R.I.P.

Death notices and obituaries

RIP Brian Miller, guitar tech and Zon guitarist

zon 2

\ TORONTO, Sept. 28, 2015 \ Another Toronto music icon has passed away with the death of guitarist Brian Miller, who was part of the progressive Rock band Zon that briefly flew close to the sun in the late 1970s and early 80s. A Facebook announcement was made by his friend and co-worker Chris Bennett…

RIP: Fat Albert’s mainstay Ray Peak has passed away

Ray Peak -courtesy Carole Joskowitz

\ TORONTO \ One of the most familiar faces of all time at Fat Albert’s Open Stage & Coffee House over the past several decades never strummed a guitar at its weekly open stage. Ray Peak, who, along with Ed Matthews, was one of the original team that ran the event when it started in…

3rd annual James Gray memorial tribute concert is tonight | TorontoMoon.ca 150805We Shows for Wednesday, August 05, 2021

150805We Wednesday, August 05, 2021 header

\ TO DOWNTOWN \ I was delighted to discover early today, only a few hours before it starts, that there’s another memorial/tribute concert tonight for the late James Gray, multi-instrumentalist and accompanist extraordinaire. It’ll be two years tonight (or early tomorrow) since Gray unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack overnight, the news spreading through…

Steve Hunt memorial benefit takes place July 3 at Rockpile

Steve Hunt, fb alt

It was our sad duty a few weeks ago to have to report the unexpected and sudden passing of drummer/poet Steve Hunt, well known to members of TO’s Rock and Metal scenes. A funeral was held on June 12 for the amiable and sardonically witty former member of several bands and regular at east-TO jams,…

RIP - Drummer Steve Hunt has passed away unexpectedly in his sleep

Steve Hunt, fb alt

\ TORONTO EAST 150609 \ Energetic and charismatic east-Toronto drummer and poet Steve Hunt passed away in his sleep overnight on the morning of June 8, family and friends have reported. According to a knowledgeable source he had been visiting a friend and stayed over, slipping away during the night. Steve, who started playing drums…

RIP veteran guitarist Roy Buna

Roy Buna performing with The Bear Band in undated photo -Bear's website

Veteran R&B/Blues and Rock guitarist and singer Roy Buna passed away of natural causes at age 63 on Friday, April 24 at his GTA home, his family announced today. Buna, who had a long career as a journeyman player teamed up with acts such as the late Buddy “Bear” Armstrong and the James Anthony Band…

Sam’s ‘Secret’ finally comes out tonight at Tranzac

Secret Songs of Sam Larkin

\ TORONTO, 150216Mo \ It’s not yet been 16 months since Toronto Folk balladeer Sam Larkin passed away, as we reported on October 29, 2013. But while his bodily flame may have gone out, his soul —his musical legacy— shows no sign of being extinguished any time soon. Last April a group of talented songwriting…

Bear memorial Sat. Jan. 31 will be a fitting talent-studded tribute

Playful Bear & Randy Dawson in 2002 -Gary 17

\ ETOBICOKE \ It’s been over a month now since veteran crooner and genial entertainer Buddy “The Bear” Armstrong passed away suddenly December 22 while in hospital receiving dialysis treatment following a surgery also related to his chronic diabetes. As is so often the case with people who are mainstays of the music scene, his…

R.I.P. The Bear: Private funeral planned —Memorial tribute in new year

Buddy "The Bear" Armstrong -Gary 17

\ MISSISSAUGA \ The family of one of the GTA’s most loved and most enduring and engaging singers spent the Christmas holiday coping with his unexpected death Monday. Mary Armstrong, wife of Buddy “The Bear” Armstrong, who died of heart failure at 66 years of age while undergoing a routine medical procedure on Mon., Dec.…

Finding the FUN in “funeral” - send off for Nik Beat September 23, 2021

Collage of shots from Celebration of the Life of Nik Beat Sept. 23, 2104 -Gary 17

The September 23 Celebration of Life for poet/musician/broadcaster and craft-artist Nik Beat (born Michael Barry) at St. John The Baptist, Norway, Anglican Church on Woodbine Avenue in east TO was an emotional event that evolved into a love-in. Another writer will describe her sentiments about it an a separate piece. But here I want to…

R.I.P. Nik Beat … passed away suddenly September 17, 2021

Nik Beat - Gary 17

R.I.P. Nik Beat … passed away suddenly September 17, 2021   \ TORONTO \ Shockwaves are rippling through the Toronto poety, music and media communities tonight as word spreads about the sudden passing of author, songwriter and radio host Nik Beat of unknown causes. His sister, Teresa Barry Longley, made the announcement at approximately 7…

R.I.P. Gary Latimer, veteran bass player

Gary Latimer in 2010

R.I.P. Gary Latimer, veteran bass player \Toronto\ Another veteran musician hailing all the way back to the halcyon days of the Yorkville village scene in the 1960s has gone to that great stage in the sky. Gary Latimer, who was also adept on guitar, passed away earlier this week after battling for the past few…

Wake for Nash The Slash scheduled for June 21 at Stratengers

Nash The Slash -promo

Some of us remember when the club Stratengers, at 1130 Queen St. E., was a hopping hotbed of live music, with a wide range of musical attractions that included lots of hard Rock, Metal, Punk and just plain out-there acts, in good part thanks to the dogged efforts of one James “Ratch” Ratch. Ratch was…