Maurice White (Dec 19, 1941 - Feb 4, 2016): Before you dismiss this musician as a not-so-recognisable face compared to the rest — know this. He was nominated was a massive 20 Grammys in his prime. Old timers will remember him as the co-founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. The musician, who stopped touring in the ’90s after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, succumbed to the illness in his sleep earlier this year. He was 74.Prince(June 7, 1958 - Apr 21, 2016): From Purple Rain to Musicology, this legend had us addicted to his sound and style for over 35 years. He was known for his love symbol created in protest against long time record label Warner Bros. The singer passed away after a drug overdose at 57.(Photo |AP)Glenn Frey (Nov 6, 1948 - Jan 18, 2016) You may not recognise the name as easily as the song. This was the guitarist who co-wrote Hotel California and was also a founding member of The Eagles. Frey passed away at 67, a little over a week after David Bowie, who died at 69.Leonard Cohen (Sept 21, 1934 - Nov 7, 2016) This Canadian singer and poet was among a niche brand of extremely influential singer-songwriters back in the ’60s. So much so that critics compared him to the likes of Bob Dyan and was even referenced in the Nirvana song, Pennyroyal Tea. After a career spanning over five decades, he died unexpectedly at the age of 82. According to his son, Cohen died peacefully and had been writing till the very end.George Michael (June 25, 1963 - Dec 25, 2016): It was not a Merry Christmas for those who woke to the news of his passing of heart failure at the age of 53. The boyfriend of the Grammy-winning musician posted a link of an unreleased song that fans only got to hear after his death. The tragic timing of it all hardly inspires any Faith.Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan (Aug 19, 1908 - Feb 18, 2016): He was definitely the oldest musician on our list. This Padma Bhushan awardee passed away at the grand age of 107, and continued to teach music until a day before his death.(Photo | PTI)Balamuralikrishna(July 6, 1930 - Nov 22, 2016): The maestro of Carnatic music is said to have performed in over 18,000 concerts around the world, before he passed away at the age of 86. Incidentally, he started out in the film industry as an actor, and played the role of Narada in the film Bhakta Prahalada on the request of A V Meyappa Chettiar. ( Express Photo | P Jawahar)
