Remembering The Canadian Musicians and Industry Players We Lost in 2024: Obituaries

The end of the year may be the celebratory holiday season, but it is also a time of reflection upon the previous 12 months and those we have lost.

At Billboard Canada FYI, we believe it is important to note the achievements of those in all facets of the Canadian music industry as well as the chart-topping stars. Whether or not their names are familiar to you, reading our tributes to them will reveal their significant accomplishments within the industry. Rest in Peace.

Each entry here has a link to the full obituary/tribute we posted in Billboard Canada FYI during 2024 (and late 2023, after last year's edition was published) in chronological order. For those who we unintentionally left off the roll call, we regret the omission.

Canadians We Lost in 2024

Paul Joseph Cockburn, a Canadian rock guitarist and songwriter whose bands included Dillinger, The Hunt and Blushing Brides, died on Dec. 7, 2023 at age 71.

Jay Scott, a concert promoter, tour and festival manager and a crucial figure in Vancouver's independent music scene, died on Dec. 21, 2023.

Mark Goodwin, a Montreal-based singer/songwriter and musician, died on Dec. 24, 2023, at age 64.

John William McBride, record buyer at Roblan Distributors/Sam The Record Man and Sunrise Records in Toronto, died on Jan. 3, at age 76.

Ron Boudreau, a Canadian music photographer, died on Jan. 3, of natural causes, at age 59.

Nerene Virgin, a Canadian TV personality, educator, and actress best-known for the series Today's Special, died on Jan. 15, at age 77.

Joe (Joseph Clare Anthony) Recchia, a prominent music promoter in the Waterloo-Kitchener area, died on Jan. 15, at age 79.

Bart Schoales, a Juno-winning art director, photographer, painter, videographer and filmmaker who worked with artists including Tom Cochrane and Anne Murray, died on Jan. 18, at age 83.

Norman Jewison, a filmmaker behind a long list of commercially successful and critically acclaimed movies including Moonstruck and In the Heat of the Night, died on Jan. 20, at age 97.

Les Bateman, an Edmonton-based musician, engineer and sound technician, died on Jan. 22, at age 74

Wayne Whildon Patton, a Canadian record label executive, died on Jan. 24, at age 80.

Bob (Robert Arthur Glen) Erlendson, a Winnipeg-born jazz keyboardist and composer, died on Jan. 25, at age 93.

X-Ray (Michael) MacRae , former co-owner and music booker of legendary Toronto music venue The Horseshoe Tavern, died on Jan. 26, of cancer, at age 72.

Carol Brown, an award-winning Jamaican-Canadian reggae singer, died on Jan. 31.

Larry Wanagas, a veteran artist manager and record label head who boosted the careers of artists including k.d. lang and The Trews, died on Jan. 31.

Bill (William Robert) Cunningham, a renowned Canadian TV journalist, died on Jan. 31, at age 91.

Sean Lalla, a Canadian hip-hop DJ, promoter and scene-booster, died at age 49 in February.

Connie Sinclair, a broadcaster best known as a newsreader at CBC Radio in Toronto, died on Feb. 2.

Jim Heineman, a veteran Toronto jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader, died on Feb. 6, at age 80.

Denis Parker, a blues musician who spent more than 50 years writing and performing music in Newfoundland and Labrador, died on Feb. 10, at age 78.

Angus Beaulieu, a Métis fiddler remembered as 'the personification of music' in the Northwest Territories" died on Feb. 10, at age 89.

Greg 'Fritz' Hinz, longtime drummer of Canadian hard rock band Helix, died on Feb. 16, after a nearly year-long battle with cancer. He was 68 years old.

Jean-Pierre Isaac,a Montreal-based bilingual lyricist, composer, programmer, DJ, recording studio owner and music producer, died on Feb. 28, at age 68, of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Eleanor Collins, dubbed the first lady of Canadian jazz, died on March 3, at age 104.

Ronnie King (born Cornelis Van Sprang), bassist and original member of hit Canadian band The Stampeders, died on March 4, at age 76.

Vicki (Victoria) Walters, a popular Canadian music publishing veteran, died on March 5, at the age of 78, after battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Julia Alexandra Train, a former executive at FACTOR and MROC, died on March 6, at age 46. A cause of death has not been reported.

Russell ('Rusty') Wilson, co-founder and one-time bassist of Canadian rock act Junkhouse, died on March 12, at age 62, of meningitis.

Robert Horvath, a versatile and award-winning Toronto-based pianist, died on March 13 at age 52, of cancer.

Pegi (Margaret Anne) Cecconi, a trailblazing Canadian booking agent and record label executive, died on March 28, at age 70. She had been battling PSP (Progressive Super nuclear Palsy).

Michael McMartin, the Canadian-born, Australian-based manager of Hoodoo Gurus, died on March 31, of cancer, at age 79.

Rocket Norton (born Gary Wanstall), a Vancouver musician, author and entrepreneur best known as the drummer for Prism, died on April 5, at age 73. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2021.

Phil (Philip Rista) Nimmons, a Juno-winning and highly influential Canadian jazz composer, educator and clarinettist, died on April 5, at age 100.

Jon Card, a Vancouver-based drummer who had stints in top Canadian punk rock bands D.O.A., SNFU, The Subhumans and Personality Crisis, died on April 8, at the age of 63. A cause of death has not been reported.

Jean-Pierre Ferland, a celebrated Quebec lyricist, composer and singer, died on April 27, of natural causes. He was 89.

Steve Albini, Chicago-based rock musician studio wizard, died on May 7. Though not Canadian himself, he worked with a wide range of Canadian musicians who paid tribute to Billboard Canada FYI.

Dee Lippingwell, a B.C.-based rock photographer recognized as one of Canada's most prolific, died on May 9, at age 78, of cancer.

Mélanie Renaud, a Haitian-born Quebec-based singer, died on May 14, at age 42, from ovarian cancer.

Bob Mackowycz Sr., a Toronto broadcaster and author best known for his work on Q-107, died on May 30, at age 75, after a sudden and unexpected illness.

Ray St. Germain, a singer-songwriter, TV host and Métis country music legend from Manitoba, died on June 25, at age 83. He had been living with Parkinson's disease.

Bic Hoang, an internationally-renowned Vancouver-based multi-instrumentalist known for her work with Khac Chi Bamboo Music, died on June 26, at age 60, after a four-year battle with cancer.

John Naslen, a Toronto musician and Juno-winning recording engineer, died on June 27. His age and a cause of death have not been reported.

Kevin Doyle, former operator of the Boathouse music venue in Kitchener, died on June 29, at age 57, of cancer.

Rick (John Richard) Cluff, one of British Columbia's most loved radio personalities, died on July 2, at age 74, of cancer.

Mary Martin, a legendary Canadian-born artist manager and A&R Executive who boosted the careers of many major artists, died on July 4, at age 85.

Rick Rose (Maiuri), a Niagara Falls-based veteran rock and country singer-songwriter, died on July 14, at age 64, of cancer.

Devon Martin (a.k.a. Devon), a Canadian rapper and musician best known for his award-winning 1990 protest single, "Mr. Metro," died on July 23, at age 62.

Robert Grant Scott, a Toronto-based jazz and pop pianist, composer and teacher, died on July 27, at age 48, after a sudden heart attack.

Bob Burchill, a folk singer/songwriter from southwest Ontario best known as a member of '70s favourites The Perth County Conspiracy, died in August.

Tom Tompkins, a radio veteran and former President of the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA), died in August, of cancer.

Juan Rodriguez, a groundbreaking Montreal rock music critic for The Gazette and the Montreal Star, died on Aug. 3, at age 76.

Mark Gerald Hesselink, a Toronto filmmaker, photographer and music video director and producer, died on Aug. 12, at age 58.

Harry Gordon Forbes, a Canadian screen composer and musician, died on Aug. 22, at age 80.

Tony (Antoni Robert) Dewald, drummer in '80s Montreal garage-rock duo Deja Voodoo and co-owner of the Og Music record label, died on Aug. 29, of cancer. His struggle with cancer was documented in this story.

Jack Long, musician and founder of major Canadian music store chain Long & McQuade, died on Sept 4, at age 95.

Joe Kozak, a Canadian country recording artist, producer, studio owner and engineer, died on Sept. 10, at age 88.

Al (Alan) Duffy, a veteran Toronto blues bassist and record producer who worked with Jack de Keyzer, Morgan Davis, Downchild Blues Band and others, died on Sept. 17, at age 74.

Dave ('Squirly') Allison, original guitarist for Canadian thrash metal band Anvil, died on Sept. 30, at the age of 68.

Ken (Kenneth Wayne Paul) Tobias, a popular folk/roots/pop singer-songwriter, died on Oct. 2 in his hometown of St. John, NB. after battling brain cancer for two months. He was 79 years old.

George Johns, a Canadian musician and radio programmer and executive credited as being one of the pioneers behind Adult Contemporary radio, died on Oct. 3, at age 83.

Nell Smith, a young Canadian singer-songwriter known for collaborating with The Flaming Lips, died on Oct. 5, in a car accident, at age 17.

Mike (Michael) Bullard, a Canadian stand-up comic and broadcaster, died on Oct. 12, at age 67.

Keith Sharp, a Canadian music journalist and co-founder and editor in chief of influential monthly music magazine Music Express, died on Oct. 18, after a short illness. He was 71 years of age.

Don (Donald Peter) Zueff, a renowned Manitoban fiddle player and songwriter best known for work in Prairie Dog and D. Rangers, died on Oct. 18, at age 73.

Tony Zorzi, an in-demand guitarist and teacher on the Toronto music scene, died on Nov. 27, at age 69, after a long battle with cancer.

Mitch Funk, a pioneer of Canadian punk rock as frontman of Winnipeg band Personality Crisis, died on Dec. 2, after a lengthy struggle with multiple myeloma. He was 65 years old.

Cris Cuddy, an acclaimed Ontario country/folk/roots-rock singer-songwriter, both as a solo artist and as a member of Jeremy Dormouse and Max Mouse and the Gorillas, died on Dec. 7, at age 77, of cancer.