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In Memoriam for the Year 2011…

Cesária Évora, 70, died December 17, 2011. A native of the Cape Verde Islands, who became an international phenomenon, Évora was once dubbed by a French newspaper as the greatest barroom singer who ever lived (see the video of her 2000 concert).

Dobie Gray, 71, died December 6, 2011. A singer and songwriter who performed pop, soul and country-western music, Gray, a resident of Nashville, was best known for his 1973 hit song, “Drift Away,” which sold one million copies. Other hit recordings include “Look at Me” (1963), “The In Crowd” (1963) and “Loving Arms” (1973). The cause of death was cancer.

Howard Tate, 72, died December 2, 2011. A blues, gospel and soul singer, as well as a songwriter, who led a tumultuous life, Tate died after a long battle with lung cancer. Tate began his career as a gospel singer but also recorded R & B sides in the early 1960s for Mercury and Cameo Records. When he recorded with Verve, he released his first album, Get It While You Can (1967). He recorded steadily through the 1970s but retired from the music industry and sold securities on the East Coast.
In the 1980s, he became a drug addict, lost control of his life and lived in a homeless shelter until he received effective drug-rehabilitation treatment. During the 1990s, he became a minister and a counselor for drug addicts and chronically mentally ill persons. In 2001, Tate performed in New Orleans for the first time in decades, re-establishing his career in music. He released an album, Rediscovered, in 2003 and recorded three more albums shortly thereafter.

Patrice O’Neal, 41, died November 29, 2011. Actor, radio personality and controversial stand-up comic, O’ Neal died of complications associated with a stroke he suffered October 19. Boisterous, outspoken and characteristically confrontational, O’Neal raised controversial issues, such as racism and AIDS, in his comedy routines. He appeared on television in HBO comedy specials, on Comedy Central and in popular sit-coms, including “Arrested Development, “The Office” and “Chappelle’s Show.” Earlier this year, he released a comedy album and DVD, “Elephant in the Room.”

Heavy D, 44, died November 8, 2011. Born Dwight Arrington Myers, Heavy D was one of the most popular, influential and positive rappers of this day. Leader of the hip-hop trio, Heavy D and the Boyz, he had a string of hits during the 1980s and in the early 1990s. He appeared frequently in concerts and more recently, on television. He also rapped with major stars on their recordings, most notably with Michael Jackson on his song, “Jam,” from his album Dangerous (1992). Heavy D appeared in a cameo role in “Tower Heist,” an Eddie Murphy-Ben Stiller comedy film released this year. In October, Heavy D performed on the BET Awards show, his first live performance in 15 years.

Joe Frazier, 67, died November 7, 2011. Boxing legend “Smokin’” Joe Frazier, who beat the previously unbeatable Muhammad Ali in 15 rounds in the Fight of the Century in 1971, succumbed to liver cancer. A top amateur fighter who won a gold medal in Tokyo at the 1964 Olympics, Frazier turned pro in 1965, defeated Britain’s Lester Ellis for the heavyweight boxing title in 1970 and held that title for two years. During his later years, Frazier operated a gym in Philadelphia.

Walt Hazzard, 69, died November 18, 2011. Hazzard, who helped John Wooden coach the UCLA Bruins to the team’s first NCAA Basketball Championship over Duke University in 1964, died of complications of a stroke he suffered in 1996. Hazzard, who changed his name to Mahdi Abdul-Rahman, was the Bruins’ head basketball coach from 1984 to 1988. 

The Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, 89, died October 5, 2011. Bombed twice, beaten unconscious more than once and jailed 35 times, Fred Shuttlesworth was one of the most influential leaders of the civil-rights movement, known for his fierce oratory and confrontational tactics. He died following a year of fragile health. The last of the great three civil-rights leaders, Shuttlesworth founded with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Reverend Ralph Abernathy, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957. He was instrumental in driving the movement from Alabama, which eventually gave rise to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Shuttlesworth also organized the historic marches from Selma to Montgomery. In 2004, Shuttlesworth attempted to rekindle the SCLC, but the group formed did not endorse his style of radical activism, prompting Shuttlesworth to abandon the enterprise. The Birmingham, Ala., airport is named in his honor.

Derrick Albert Bell, Jr., 80, died October 5, 2011. Bell was the first tenured African-American professor of Law at Harvard University, and largely credited as the originator of Critical Race Theory, an academic discipline that focuses on the intersection of race, law and power. He was the former dean of the University of Oregon School of Law.

Sylvia Robinson, 75, died September 29, 2011. Robinson was CEO and founder of Sugar Hill Records, which recorded “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang and “The Message” by Grand master Flash & The Furious Five. “Rapers Delight” is the first rap song released by a hip hop act, and it is still very popular today.

Jessy Dixon, 73, died September 26, 2011. A gospel and soul singer/songwriter, Jessy Dixon is credited with influencing a generation of singers. He died in Chicago.
Dixon’s singing career began when he joined the Reverend James Cleveland’s Gospel Chimes as both a singer and pianist. A productive performer and songwriter, Dixon wrote songs for many chart-topping singers of the day, including Randy Crawford, Cher, Diana Ross, Natalie Cole and Amy Grant. He met Paul Simon at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1972. Simon was awed by Dixon’s singing and asked that he open for him on concert tours. Dixon agreed and was Simon’s opening act for eight years. Dixon’s own song, “I Am Redeemed,” released in 1993, topped the gospel charts that year and remained on the charts for five years.

Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai, 71, died September 25, 2011. Maathai became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She received the Peace Prize in 2004. Maathai, who lived in Kenya, founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights. 

Vesta Williams, 53, died September 22, 2011. Williams’ body was found in her California hotel room. Prescription drugs, given to address her chronic insomnia, were also found in the room. The cause of death was likely accidental overdose. An actress and R & B singer with a four-octave range and a string of hits in the 1980s, Williams is best known for her hit singles, “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” (1986), “Don’t Blow a Good Thing” (1986), “Sweet, Sweet Love” (1988) and her signature song, “Congratulations” (1989). Williams appeared on television, most notably during the 1994-95 season of the sit-com “Sister, Sister,” which starred Jackee Harry and Tim Reid. After struggling with obesity much of her adult life, Williams lost 100 pounds and became an advocate for juvenile diabetes research and weight loss.

Troy Anthony Davis, 42, died September 21, 2011. Davis was executed in Georgia for the 1989 murder of an off-duty Savannah police officer. The sentence was carried out after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his lawyers a last-minute stay in a case that received worldwide attention because a large number of witnesses recanted their testimony. Georgia had delayed Davis’ execution for four hours until his case was reviewed by the nation’s highest court. Davis was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 P. M. Eastern Time, but his legal team succeeded in persuading the court’s justices to hear their arguments. After four hours of deliberation, the justices issued a statement, denying a stay. Thirty minutes later, Georgia officials executed Davis. He was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m. Eastern Time. Davis maintained to the very end that he did not kill Mark McPhail, who was working as a security guard at Burger King when he was shot.

Nick Ashford, 70, died August 23, 2011. R & B singer and songwriter, Ashford, who performed and composed with his wife, Valerie Simpson, as Ashford & Simpson, Motown’s most dynamic duo, died as a result of throat cancer. Ashford wrote with Simpson some of Motown’s greatest hits of the late 1960s. They are perhaps best known for the songs they wrote for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, now soul classics, including “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (1960) and “You’re All I Need to Get By” (1968). They also composed signature songs for other performers, including Gladys Knight and The Pips, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and Teddy Pendergrass. They wrote Chaka Khan’s signature song, “I’m Every Woman” (1978). Ashford & Simpson were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.

DeLois Barrett Campbell, 85, died August 22, 2011. She died in Chicago of complications associated with pneumonia. Barrett performed for more than 60 years with her two sisters in a gospel trio known as the Barrett Sisters. DeLois Barrett Campbell began singing in church as a child and was also inspired by two of her family’s neighbors, both giants of gospel music, the world-famous singer Mahalia Jackson and the gospel music composer Thomas A. Dorsey. The sisters sang in churches and other venues, gained a strong reputation for perfect performances and were in great demand. Their mastery and popularity eventually led to their recording debut in 1963 with their first album, Jesus Loves Me. The Barrett Sisters are also featured in the acclaimed documentary film about gospel music, “Say Amen, Somebody,” released in 1982.

Bubba Smith, 66, died August 22, 2011. The cause of death was drug intoxication, secondary to ingesting too much phentermine, a weight-loss drug. Smith also suffered from heart disease and hypertension. Born Charles Aaron Smith, he was a former NFL defensive end who enjoyed a second career as an actor and commercial pitchman on television. He became acquainted with success at Michigan State University where he was All-American and the number one draft pick from the University in 1967 when he joined the Baltimore Colts. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988. Smith played for the Colts for five seasons, including Super Bowl III (they lost) and Super Bowl V (they won). He then played two seasons with the Oakland Raiders and two seasons with the Houston Oilers, retiring from football from the Oilers in 1976 because of a serious knee injury. Smith pitched Miller Lite beer on television and later landed film roles, most notably a principal role in the six comedy films of the “Police Academy” series.

David “Honeyboy” Edwards, 96, died August 29, 2011. Edwards, one of the last of the great Mississippi Delta bluesmen, died of congestive heart failure. He lived in Chicago. Prior to his health turning for the worse in late April, Edwards was scheduled to play numerous shows in Chicago, across the United States and in Europe, according to his website. He played his last gigs at the Juke Joint Festival and Cathead Mini-Festival April 16th and 17th in Clarksdale, Miss. In April of this year, Michael Frank, his manager, announced that Edwards would be retiring because of ill health. He won a Grammy Award for the Best Traditional Blues Album in 2008 and a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in 2010. In 2005 and 2007, he received the Blues Music Award for Acoustic Blues Artist. In 1996, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, which was founded by the Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tenn. Edwards recorded 14 albums between 1951 and 2008, and he wrote “Long Tall Woman Blues” and “Just Like Jesse James.” He appeared in the 1991 documentary, “The Search for Robert Johnson,” with whom he was closely associated. He also was associated with Pinetop Perkins. Edwards also had a role in the 2007 feature film, “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.” In 1997, he wrote his autobiography, The World Don’t Owe Me Nothing, the title of which became his favorite saying.

Dorothy Edwards Brunson, 72, died July 31, 2011. The first black woman to own a radio and television station, Brunson owned WEBB, a radio station in Baltimore. She also later purchased radio stations in Atlanta and Wilmington, North Carolina. Brunson would sell off her radio stations in 1990 to provide funding to establish WGTW-TV in Burlington, N.J., a suburb of Philadelphia, becoming the first African-American woman to establish a television station. She later sold WGTW to Trinity Broadcasting Network.

John Mackey, 69, died July 6, 2011. Mackey’s cause of death was not given, but it is likely he died of complications associated with dementia. He had resided in an assisted living facility from the age of 65. A lightning-fast AFL tight end, Mackey played with the Baltimore Colts (1963-1971), revolutionizing the position of tight end, and the San Diego Chargers (1972). When Mackey retired from the game, he served as the first president of the NFL Players Association and helped organize a players’ strike that won $11 million in pensions and benefits for players. The NFL Players Association refused initially to provide disability benefits for Mackey, asserting there was no proven link between brain injury and playing football. The league and the NFL Players Association reconsidered their denial and adopted instead, “Plan 88,” named for Mackey’s jersey number. The plan provides $88,000 per year for nursing home care and up to $50,000 per year for adult day care.

Clarence Clemons, 69, died June 18, 2011. Tenor saxophonist for the E Street Band, led by rock music mega-star Bruce Springsteen, Clemons, who lived in Palm Beach, Fla., died of complications from a stroke he suffered June 12. Clemons recorded 21 albums with Springsteen. In addition to playing with the E Street Band, Clemons, referred to as The Big Man, played beside many musical greats, recording albums with Aretha Franklin, Ringo Starr, the Grateful Dead and Lady Gaga. He also recorded three solo albums, Hero (1985), A Night with Mr. C (1989) and Peacemaker (1995).

Clara Luper, 88, died June 9, 2011. Luper is best known for her leadership role in the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-in Movement, as she, her young son and daughter, and numerous young members of the NAACP Youth Council successfully conducted nonviolent sit-in protests of downtown drugstore lunch-counters which overturned their policies of segregation. The Clara Luper Corridor is a streetscape and civic beautification project from the Oklahoma Capitol area east to northeast Oklahoma City, announced by Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry to honor Luper.

Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt, 63, died June 2, 2011. Pratt, a former member of the Black Panther Party and a Purple Heart awardee, who spent 27 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, died of a heart attack. He lived in Imbaseni Village, Tanzania.

Clarice Taylor, 93, died May 30, 2011. She was in her home in Englewood, N.J., when she succumbed to heart failure. Perhaps best known for her role as the mother of Phylicia Rashad’s character on “The Cosby Show,” Taylor was also known for playing a grandmother on “Sesame Street.” A character actress who enjoyed an extensive film career, Taylor appeared in “Play Misty for Me,” an eerie 1971 film about obsession, directed by Clint Eastwood. Taylor plays the housekeeper Birdie to Eastwood’s character. She fends off a knife attack by Evelyn Draper, who is played by Jessica Walter. As Birdie is being carried out on a stretcher, she tells David Garver, played by Eastwood, “It’s going to cost you double to clean up this mess.” Taylor also starred in the groundbreaking comedy, “Five on the Blackhand Side” (1973) and in the 1995 film, “Smoke.” She was also in the Broadway production of “The Wiz.” Taylor was a founding member of the historic Negro Ensemble Company, established in 1967, a New York theatre company that offered productions focused on African-American lives.

Gil Scott-Heron, 62, died May 27, 2011. Though the cause of his death was not announced, it is generally assumed that Scott-Heron died of complications associated with an illness he contracted while traveling in Europe and complications of HIV and drug use. He reported using crack cocaine to relieve debilitating physical pain. 
A revolutionary poet, musician and songwriter of great influence who performed both in song and spoken word, Scott-Heron is considered the grandfather of rap music. His work was almost entirely political in character, reflecting the betrayal and fury of the post-civil-rights era. His songs bore incendiary titles, like “Home Is Where the Hatred Is” and “Whitey on the Moon.” In 1974, Scott-Heron recorded the song that made him famous, one that satirized the media and became his signature work, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”

Phoebe Snow, 60, died April 26, 2011. Born Phoebe Ann Laub, Snow was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for her chart-topping 1975 hit “Poetry Man.” The New York Times described her as a “contralto grounded in a bluesy growl and capable of sweeping over four octaves.” Snow’s first album, Phoebe Snow, released in 1974, went platinum.

D. J. Megatron, 32, died March 27, 2011. Megatron built a career at hip-hop and R&B radio stations from Philadelphia to Boston and at BET’s “106 & Park.” The popular deejay, born Corey McGriff, was found dead with a gunshot wound to his chest. 

Pinetop Perkins, 97, died March 21, 2011. A blues musician specializing in piano music, Perkins played with some of the most influential blues and rock and roll performers in American history and received numerous honors during his lifetime, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2003.

Loleatta Holloway, 64, died March 21, 2011. A sing and songwriter, Holloway was mainly known for her disco hits, “Hit and Run” (1977) and “Love Sensation” (1980).

Nate Dogg, 41, died March 15, 2011. The cause of death was complications following multiple strokes. The California rapper was born Nathaniel Hale in Long Beach, Calif. Nate Dogg made a name for himself when he was featured on Dr. Dre’s classic album, The Chronic (1992). His most-recent solo album was Nate Dogg, released in 2008.

Gladys Horton, 65, died January 26, 2011. The lead singer on many of the Marvelettes’ greatest hits, including the classic, “Please, Mr. Postman,” Horton died in a Sherman Oaks, Calif., nursing home, from complications of a stroke she suffered last year.

Mississippi Winn, 113, died January 14, 2011. She was the oldest living African American. Winn, who died in a Shreveport, La., nursing home, was born in Benton, La., on March 13, 1897, one of 15 children of Mack and Ellen Winn. Mississippi Winn, who never married, lived in Seattle before moving to Shreveport. She said she avoided dairy products, took an aspirin each day and ate mostly fruits and vegetables.

Stanley Eugene Tolliver, Sr., 85, died January 3, 2011. A Cleveland attorney and community activist who worked to desegregate public schools, Tolliver also acted as legal counsel to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). He also served as Cleveland’s school board president and as a radio talk-show host.

All have joined the ancestors.