On Thursday, March 28th, KEXP presents Music Heals: Beyond Cancer, a collaboration with the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Therapy Center dedicated to the power of music to lift our spirits and heal our souls in the face of cancer. From 6 AM to 6 PM, John Richards, Cheryl Waters, and Kevin Cole will tell the stories shared with us by members of our community and work in the songs that helped them through the healing process either emotionally or physically. If you'd like to share your own story and song choice with us, e-mail stories@kexp.org.
On this day, KEXP pays tribute to the many musicians taken from us due to cancer. The list below, tragically, only scratches the surface of talented artists who've succumbed to this horrible disease.
Ranking Roger of The (English) Beat and General Public // passed March 26, 2019, age 56
Sharon Jones // passed November 18, 2016, age 60 from pancreatic cancer
David Bowie // passed January 10, 2016, age 69 from liver cancer
Thomas Fekete // passed May 31, 2016, age 27 from a rare, aggressive form of cancer
Benjamin Curtis // passed December 29, 2013, age 35 from t-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma
Carey Lander // passed October 11, 2015, age 33 from bone cancer
MCA (Adam Yauch) // passed May 4, 2012, age 47 from parotid gland cancer
Joey Ramone // passed April 15, 2001, age 49 from lymphatic cancer
Johnny Ramone // passed September 15, 2004, age 55 from prostate cancer
Tommy Ramone // passed July 11, 2014, age 65 from bile duct cancer
Lemmy Kilmister // passed December 28, 2015, age 70 from prostate cancer
Leonard Cohen // passed November 7, 2016, age 82 from a fall, with cancer listed as contributing cause.
George Harrison // passed November 29, 2001, age 58 from laryngeal cancer
Karl Mueller // passed June 17, 2005, age 41 from throat cancer
Lou Rawls // passed January 6, 2006, age 72 from lung cancer
Syd Barrett // passed July 7, 2006, age 60 from pancreatic cancer
Ari Up // passed October 20, 2010, age 48 from breast cancer
Poly Styrene // passed April 25, 2011, age 53 from breast cancer
Gil Ray // passed January 24, 2017, age 60
Arthur Lee // passed August 3, 2006, age 61 from leukemia
Arthur Kane // passed July 13, 2004, age 55 from leukemia
Etta James // passed January 20, 2012, age 73 from leukemia
Bob Marley // passed May 11, 1981, age 36 from acral lentiginous melanoma
Alan Myers // passed June 24, 2013, age 58 from stomach cancer
Andy Hummel // passed July 19, 2010, age 59
Philip Chevron // passed October 8, 2013, age 56 from esophageal cancer
Patty Donahue // passed December 9, 1996, age 40 from lung cancer
Sterling Morrison // passed August 30, 1995, age 53 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Gerard Smith // passed April 20, 2011, age 36 from lung cancer
Mark E. Smith // passed January 24, 2017, age 60 from lung and kidney cancer
Aretha Franklin // passed August 16, 2018, age 76 from pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type
Aretha Franklin // passed August 16, 2018, age 76 from pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type
Charles Bradley // passed September 23, 2017, age 68 from stomach and liver cancer.
Grant Hart (of Hüsker Dü) // passed September 13th, 2017, age 56 from complications from liver cancer and Hepatitis C.
Gord Downie (of the Tragically Hip) // passed October 17th, 2017, age 53 from brain cancer.
Jessi Zazu (of Those Darlins) // passed September 12, 2017, age 28 from cervical cancer.
Dusty Springfield // passed March 2, 1999, age 59 from breast cancer.
Dave Rosser (of the Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers) // passed June 27, 2017, age 50 from colon cancer.
Peter Tork (of the Monkees) // passed February 21, 2019, age 77 from adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare, slow-growing form of head and neck cancer.
Andy Anderson (of the Cure) // passed February 26, 2019, age 68.
All day long, KEXP is teaming up with the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Therapy Center to present Music Heals, dedicated to the power of music to lift our spirits and heal our souls in the face of cancer. From 6 AM to 6 PM, John Richards, Cheryl Waters, and Kevin Cole will tell the stories sh…
All day long, KEXP is teaming up with the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Therapy Center to present Music Heals, dedicated to the power of music to lift our spirits and heal our souls in the face of cancer. From 6 AM to 6 PM, John Richards, Cheryl Waters, and Kevin Cole will tell the stories sh…
