Thank you and good night.

Melvin ‘Deacon’ Jones December 12, 1943 – July 6, 2017

Walter Trout has led the tributes to the blues-rock organist, 73, calling him a “mentor, teacher and dear friend”. Besides being a member of Chicago’s Baby Huey & the Babysitters, Jones played with Curtis Mayfield, Freddie King and John Lee Hooker, among many others. “Had Deacon not put me in his band back in the mid-1970s, my life would have been very different,” wrote Trout.

Kenny Shields Died July 21, 2017

The lead singer of veteran Canadian rockers Streetheart has succumbed to heart failure in Winnipeg. He was 69. Formed in 1977, the group amassed six gold and four platinum records in their homeland. The nation’s own ‘metal queen’, Lee Aaron, tweeted: “There’s great sadness today over the loss of a great Canadian talent.”

Michael Johnson August 8, 1944 – July 25, 2017

Born in Colorado, Johnson was a pop, country and folk singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1978 hit song Bluer Than Blue. He was also a member of Denver, Boise & Johnson along with John Denver. Johnson, 72, underwent quadruple-bypass heart surgery ten years ago, but the cause of death is yet to be confirmed.

David Zablidowsky Died July 14, 2017

The bassist for New York-based metal band Adrenaline Mob lost his life unexpectedly in a freak three-car accident in Florida that left seven others injured. Zablidowsky, who also played with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, was just 38 years old.

The fatality happened when they stopped to fix a flat tyre and a tractortrailer veered off the highway into two vehicles carrying the band.

Jimmy Nalls May 31, 1951 – June 22, 2017

Nalls was a touring member of Sea Level, an offshoot of the Allman Brothers Band formed by Chuck Leavell, from 1976 to 1980. The 66-year-old is the third member of the Allmans’ extended family to pass this year, following Gregg Allman and ABB drummer Butch Trucks. Nalls had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease and endured one too many tumbles.