R.I.P. Allan Holdsworth

Read More Soft Machine Soft Machine was one of the first prog-rock bands, but if your vision of prog-rock consists of musicians wreathed in pot smoke airily singing of fairies and wizards, it will be summarily ....

One of the most influential guitarist, Allan Holdsworth, has passed away. The news came out on Easter Sunday, April 16th, from his family. Holdsworth inspired a generation of guitarists, including Frank Zappa, Eddie Van Halen, and Joe Satriani.

Holdsworth’s manager Leonardo Pavkovic of MoonJune Music sent the information about the GoFundMe to help pay for funeral expenses (currently met its goal). If you want to donate, go to gofundme.com.

Pavkovic writes:

Dear Friends in Music

Today is a very sad day for me.

R.I.P. Allan Holdsworth (August 6, 1946 - April 16, 2017).

There is no greater measure of a life well lived than the amount of people he had impacted, and by that measure the artist Allan Holdsworth lived a very good life. This man took a plank of wood, a few strings, and some wires and transformed people's lives in a way that few others have. The ultimate genius of the rarest kind. One of THE greatest musicians ever lived. So much history with Allan between 2001-2016.

You will be missed forever, Allan - Yo Ol' Geezer, i love You.

Rest In Peace.

My deepest condolences go to his daughters Emily and Louise, his son Sam, and his granddaughter Rori, and everybody else who loved this truly unique man.

Below are more deaths for the month of April - for the full death list: Musicians who died in 2017.

April (28)

[17 Apr 2017] Willy Cruz (Filipino songwriter and composer, stroke), 70

[16 Apr 2017] Allan Holdsworth (British guitarist and composer for Bruford, Soft Machine, U.K., Tempest), 70

[15 Apr 2017] Alan Henderson (Northern Irish bassist for Them), ?

[14 Apr 2017] Bruce Langhorne ( American folk musician who inspired "Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan and film scorer The Hired Hand), 78, complications from a stroke

[13 Apr 2017] José Miguel Class (Puerto Rican singer), 78

[13 Apr 2017] Tom Coyne (American Grammy award-winning music engineer), 62

[12 Apr 2017] Toby Smith (British keyboardist for Jamiroquai), 46

[12 Apr 2017] Mika Vainio (Finnish electronic and experimental musician for Pan Sonic), 53

[12 Apr 2017] Peggy Hayama (Japanese singer), 83, pneumonia

[11 Apr 2017] J. Geils (American guitarist at The J. Geils Band), 71

[11 Apr 2017] Eric Cook (British heavy metal band manager for Venom and record label executive, co-founder of Demolition Records), cancer

[10 Apr 2017] David Angel (British violinist for Maggini Quartet, London Chamber Orchestra), 62, heart attack

[10 Apr 2017] Banner Thomas (American bass guitarist for Molly Hatchet), 63, pneumonia

[09 Apr 2017] Bob Wootton (American country guitarist for Johnny Cash, Tennessee Three), 75

[08 Apr 2017] Kim Plainfield (American jazz drummer), 63

[08 Apr 2017] Keni Richards (American drummer for Autograph), 60

[07 Apr 2017] Ben Speer (American musician for Speer Family), 86

[06 Apr 2017] David Peel (American singer and political activist), 73, heart attack

[05 Apr 2017] Leo J. Baroi (Bangladeshi singer), 66, heart attack

[05 Apr 2017] Paul O'Neill (American producer, composer and songwriter for Trans-Siberian Orchestra), 61

[03 Apr 2017] Kishori Amonkar (Indian classical singer), 84

[03 Apr 2017] Brenda Jones (American R&B singer for The Jones Girls), 62, traffic collision

[03 Apr 2017] L.A. Dre (American record producer and keyboardist)

[02 Apr 2017] Vivienne de Silva Boralessa (Sri Lankan singer), 86

[01 Apr 2017] Louis Sarno (American musicologist and author), 62

[01 Apr 2017] Lonnie Brooks (American blues guitarist and singer), 83

[01 Apr 2017] Ikutaro Kakehashi (Japanese engineer and entrepreneur, founder of Ace Tone and Roland Corporation), 87

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic