, the group soon brought in German model and musician, Nico just in time to record their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico.  Although the album was just moderately successful at the time, it is considered one of the most influential of the ’70s.  In fact, Rolling Stone cites it at #13 of all time.  White Light/White Heat followed and there would be three more until the band called it quits in 1970.  Two years later, Reed resurfaced with his debut release, Lou Reed, which was more-or-less new recordings of unreleased Velvet Underground tracks.  The album barely got noticed, but was thankfully followed quickly by the David Bowie and Mick Ronson produced Transformer, which reestablished Reed as one of rock music’s most important figures of the era.  Songs like “Vicious,” “Satellite Of Love,” and “Walk On The Wild Side” are as influential as any that came out of the ’70s.  Reed went on to record and tour through professional peaks and valleys over the next four decades which included a brief reunion of the Velvet Underground.  One fact that can’t be denied about Reed, is that his name is synonymous with what would become known as protopunk, a classification of groundbreaking  and often difficult to categorize musicians who many would later claim birthed punk rock – not because they were musically similar to punk rock, but because they continually challenged the norm.  It must also be noted that Reed was one of the greatest poets rock music has ever known.  In April of 2013, Reed received a liver transplant, and by all accounts was recovering, in fact, he later claimed on his website to be stronger than ever.  On October 27, 2013 however, he passed away in his home at the age of 71.   Cause of death was not immediately released.

From New Model Army's website:

It is with great sadness that we report that Robert Heaton died suddenly on Thursday November 4th 2004. A multi-talented instrumentalist and song-writer, Robert joined the band in 1982 and for the next fifteen years co-wrote many of the band's greatest songs, including being responsible for all the music to the anthem 'Green & Grey'. A consummate professional when it came to recording and performing, in public Robert was the powerhouse behind the rhythm driven sound of New Model Army. In the media and in private, he was always the perfect gentleman. Robert left NMA in 1998, having recovered from surgery to remove a brain tumour, and since then has worked tirelessly to promote live music and original talent in his home town of Bradford in Yorkshire. His latest project, Fresh Milk, is such a scheme - encouraging young bands, playing wholly original music, onto the live circuit by producing low cost, high quality live recordings for them. He had also been working composing film scores for independent films as well as working on his own new material under the guise of Gardeners of Eden. A post mortem has determined that Robert had been suffering with pancreatic cancer and it is almost certainly this that was the cause of this unexpected tragedy.. Robert's passing will be mourned by family, friends and fans around the world. He leaves a wife, Robin, and young son, Marlon.

Chris Bailey was the longtime bassist for legendary Australian pub-rock band, the Angels.  Also known as Angel City so as to not be confused with Angel outside of Australia,  the Angels formed in 1974, with Bailey coming on board when original bassist, Doc Neeson moved over to lead vocals in 1977.  Often compared to as well as helped along by  AC/DC, the Angels went on to release a string of hits at home and abroad.  They are said to have been an influence on Guns N' Roses, Great White, and many of the Seattle grunge bands.  Bailey was part of the band throughout their peak years of the late '70s and early '80s.  He can be heard on their two biggest releases, Face To Face and No Exit.  Bailey left the group in 1982 and went on to play in other bands before returning in 1982.  He continued on and off with them until his final days.  Chris Bailey lost a long battle with throat cancer on April 3, 2013.  He was 62.

The first from Yes-fame to go to the other side.

Peter Banks
July 15, 1947 - March 7, 2013

Once called "The Architect Of Progressive Music," Peter Banks was the original guitarist for prog rock pioneers, Yes.  Raised in North London, Banks first learned the guitar when his father gave him an acoustic one as a child.  By his teens, he was also playing the banjo.  The first band of note he played in was the Syn, which also counted future Yes members, Chris Squire and Steve Howe as members. The band's biggest claim to fame was opening for Jimi Hendrix's legendary Marquee Club show that was witnessed my just about every member of England's rock royalty of the day.  After the Syn broke up in 1967, Banks joined Mabel Greer's Toy Shop who eventually morphed into Yes, a name suggested by Banks as temporary, until a better one presented itself.  Banks was a member of the band until 1970, playing on their self-titled debut as well as Time And A Word.  In later years, he joined the band on stage on occasion and participated in a 1997 tribute album to them.  He was also involved in later album and documentary projects.  Banks went on to play in Flash, Empire, and Harmony Of Diversion as well as do session work well into the 2000s.  On March 7, 2013, Peter Banks died of heart failure.  He was 65.

Cited as a huge indirect influence, and as one of the true founding fathers of occult metal, the band formed in 1982 from the carcasses of UK metal bands RACE AGAINST TIME and PARALEX, whose ‘White Lightning’ EP was listed by Metallica as a favourite, and which was subsequently included on the Lars Ulrich, Geoff Barton ‘NWOBHM ’79 Revisited’ sampler album.

Despite over five years of constant touring, the band were cruelly overlooked by the ’80’s music press, who just didn’t get it. HELL were too different, too extreme, too musically intelligent and far too thought-provoking for all but the most enlightened to understand them. The final crushing blow came when their long-awaited 1986 album deal with Mausoleum collapsed as the label went bankrupt, followed by the tragic suicide of singer/guitarist, Dave Halliday in 1987. The remaining members drew a line in the sand and stopped playing overnight.

Another one from ARS to pass away. The singer John Hammond passed away in 2011.

Robert Nix was the original drummer for popular American Southern Rock band, Atlanta Rhythm Section.  Formed in 1971, the band went on to release several best-selling albums that helped define American rock music of the '70s.  Their biggest success came with 1978's Champagne Jam, which included the popular single of the same name, sold over 1 million copies and reached #7 on the charts.  Nix had a hand in writing "Champagne Jam" along with several of the band's other records.  Nix left the group in 1979, but continued to make music.  Prior to his run in ARS, Nix played in Roy Orbison's band, the Candyman, for the better part of five years during the '60s.  Nix can also be heard on the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic, "Tuesday's Gone."  Robert Nix was 67 when he passed away on May 20, 2012.  Cause of death was not immediately released.

Michael Hossack
October 17, 1946 - March 12, 2012

Michael Hossack was a rock drummer who is perhaps best remembered for his tenure with the Doobie Brothers.  After serving in Vietnam for the US Navy, Hossack returned home where he joined a band called Mourning Reign.  He soon caught the ear of the Doobie Brothers who invited him to jam at one of their shows.  The year was 1971, and the band was impressed enough to hire him to play alongside John Hartman as dual drummers.  Hossack went on to play on such classic Doobie Brothers albums as Toulouse Street, The Captain And Me, and What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits.  In 1974, he left the group to take a break from the grueling tour lifestyle.  He continued on with other acts for the next several years.  In 1987, the original Doobie Brothers got back together for a series of shows to benefit Vietnam vets.  Hossack, a Vietnam vet himself, was asked to come along.  The tour was such a success that  the group officially reunited and signed with Capitol Records for their comeback album, Cycles, of 1989.  Hossack continued to record and perform with the band until 2010, when he left after being diagnosed with cancer.  Michael Hossack ultimately died of the cancer on March 12, 2012.  He was 65.