Keith Emerson, large proponent in ushering in the prog rock sounds of the late 1960s with the legendary Emerson, Lake and Palmer, died on Friday at his home in Santa Monica, CA, according to a post by ELP on their official Facebook page. He was 71.

Undoubtedly a trailblazer of the Hammond and Moog keyboards, Keith Emerson and ELP created sounds which at once borrowed from a sort of blues/rock foundation with multilayered complex arrangements on top, and even mixed with a quasi-Classical feel to boot.

Paul Kantner, an innovative guitarist and songwriter instrumental in being at the forefront of the San Francisco sound of the late 1960s with Jefferson Airplane, died yesterday of multiple organ failure and septic shock. He was 74.

The news was confirmed by the late musician’s ex girlfriend and publicist, according to the BBC, which added that Kantner had suffered a heart attack several days earlier.

The San Francisco native co-founded the psychedelic rock outfit best remembered for classic songs like “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit,” sung by the dynamic Grace Slick. Jefferson Airplane, with Kantner, frontwoman Slick, frontman Marty Balin, and masterful guitarist Yorma Kaukonen, was part of a musical brotherhood that also included bands like The Grateful Dead and others and had a musical swagger that spoke about sex, freedom, rebellion, and the anti-establishment. Airplane records like Surrealistic Pillow and Crown of Creation still stand as benchmarks in the genre of the times, classic records which perfectly capture the zeitgeist.

Abe Vigoda, best known to audiences as the backstabbing Tessio in The Godfather and as Fish, the world weary yet witty and haggard cop on television’s Barney Miller, has died at the age of 94. Vigoda died at his daughter’s house in Woodland Hills, California in his sleep.

Because of such two high profile roles in his career, it seemed as if Vigoda had done a lot more than he actually did, but it was on the strength of those two aforementioned roles and also a memorable stint in the 1980s cult classic Joe Versus the Volcano, that made Abe Vigoda a household name. He also had obvious elements that helped create his legend, his colorful name for one and then his rubber faced, tall and limber physicality, with a voice straight out of Italy’s old country mixed in with that New York kind of flavor.

Jimmy Bain, a Scottish bass player who was right in the thick of the entire hard rock/heavy metal scene of the 1970s and 80s, collaborating in an early version of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow and with Ronnie James Dio‘s 1980s lineup, has died at the age of 68 of undisclosed causes, although some reports have stated that Bain had been suffering from pneumonia the last few months.

More below.

Death has claimed another icon. Glenn Frey, founding member of The Eagles has died at 67 years old, his family announced today. Frey recently had intestinal surgery, and passed from complications, including pneumonia, rheumatoid arthritis, and ulcerative colitis.

More below.