2017 Grammy Awards Highlight Sonny James In Memoriam
During the internationally televised Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 13, 2017 with a total viewership of 24.95 million the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences honored Sonny James by including him in not only their full textural listings of those who passed, but graciously included video and audio of Sonny performing “Young Love” during the televised broadcast. Sonny’s performance video was respectfully placed between his Capitol Records peer and friend Merle Haggard and long-time friend and Elvis Guitarist Scotty Moore.
Truly, a gracious recognition of our beloved and dear friend whom we greatly miss.
Grammy Awards In Memoriam Segment Video:
Source GRAMMY.com:
(The following is a list of 833 artists and industry professionals the music community lost in 2016–2017. The 59th GRAMMY Awards telecast on CBS featured an In Memoriam segment highlighting 53 of these individuals via a video tribute, and all of these individuals who died prior to Jan. 11 are included in the official 59th GRAMMY Awards program book. The Recording Academy salutes each individual for their respective talents and contributions to our culture and community.
| Colonel Abrams | Achieng Abura | Tayssir Akla |
| Francis Akos | Edward Albee | Roye Albrighton |
| Michael Alexisch | Muhammad Ali | Peter Allen |
| Mose Allison | Tommy Allsup | Nicholas “Pumpkin” Alvarado |
| Ernestine Anderson | Herb Oscar Anderson | Jeff Anderson |
| Kevin Anderson | Lucas Anderson | Signe Toly Anderson |
| Lee Andrews | Guda Anjaiah | José Luis Armenteros |
| Brian Asawa | Joe Ascione | Cash Askew |
| James Atkins | Anahid Ajemian Avakian | David Axelrod |
| Bill Backer | Ernesto Baffa | Issa Bagayogo |
| Victor Bailey | Jimmy Bain | David Baker |
| Doug Baker | Lennie Baker | Koyo Bala |
| Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna | Doug Banks | Mei Baojiu |
| Melhem Barakat | Gato Barbieri | Sunil Bardewa |
| Allan Barnes | Ken Barrie | Christopher Barriere aka Mr. 3-2 |
| Tony Barrow | Cliff Barrows | Sherwin Bash |
| Leslie Bassett | Robert Bateman | Johannes Bauer |
| Robert Baustian | Mubarak Begum | Raj Begum |
| Remo Belli | Headley Bennett | Pascal Bentoiu |
| Leo Beranek | Jonathan Bernbaum | John Berry |
| Kendall Betts | Phoebe Binkley | Hayward Sherman Bishop Jr. |
| Roberto Bissonnette | Neil Black | Winston “Merritone” Blake |
| Ed Blau | Em Bohlka | Shannon Bolin Kaye |
| Paul Booker | Jimmy Borges | Bimba Bosé |
| Johan Botha | Gérard Bourgeois | Jim Boyd |
| Oscar Brand | Loalwa Braz | Bobby Breen |
| Buddy Bregman | Leo Brennan | Robbie Brennan |
| Carlos Brock | Corry Brokken | Clyde Brooks |
| Douglas “Swipey” Brooks | Bonnie Brown | Mar Brown |
| Paul Brown | Tommy Brown | Don Buchla |
| Irma Bule | Bill Bumgardner | Jon Bunch |
| Billy Joe Burnette | Pete Burns | Rusty Burns |
| Earl Solomon Burroughs aka Jack Hammer | Bobby “El Charro Negro” Butler | John Byrd |
| Steve Byrd | Joe Cabot | Denis Čabrić |
| Al Caiola | Lamar Dupré Calhoun aka DJ Crazy Toones | Harrison Calloway |
| Cecil Bustamente Campbell aka Prince Buster | Lecresia Campbell | Rey Caney |
| Charmian Carr | Inocente Carreño | Elisabeth Carron |
| Keith Carter aka Big Kap | Dave Cash | Michael Casswell |
| Geneviève Castrée | Donny Catron | Danny Champagne |
| Mike Chapman | Eric Charles | Charles Chaynes |
| Phil Chess | Steve “Tregenda” Childers | John Chilton |
| Grace Chinga | Rick Christian | Eddy Christiani |
| Gavin Christopher | Nelson Chu aka DJ Official | Barrelhouse Chuck |
| Franz Cibulka | Don Ciccone | Roger Cicero |
| Barrett Clark | Guy Clark | Joe Clay |
| Thomas “TC” Clay | Mikey Clement | Bob Coburn |
| Mac Cocker | Leonard Cohen | Ray Colcord |
| Daryl Coley | Benny Collins | Ray Columbus |
| John Conquest | Tony Conrad | Buster Cooper |
| Jerry Corbetta | Attrell Cordes aka Prince Be | Sergei Cortes |
| Tim Cotton | Wade Cox | Bob Cranshaw |
| Caroline Crawley | Clifford Crawley | Phyllis Creore |
| Tim Cretsinger | Pati Crooker | Connie Crothers |
| Dub Crouch | Clifford Curry | Phyllis Curtin |
| Bobby Curtola | Robert “Strängen” Dahlqvist | Jean-Michel Damian |
| Micah Danemayer | Dan Daniel | Mike Daniels |
| Raymond Daveluy | Ken Davidson | Peter Maxwell Davies |
| Bobby “Top Hat” Davis | Danny Davis | Dennis Davis |
| Ronnie Davis | Rorichannie Davis | Renée De Haan |
| Lupe De La Cruz | Gervase De Peyer | Nora Dean |
| Gloria DeHaven | John Del Carlo | Melina Dellamarggio |
| Paul Demers | Colin Demge | Daniela Dessi |
| Vinjamuri Seetha Devi | Harold Devold | Alirio Díaz |
| Richard Divall | Billy Dixon | Chelsea Faith Dolan aka Cherushii |
| Nina Dorda | Andrew Dorff | Elena Doria |
| Joe Dowell | Pádraig Duggan | Patty Duke |
| Anatol Dumitras | Lucille Dumont | Wayne Duncan |
| Holly Dunn | Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural Jr. | Denise Duval |
| Roland Dyens | Kirk Dyer | Ben Edmonds |
| Robert “Big Sonny” Edwards | David Egan | Bob Elliott |
| Bobby Ellis | Geneviève Elverum | Keith Emerson |
| Adrian Enescu | Jon English | David Enthoven |
| Jules Eskin | Mack Evans | Amar Ezzahi |
| Brian Faber | Richard Fagan | Billy Faier |
| Joey Feek | Jack Feierman | Thomas Fekete |
| Mohamed Tahar Fergani | Candice Burnside Ferguson | Brandon Ferrell |
| Peter Feuchtwanger | Irving Fields | Chris Finley |
| Kevin “Danny” Finn | Brien Fisher | Carrie Fisher |
| Mark Fisher aka k-punk | Charlie Fite | Micky Fitz |
| Jerry Wayne Flowers | Joey Floyd | James R. Fonseca |
| Pete Fountain | Don Francks | Dave Franklin |
| Gigliola Frazzoni | Bobby Freeman | Bob French |
| Don Friedman | Alejandro “Jano” Fuentes | Mike “Gabby” Gaborno |
| Juan Gabriel | Brian Gallagher | Hernán Gamboa |
| John Garcia | Ernesto Gauna | Dick Gautier |
| George Gaynes | Bruce Geduldig | Nadine Gelineau |
| Keith Gemmell | Gwyneth George | Sonny Geraci |
| David Gest | Alex Ghassan | Robin Ghosh |
| Mike Gibbons | Craig Gill | Mic Gillette |
| Hubert Giraud | Melvin Goins | Benny Golbin |
| Bob Goldstone | Giorgio Gomelsky | Nick Gomez-Hall |
| Paul Gordon | Angus R. Grant | Gogi Grant |
| Ron Grant | Mark Gray | Nigel Gray |
| Buddy Greco | Nik Green | Yates Green |
| Bob Grever | Ray Griff | Dale “Buffin” Griffin |
| Gegham Grigoryan | Don Grilley | Tammy Grimes |
| Christina Grimmie | Ojārs Grīnbergs | Piotr Grudzinski |
| Horacio Guarany | Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen | Jean Paul Guerrero aka DJ Jinx Paul |
| Gib Guilbeau | Amber Gurung | Juan Habichuela |
| Merle Haggard | Andre Hajdu | Bill Ham |
| Ofelya Hambardzumyan | Robert Hamlett | Joe T. Haney |
| Ross Hannaford | Herbert Hardesty | Nikolaus Harnoncourt |
| Vaughn Harper | Dickie Harris | Nicholas Harris |
| Ricky Harris | Eddie Harsch | Alex Hartness |
| Ted Harvey | Jimmie Haskell | Adnan Abu Hassan |
| Walter Hautzig | Bill Hawkins | Jimmy Hayman |
| Leon Haywood | Leonard Haze | Brendan Healy |
| Nachum Heiman | Jerry Heller | Fred Hellerman |
| Bill Henderson | Edmund “Leon” Henderson | Florence Henderson |
| Karl Hendricks | Nat Hentoff | Bern Herbolsheimer |
| Ray Hesson | Hubert Dwane “Hoot” Hester | Mohammad Heydari |
| Joseph Hibbs | Dan Hicks | Tyruss Himes aka Big Syke |
| Radim Hladík | Dmytro Hnatyuk | Sara Hoda |
| Chip Hooper | David Horowitz | Yassy Hosseini |
| Travis Hough | Ken Howard | Preston Hubbard |
| Aaron Huffman | David Hughes aka Scabs | Karel Husa |
| Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan | Bobby Hutcherson | Pete Huttlinger |
| Johnny Igaz aka Nackt | Richie Ingui | George S. Irving |
| Matt Irwin | Bud Isaacs | Keiichi Ishizaka |
| André Isoir | Alan Jabbour | Christine Jackson |
| Wayne Jackson | James Jamerson Jr. | Sonny James |
| Junaid Jamshed | Fran Jeffries | Wilfred Jeffs aka Bill Sevesi |
| Karina Jensen | Ekrem Jevrić | Joan Marie Johnson |
| Jody Clay Johnson | Terry Johnson | Anton Jones |
| Denny Jones | Kacey Jones | Marshall “Rock” Jones |
| Randy Jones | Sharon Jones | Vic Jordan |
| Kevin Junior | Kitty Kallen | Eddie Kamae |
| Candye Kane | Paul Kantner | Oleg Karavaichuk |
| Oscar Karlsson | Charles Kaufman | Howard Kaufman |
| Michiyuki Kawashima | Mike Kellie | Bap Kennedy |
| Herb Kent | Jeff Kent | Amanda Allen Kershaw |
| Abdul Rashid Khan | Norman Killeen | James King |
| Biser Kirov | Carlton Kitto | Philip Kives |
| Sverre Kjelsberg | Thandi Klaasen | Eri Klas |
| Zoltán Kocsis | Samisoni Koroitamudu aka Big Makk | Bob Krasnow |
| Bill Kyle | Julius La Rosa | Greg Lake |
| Pierre Lalonde | Werner Lämmerhirt | Louis Lane |
| Penny Lang | Tran Lap | Edmond Lapine |
| Marty Laster | Dick Latessa | James Laurence |
| Luke Lavelle | Kevin Lawrence | Seymour Lazar |
| Sam Leach | Vander Lee | Jade Lemons |
| Deke Leonard | “Bashful Bob” Letson | Ida Levin |
| David Lewis | J. Reilly Lewis | Jaki Liebezeit |
| Joe Ligon | Richard Linke | Justin “Kid Cali” Lishey |
| Jane Little | Olle Ljungström | Gary Loizzo |
| Rufus Long | Andrew Loomis | John D. Loudermilk |
| Charlie “Sonny” Louvin Jr. | Sam Lovullo | Jim Lowe |
| Enrique “Quique” Lucca | José Lugo | Sviatoslav Luther |
| Mike Lyon | Richard Lyons | Lonnie Mack |
| Griffin Madden | William Maginnis | Timmy Makaya |
| Gary Malke aka Gary D. | Ursula Mamlok | Pablo Manavello |
| David Mancuso | Kalabhavan Mani | Marlene Marder |
| Joe Marillo | Léo Marjane | Micki Marlo |
| Neville Marriner | Rick Marroquin | Garry Marshall |
| Tony Martell | George Martin | Paul Martin |
| Ricci Martin | Bob Mason | Carlo Mastrangelo |
| Joseph Matlock aka Joey Casio | Denise Matthews aka Vanity | Ireng Maulana |
| Gisela May | Jason Adrian McCarty aka Dilatedears | Bobby Lee McCollum |
| Gayle McCormick | Jim McCoy | Henry McCullough |
| Hugh McDonald | Fred McFarlane | Draven McGill |
| Sidney “Doc” McKay | John McKellen | Sean McKeough |
| Jeff McLaren | John McMartin | Kevin Meaney |
| Gustav Meier | Getachew Mekurya | José Menese |
| Nick Menza | Lewis Merenstein | Louis Meyers |
| George Michael | Rusty Michael | Frankie Michaels |
| Billy Miller | Fergus Miller | Jack Miller |
| Ned Miller | Lawrence Minors | Pete Mitchell |
| Ivan Mogull | Habib Mohebian | Michael Mohede |
| Chips Moman | Fernando J. Montilla | Scotty Moore |
| Memo Morales | Mariano Mores | Jennifer Morris |
| John Morthland | Robert Motherbaugh Sr. aka General Boy | Greg Motycka |
| Hubert Mounier aka Cleet Boris | Alphonse Mouzon | Otto-Werner Mueller |
| Edgar Muenzer | Edoardo Müller | Ronald “Bingo” Mundy |
| Patrice Munsel | Frank Murray | Ernie Myers |
| Guy Nadon | Asami Nagakiya | Hiroko Nakamura |
| Billy Name | Emilio Navaira | Arthur Nayyar |
| James M. Nederlander | Tonio Neuhaus | Andy “Thunderclap” Newman |
| Geoff Nicholls | Aurèle Nicolet | Josefin Nilsson |
| Maralin Niska | Marni Nixon | Fredrik Noren |
| Lola Novaković | Frank Noya | Peter Nthwane |
| Munyaradzi Nyemba | Russell Oberlin | Hod O’Brien |
| Lee O’Denat aka Q | Claus Ogerman | Milt Okun |
| Pauline Oliveros | Horacio Olivo | William Onyeabor |
| Rudy Osborne | Olumuyiwa Osinuga aka Nomoreloss | Guido Osorio |
| Johnny P | David Page | Robert Page |
| Earl Paige | Robert Paiste | Pantelis Pantelidis |
| Jerry Clyde Paradis | Margaret Pardee | Laurent Pardo |
| Rick Parfitt | Don Parmley | Ioan Gyuri Pascu |
| Anne Pashley | Billy Paul | Joyce Paul |
| Robert Paulson aka Cadalack Ron | Gary S. Paxton | Larry Payton |
| Stewart Pearce | Lou Pearlman | Sandy Pearlman |
| Trisco Pearson | Betsy Pecanins | Mike Pedicin |
| Harry Peel | Cauby Peixoto | Juan Peña aka El Lebrijano |
| Jean-Jacques Perrey | Roberta Peters | Erik Peterson |
| Trever Peterson | Marilyn Petrone | Lorenzo Piani |
| David B. Pigg | Nelson Pinedo | Feral Pines |
| Adrian Posse | Curtis Potter | Sylvester Potts |
| Freddy Powers | Joey Powers | A.V. Prakash |
| Georges Prêtre | Bill Price | Prince |
| Roland Prince | Tavín Pumarejo | Curly Putman |
| Howard Quilling | Ismael Quintana | Gustavo “El Loco” Quintero |
| Harry Rabinowitz | Brian Rading | Richard Fay “Buck” Rambo |
| Bobby Ramirez aka DTTX | Elkin Ramírez | Alfonso Ramos |
| Doug Raney | Gordon Ranney | Einojuhani Rautavaara |
| Gil Ray | Esma Redžepova | Hans Reffert |
| Clarence Reid aka Blowfly | Alberto Remedios | Kimi “Qiao” Renliang |
| Wolfgang Renner | Joanna Reyes | Debbie Reynolds |
| Peter Reynolds | George Reznik | Sir Mack Rice |
| Roberto “Snaffu” Rigor | Jimmy Riley | Jean-Claude Risset |
| Matt Roberts | Floyd Robinson | Maggie Roche |
| Thomas Round | Allan Rouse | Eugeniusz Rudnik |
| Ben Runnels | Leon Russell | Keli May Rutledge |
| Karel Ruzicka Sr. | Phil Ryan | Lotte Rysanek-Doerle |
| Amjad Sabri | Michael Sacha | Peter Sadlo |
| Morley Safer | Adam Sagan | Veena Sahasrabuddhe |
| Kashif Saleem | Horacio Salgán | Larry Salinas |
| Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez | William “Sonny” Sanders | Peter Sarstedt |
| Andréanne Sasseville | Bob Saxton | Mike Scap |
| Heinrich Schiff | Ramblin’ Lou Schriver | Dorothy “Dottie” Schwartz |
| Elliott Schwartz | Larry Scott | Johnny Sea |
| Tom Searle | Derek Serpell-Morris aka DJ Derek | Afeni Shakur |
| Garry Shandling | Ross Shapiro | Farhang Sharif |
| Charles “Bobo” Shaw | Jean Shepard | Rose L. Shure |
| Nicole Siegrist aka Denalda Nicole Renae | Eddy Silitonga | Gabriele Sima |
| Noel “Scully” Simms | William Sims | Frank Sinatra Jr. |
| Raynoma Gordy Singleton | Tom Size | Michael Sklar |
| Joe Skyward | Dale Sledd | Vasyl Slipak |
| Tsvi Small | Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor | Brett Smiley |
| Derek Smith | Doug Smith | Gregg Smith |
| Louis Smith | Rickey Smith | Earl Smith Jr. aka DJ Spank Spank |
| Paul Smoker | David Smyrl | Gilli Smyth |
| Danny Smythe | Barry Socher | Leif Solberg |
| Tamás Somló | Om Prakash Sonik aka Omi | Riki Sorsa |
| Sam Spence | Marc Spitz | Elton Spitzer |
| John Stabb | Ralph Stanley | Kay Starr |
| Chuck Stearman | Jeremy Steig | Larry Steinbachek |
| Lewis “Lewie” Steinberg | Rick Steiner | Chuck Stewart |
| Louis Stewart | Mary Stewart | Michael Stewart |
| Fred Stobaugh | Jadranka Stojaković | Chris Stone |
| Steven Stucky | Vi Subversa | Jonathan Sutter aka Tenor Fly |
| Dave Swarbrick | Michele Sylvan | Mark Taimanov |
| Ab Tamboer | Jennifer Kiyomi Tanouye | Gordie Tapp |
| B.E. Taylor | Betty Loo Taylor | Malik Taylor aka Phife Dawg |
| Mike “Taffy” Taylor | Mieke Telkamp | Joe Temperley |
| Rod Temperton | Manolo Tena | Gianmaria Testa |
| Alan Thicke | Toots Thielemans | John Thomas |
| Marvell Thomas | Sir Charles Thompson | Rex Thompson |
| Elliot Tiber | Lupe Tijerina | T.J. Tindall |
| Taylor Tolle | Isao Tomita | Fred Tomlinson |
| Veljo Tormis | Royal Torrence aka Little Royal | Dominique Trenier |
| Richard Trentlage | John Trickett | Greg Trooper |
| Butch Trucks | Mduduzi “Mandoza” Tshabalala | Bob Tubert |
| Robert Tuggle | Charlie Tuna | Tommy Turner |
| L.C. Ulmer | Pat Upton | Chayito Valdez |
| Ramon “Boo” Valdez | Rudy Van Gelder | Vincent Van Haaff |
| Karl David Van Hoesen | Jimmie Van Zant | Richard “Rick” Vanaugh |
| Naná Vasconcelos | Palani Vaughan | Colin Vearncombe aka Black |
| Bobby Vee | Alan Vega | Alex Vega |
| Les Waas | Freddie Wadling | Carlos Walker aka Shawty Lo |
| Don Waller | Eddy Wally | Bob Walsh |
| Conor Walsh | Bunny Walters | Ann Ward |
| Chris Warren | Rob Wasserman | Tyriece Watson aka Lor Scoota |
| Pete Overend Watts | Fritz Weaver | Fred Weisz |
| Bobby Wellins | Papa Wemba | Jacques Werup |
| John Wetton | June Whisnant | Donald H. White |
| Maurice White | Ruth White | Trentavious White aka Bankroll Fresh |
| Max Wilcox | Gene Wilder | Monty Lee Wilkes |
| Allan Williams | Kim Williams | Mentor Williams |
| Toni Williams | Bob Williamson | Claude Williamson |
| Ruby Wilson | Gerhard Wimberger | Jeff Windisch |
| Alan Wise | Brandon Chase Wittenauer | Elliot Wolff |
| Victoria Wood | James Woolley | Bernie Worrell |
| Martha Wright | Rick Wright | Steve Wright |
| Zhou Xiaoyan | Glenn Yarbrough | Pete Yellin |
| Nora York | Adam Young | Jimmy Young |
| Steve Young (Colourbox co-founder) | Steve Young (country singer/songwriter) | Umy Youngblood |
| Robert “Bob” Younts | Mick Zane | Bernard Zaslav |
| Allan Zavod | Pete Zorn | |
