Obituaries: Chart-Topping Pop Star Connie Francis, Canadian Country Singer Laura Vinson

Laura Vinson, a highly successful Albertan country music singer-songwriter, died on July 17, at age 79.

Country music historian Larry Delaney (CanCountry) forwarded his obituary of Vinson to Billboard Canada:

---

"Born in Edmonton and raised in Brule, Alberta, Laura Vinson enjoyed success as a country music performer, with her band Red Wyng and as an Aboriginal Artist with her band Free Spirit. She was fondly dubbed by music friends as 'The Rocky Mountain Lady.'"

"After some early career grooming working the Alberta music scene with hit singer-songwriter Bob Ruzicka, Laura Vinson launched her own recording career under the production guidance of R. Harlan Smith, making her debut on his Royalty Records label in 1977 with her album First Flight. She followed-up with a series of hit albums and numerous singles for the label.

"Vinson placed 14 of her Royalty Records single releases on the RPM Country Charts including several Top 10 entries ('Mes Amis O Canada' / 'Sweet Mountain Music'/ 'High Fashion Queen'). She also charted two duet singles with music partner Dave Martineau on the Stereotype and Homestead Record labels."

In 1989, she performed on Indian Time, a television special devoted to Indigenous music of Canada. Afterward, she began concentrating more strongly on music that reflected her Indigenous heritage, releasing several further albums of First Nations and Métis music independently with the band Free Spirit. Her Métis heritage is Cherokee, Cree, English and French.

A bio on her website notes that "in 1996, after her time as a country artist, Vinson created a theatre show around her highly successful album Voices On The Wind, one for which she has received several Aria Awards. Her Native roots inspired Vinson to take this album to a large audience to get familiar with its culture and heritage. The show was an international success, both the festival edition and the theatrical version, traveling around the globe (South Korea, United States, Australia and Europe)."

Vinson toured across Canada with her music, as well as several tours to Europe several times. She made television appearances as a guest on The Tommy Hunter Show, Ian Tyson’s Sun Country show, The Bob McLean Show and more.

She earned six Juno Award nominations over her career: two for most promising female vocalist (1980, 1981) and four for cuntry female vocalist of the year (1981, 1982, 1983 and 1985). She was nominated for top female artist in the 1981 Big Country Awards, and won several Alberta Recording Industry Association Awards.

In 2005 she was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Alberta Women Of Country Music; and in 2020 Vinson was inducted into the Country Music Alberta Hall Of Fame.

  

Gavin Walker, a musician and radio host long considered one of Vancouver's most impassioned champions of jazz, has died, with his passing mourned by family, friends, and long-time admirers. His age has not been reported.

In its obituary, The Georgia Straight  reported that "Originally from Montreal, Walker moved to Vancouver, working as an alto saxophonist, including a weekly gig at Gastown’s Classical Joint. Walker was a tireless supporter of the jazz scene on a grassroots level, which made him a regular at the Cellar Jazz/Cory’s Weeds’ Cellar Jazz Club. He was perhaps best-known as the host of the long-running The Jazz Show on CiTR, which has been on the air since 1984."

Prior to his CiTR show, Walker hosted a jazz program on CBC Radio 1 for several years.

Vancouver personality Nardwuar the Human Serviette, who got to know Walker as a fellow CiTR host, told the Straight: “He was an absolute legend and I learned so much about jazz from listening to his show. Such a huge loss. If not for Gavin I would know so much less. He was so good at what he did. He got people (like me!) to listen to jazz that they may not have otherwise!”

In a Facebook tribute, noted Vancouver photographer Gord McCaw noted that "Jazz was in Gavin’s DNA. Not only was he a professional alto player for many years (countless Thursday nights at Gastown’s legendary Classical Joint amongst others) but he was Vancouver’s answer to Leonard Feather, in possession of an encylopedic knowledge of jazz. And he was personal friends with many of the jazz greats, including Miles Davis.

"The thing that made Gavin yet more special was that he was humble and wise with a wicked sense of humor, a touchstone between the two of us, also our shared experience of having toiled in the vineyards of taxidom for several years."

Also on Facebook, his friend Tamara Field recalled that "Gavin was known for having the details and behind-the-scenes stories about so many jazz recordings. People would call him a walking encyclopedia. He would smile and say 'Walker Encyclopedia.' I’ll miss the silly jokes we kept sending each other right up until his last days. Keep everyone laughing up there, Gavin."

International

Connie Francis (born Concetta Franconero), one of the most successful female pop singers of all time, died on July 16, at age 87. A cause of death has not been disclosed, but a Billboard obituary notes that her death came two weeks after the singer told fans that she’d been rushed to the intensive care unit at a hospital in Florida suffering from what she described as “extreme pain.” In March of this year Francis told fans that she was in a wheelchair due to a “troublesome, painful” hip and was undergoing stem cell therapy to deal with the issue.

In 1960, Francis became the first woman to score a No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her signature hit “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool."

Billboard states that "Francis retired from the music industry in 2018 after a career that included a chart hot streak in the late 1950s and early 1960s with such frothy pop tunes as 'Pretty Little Baby' and 'Stupid Cupid,' as well as weepy ballads including 'Where the Boys Are,' 'Who’s Sorry Now' and 'Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You.'

"After topping the charts with 'Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,' Francis scored another No. 1 with her follow-up 'My Mind Has a Heart Of Its Own' and one more chart-topper in 1962 with 'Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You.'"

"With a versatile, easy listening voice and confident style, Francis’ hot streak also included a number of top five hits, including 1958’s My Happiness and 'Lipstick on Your Collar' and 1961’s 'Where the Boys Are.' Her chart dominance began to wane, however, by the mid-1960s as popular taste shifted to more uptempo rock from the likes of The Beatles and other British invasion acts."

"Before that, the singer sold more than 40 million records and was one of the most popular female singers in the U.S., scoring 35 top 40 hits, including 16 top 10s and three No. 1s.

Earlier this year, she regained some fame when her previously obscure 1962 song “Pretty Little Baby” went viral thanks to a TikTok trend that has spawned more than three million TikTok videos to date and has been used by Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian.

Billboard reports that "after getting her start in pageants and a series of variety shows such as Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts in the mid-1950s — where she often played the accordion — Francis embarked on a bid to break into the music business that was initially met with indifference after signing with MGM Records in 1955 and releasing a string of 10 flop singles.

She was saved from obscurity when, on the verge of giving up on her showbiz dreams and preparing to attend college, her father convinced her to record a cover of the 1923 ballad 'Who’s Sorry Now,' a song she initially rejected as sounding too fusty for her. After Dick Clark spun the track on his American Bandstand show in January 1958, the song sold one million copies and Francis was launched into a career that included hit singles in a number of languages — including Yiddish, Italian and Irish — as well as a sideline acting career.

"Initially providing the off-screen singing voice only for stars including Tuesday Weld in 1956’s Rock, Rock, Rock! and Freda Holloway in 1957’s Jamboree, Francis became a star in her own right by 1960 with her role in the comedy Where the Boys Are and a series of other lighthearted sequel comedies and musicals including Follow the Boys, Looking for Love and 1965’s When the Boys Meet the Girls.

"The hits dried up after her final top 40 charting song, 1964’s 'Be Anything (But Be Mine),' though she continued to be a popular live draw for older audiences."

In a statement, UMe president/CEO Bruce Resnikoff said, “Connie Francis led a truly extraordinary life. She gave the world countless, timeless songs and inspired generations with her voice, resilience, and trailblazing spirit. We are deeply saddened by her passing, but take comfort in knowing how joyful and fulfilled she felt in these last few months, as a new generation discovered her music and celebrated her legacy.”

After her chart run, Francis’ life was impacted by a series of tragic incidents, including the strangulation death of one of her best friends at her home in 1967. In 1974, the singer was beaten and raped at knifepoint at a motel after performing at a music festival in Westbury, N.Y. She later sued the Howard Johnson’s motel chain for failing to provide adequate security and was awarded a $2.5 million judgement. That assault led her into a period of severe depression and drug use.

Then in 1981, her brother George was shot dead. In its extensive obituary, The Guardian reports that "the trauma would lead to Francis being misdiagnosed with manic-depressive disorder. She was involuntarily hospitalized by her controlling father, and spent much of the 1980s in and out of psychiatric institutions. Francis was brave enough to speak out as a survivor, and became a spokesperson for Mental Health America to help others “suffering from the deleterious effects of depression and trauma of all kinds.”

"Connie Francis was a trailblazer, both as a pop star and an advocate of mental health support, and – like most trailblazers – she had to face the highs and the lows on her own."

  

Alan Bergman, an Oscar and Grammy-winning lyricist who won three Academy Awards, died on July 17, at age 99.

An extensive Billboard obituary reports that "Bergman suffered from respiratory issues in recent months, but continued to write songs till the end. Known for ‘The Way We Were’ & ‘Maude’ theme, the artist and his late wife Marilyn Bergman wrote both exquisite ballads and witty TV theme songs."

Other hit songs written by the pair include "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life,” “Pieces of Dreams” and “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?,” plus the theme songs for such TV series as Maude, Good Times and Alice. The Bergmans won three Academy Awards, including best original song for “The Windmills of Your Mind” from The Thomas Crown Affair and “The Way We Were” from the movie of the same name, and three Grammy Awards, including song of the year for “The Way We Were."

Billboard notes that "The Bergmans had a long and close relationship with Barbra Streisand, who saluted them on her Grammy-nominated 2011 album What Matters Most – Barbra Streisand Sings the Lyrics of Alan & Marilyn Bergman."

Streisand paid tribute in an Instagram post: "Alan Bergman was not only a prolific lyricist, and incredible husband, father and grandfather, he was family to me— a father figure. We met over 60 years ago, and we never stopped loving each other and collaborating together. My last conversation with him was about a wonderful song he was working on. At 99 his creative gifts still flowed. I like to think he’s again in Marilyn’s warm embrace and I’m sure they have started collaborating again on another song! I will miss them both.—Barbra"

The Bergmans received 15 Oscar nominations for best original song, a total equaled or bettered by only four songwriters in history: Sammy Cahn (26), Johnny Mercer (18), Diane Warren (16) and Paul Francis Webster (16). The Bergmans collaborated on their Oscar-nominated songs with seven different composers: Michel Legrand, Henry Mancini, Maurice Jarre, Marvin Hamlisch, David Shire, John Williams and Dave Grusin.

In 1983 they became the first (and still only) songwriters to be nominated for three Oscars for best original song in one year for “How Do You Keep the Music Playing” from Best Friends, “It Might Be You” from Tootsie and “If We Were in Love” from Yes, Giorgio. They received four Grammy nominations for song of the year, for “Nice ‘N’ Easy” (a hit for Frank Sinatra), “The Summer Knows (Theme from ‘Summer of 42’)” (Peter Nero), “The Way We Were” (Streisand) and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” (Streisand and Neil Diamond).

They also won four Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.The Bergmans were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 and received that organization’s highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 1997. They received a trustees award from the Recording Academy in 2013.A

The Bergmans also received lifetime achievement awards from the National Academy of Songwriters and the National Music Publishers Association.

Marilyn Bergman died in January 2022 , but Alan Bergman continued to write, record and perform. His final collaboration was with guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, who is set to record an album of nine Bergman/Metheny songs later this year.

Alan Bergman died just eight days after the announcement of a celebration in his honour on what would have been his 100th birthday on Sept. 11. The event is expected to go on as planned, but pivot to a tribute rather than a birthday celebration.

  

Gary Karr, an internationally renowned American double bassist, educator and musical mentor, died on July 16, at the age of 83 after suffering a brain aneurysm. He had recently been diagnosed with aggressive and inoperable cancer.

In its obituary, The Strad reports that "Born in Los Angeles, Karr was originally taught by his grandfather’s best friend, Uda Demenstein. He went on to study at the University of Southern California before moving to The Juilliard School in New York. He was taught by Herman Reinshagen and Stuart Sankey. In 1962, Karr was featured as a soloist on Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts series, bringing him into the limelight. He performed ‘The Swan’ from Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals.

"Karr’s immense virtuosity and unique musicianship made him one of the world’s most influential bassists. His daring solo performances and unparalleled lyricism enabled bassists the world over to discover what until then seemed impossible on the instrument. In a time when audiences were largely unfamiliar with the bass as a solo instrument, much of Karr’s repertoire consisted of his own transcriptions and arrangements.

"As a soloist, he played with major orchestras around the world, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Simon Bolivar Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and many more. Karr premiered and commissioned many works for bass and made over 90 recordings.

"As a teacher, Karr was on the faculty at The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory of Music, Hartt School, Yale University and Indiana University. He also taught classroom music in the Halifax, Nova Scotia Schools’ music programme. With his extensive educational experience, he wrote a series of instructional books for beginner bassists, encouraging young players to find their unique voice on the instrument."

A comprehensive obituary of Karr was posted on the Victoria Conservatory of Music website, with that institution terming Karr "a cherished friend and staunch supporter. Karr and his partner Harmon Lewis moved to Victoria in 1995, building a recording studio in their home and became involved with the Victoria Conservatory as ambassadors, guest performers, and masterclass teachers.

"Karr joined the Board of Governors and served until 2017. He was later named an Honourary Member of the Board in recognition of his deep commitment and contributions. He also served as the Honourary Chair of the Encore Legacy Society, a group of individuals who have chosen to leave a lasting impact by including the Conservatory in their estate plans."

The VCM obit described Karr as "a groundbreaking double bassist whose international career as a performer, educator, innovator, and philanthropist has spanned over 60 years. Since his 1962 debut with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, Gary performed as a soloist with major orchestras on six continents and reached millions through recitals, broadcasts, and acclaimed recordings.

"While studying at the Indiana University in 1961, Gary met pianist and organist Harmon Lewis, who became both his musical collaborator and life partner. For more than 50 years, the Karr-Lewis Duo toured the world, captivating audiences and bringing new appreciation to the double bass.

"Karr's repertoire ranged from Baroque to Contemporary, and he inspired dozens of composers to write new works for the instrument. In 1967, he founded the International Society of Bassists, creating a global community for bassists of all ages and abilities. He donated his treasured Karr-Koussevitzky Bass, given to him by Olga Koussevitzky, and nearly $300,000 in COVID relief grants for bassists worldwide. In 2024, he gifted his personal library of over 12,000 scores, a priceless collection of commissions, arrangements, and archival materials, now housed in the Gary Karr Library in Toronto."

Virtuoso Toronto bassist and composer George Koller worked as Karr's social media and library manager, forming a close friendship. He informs Billboard Canada that Karr's library is now housed at Toronto music venue Hugh's Room Live and explains that "the library contains over 12,000 scores of music… many commissioned pieces and Canadian composers. It also contains full documentation of all his concerts , reviews, articles, programs from his touring life, and also has audio and video."

He offered an eloquent tribute to Billboard Canada that reads, in part: "When Gary learned of his diagnosis of Stage 4, he was full of hope and gratitude…'I’ve lived a most incredible life' and if one stops to think about it …absolutely yes…

"A true pioneer going where none had gone before….a full touring career as a world touring solo bassist. A teacher of likely 1000’s of master classes with students all over the world. His vinyl and cds everywhere. Glowing reviews and programs and writeups from every magazine and newspaper. As a person, he loved to stay in the world or imagination of the eyes of child and he worshipped beauty and loved humanity and gave his knowledge freely. He would awaken every morning at 5;30 am and play for one hour while the sun came up…mostly Bach cello suites or flute or other Bach compositions.

"I got to know him very well in these past 3 years, as I moved his complete library from Victoria to Toronto and I manage the Gary Karr library at Hugh's Room and magnified his social media presence over the last 3 years. He was always a joy to converse with. I have recordings yet to be released. A true superstar, a virtuoso, a wise intuitive guide, a career builder for others, he could plant the smallest seed of a suggestion for any student….and that insight would grow into something transformative for that student if they were open to his pointers."

"I’ve seen the respect he got at bass conventions….the hundreds of photo ops and compliments and the joy that people felt to be in his presence. He loved to live simply and easy…he could flow with complete solitude or with dozens of friends or hundreds of students or even detractors or critics…..it didn’t matter. He just lived who he was and lived it fully. God bless you Gary Karr."

  

Matt (Matthew Michael) Keil, an American punk rock bassist who played in Canadian hardcore band Comeback Kid, died on July 14, after 19-month battle with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). He was 39 years old.

Comeback Kid issued this statement: "It's with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our longtime friend and previous bass player Matt Keil. Matt played in CBK from 2008 - 2014 a time when we were really starting to tour internationally on a more global scale. He was such an amazing friend and musician. Just the greatest guy to tour with, be around, and explore the new countries in the world with. We are sending our love to his wife Maddie and his 2 daughters and want to honour his memory for our all years to come. We love you Matt K."

In addition to touring with Comeback Kid , Keil performed on the band’s last two albums with Victory Records: Symptoms + Cures (2010) and Die Knowing (2014).

Formed in Winnipeg in 2001, Comeback Kid remain active. Their seventh studio album, Heavy Steps, was released in January 2022.

An official obituary reports that Keil was born in Detroit and grew up in Wisconsin, noting that "Matt's incredible talent as a musician took him all around the world, spreading his infectious charm and laugh to multiple continents. The center of any room he was ever in, Matt possessed an uncanny ability for turning ordinary moments into unforgettable memories. Whether a complete stranger or a lifelong friend, no one ever left Matt's presence without a smile on their face."

Keil moved to Minnesota in the early 2010s, and after his time with Comeback Kid he built a successful career as a realtor.

After he was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) in May 2024, a GoFundMe campaign to assist him surpassed its goal of $110K."

A Celebration of Life will be held in his honor on July 24 from 4-8pm at Royal Golf Club, 11455 20th St N, Lake Elmo, Minnesota.