Toronto Mike

In Memoriam

Total 1728 Posts

Chris Cornell, Dead at 52

Chris Cornell was 52. He was best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as lead vocalist and songwriter for Audioslave. This one hits me square in my youth. I had a Badmotorfinger poster hanging in my bedroom as a teen. I just searched
Continue Reading

Don Rickles, Dead at 90

Don Rickles was 90. He was the honorary Rat Pack member and celebrity roast guest whose comedy career spanned six decades. If you can I highly suggest you track down Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project, a documentary I caught back in '09. I love insult comics, and Rickles was
Continue Reading

Chuck Berry, Dead at 90

Chuck Berry was 90. He was the the singer, songwriter and guitar great who practically defined rock music with his impeccably twangy hits “Maybellene,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Memphis,” “My Ding-a-Ling” and “Sweet Little Sixteen.”
Continue Reading

Stuart McLean, Dead at 68

Stuart McLean was 68. He was the host of CBC Radio's The Vinyl Café and an award-winning humorist. How many times did I stumble upon one of Stuart's Dave and Morley stories? Often enough to develop a pretty good Stuart McLean impression, a cadence I'd often mimic when sharing my
Continue Reading

George Michael, Dead at 53

George Michael was 53. He was the pop singer who launched his career with Wham! in the 1980s and continued his success as a solo performer. On a personal note, this one strikes me square in the nostalgia bone. I owned Wham!'s Make It Big on cassette and loved
Continue Reading

Alan Thicke, Dead at 69

Alan Thicke was 69. He was the Canadian actor, songwriter, and game and talk show host best known for his role as Jason Seaver on Growing Pains. I actually spent some time with Alan about five years ago. I wanted to talk about how he composed the themes to Diff'rent
Continue Reading

Leonard Cohen, Dead at 82

Leonard Cohen was 82. He was the legendary Canadian singer-songwriter best known for songs like "Suzanne", "So Long, Marianne", "Bird on the Wire", "Everybody Knows", "Closing TIme" and "Hallelujah". He was also an accomplished poet and novelist and a personal favourite of mine. I did my best, it wasn't much
Continue Reading