Thank you and good night.
Eddie ‘Chank’ Willis June 3, 1936 – August 20, 2018
Mississippi-born Willis was an American soul musician who played guitar and electric sitar for Motown Records’ in-house studio group, The Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s. He appeared on The Supremes’ You Keep Me Hangin’ On, Stevie Wonder’s My Cherie Amour and The Marvelettes’ Please Mr Postman, among other hits. Aged 82, he had been suffering from polio.
Mark ‘The Shark’ Shelton
December 3, 1957 – July 27, 2018
Mark ‘The Shark’ has died in a German hospital just hours after his band, the Kansas-based heavy metal group Manilla Road, appeared at the Headbangers Open Air Festival. Shelton co-founded Manilla Road in 1977. His bandmate, vocalist Bryan Patrick, revealed that the guitarist suffered a heart attack and “felt no pain”. He was 60 years old.
Randy Rampage February 21, 1960 – August 14, 2018
Celebrated within the realms of hardcore punk and heavy metal,
British Columbia native Rampage – real name Randall Desmond Archibald – was the frontman of two noted yet differing Canadian groups, D.O.A. and Annihilator. He enjoyed two spells with the latter and appeared on their Alice In Hell album in 1989. The 58-year-old died of a heart attack.
Jill Janus
September 2, 1975 – August 14, 2018
The world of heavy metal was shocked by the suicide of Janus, the lead singer of the Californian band Huntress, at the tender age of 42. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder during her early teens, Janus spoke in her interviews of mental health issues. She also sang with the female metal/hard-rock covers acts The Starbreakers and Chelsea Girls.
Spencer P Jones October 28, 1956 – August 21, 2018
A staple of several Australian bands, notably the alternative blues-rockers Beasts Of Bourbon, New Zealand-born Spencer Patrick Jones also issued ten solo albums. The self-taught musician was diagnosed with liver cancer in June after fighting poor health since 2015. Having been in palliative care for the last few months, he was 61 years old at the time of his passing.