In Memoriam 2015: Music”¦

Another year has come to an end. While 2015 was full of life in so many vivid ways — creatively, intensely, and tragically — it also presented its own set of challenges and obstacles to overcome in the new year. And as a year also brings, we also lost many shining figures in the music world, among other fields.

Here’s a look of some of those figures who touched our lives and will continue to do so always as we remember some of the key people in music, people who are legends, pioneers, luminaries, inspirations, and above all, timeless.

Chris Squire, the bassist and co-founder of prog-rock giants Yes, died today in Phoenix, Arizona, after battling a rare form of leukemia, according a post on the band’s official Facebook page. He was 67.

Born in Kingsbury, England, on March 4, 1948, Squire was suffering from acute erythroid leukemia. Last month, Yes revealed Squire’s diagnosis, adding that he would have to take a break from touring with the group and that former member Billy Sherwood (with whom Squire had recorded and performed) was stepping in for their co-headlining 2015 North American tour with Toto. This was to be the first time Squire would not be a part of the Yes live line-up.

Chris Squire, the legendary bass player from the seminal prog rock group Yes, and his former Yes bandmate Billy Sherwood are releasing a new brand new live CD/DVD recording combo package called Conspiracy Live through Pyramid records on April 9, 2013, as part of their project Conspiracy.

Squire, whose unmistakable adventurism on the bass guitar in the formative years of the progressive rock movement, stands right up there with some of the best of all time (on Yes tracks like “Roundabout” and “I’ve Seen All Good People”), takes on vocals and guitar in Conspiracy. His unique singing, coupled with Sherwood’s singing and guitar playing, adds perfect chemistry to the live album, which Sherwood exclaimed triumphantly was “a very special and unique event, that has stood the test of time.”

Two totally awesome albums from the band Yes — Tales From Topographic Oceans and The Yes Album – are available right now on MP3 format from Amazon for only $5 each!

First off, let me say that neither album contains their super-mega totally non-representative of them hit “Owner Of A Lonely Heart.” If that’s all you know from Yes, then you have a lot to learn. If you know a little about Yes, then you’re probably familiar with songs on The Yes Album like “I’ve Seen All Good People,” “Starship Trooper,” and my favorite “Perpetual Change.” Every song on the album is great and is highly recommended listening. Now, if The Yes Album is prog rock at its finest, then Tales From Topographic Oceans is prog rock at its most elaborate, with 20-minute tracks! There’s no “singles” on this record, you gotta listen to it straight through, preferably in a black-light lit room (basically, the same way you’d listen to Pink Floyd). My favorite on Topographic Oceans is by far “The Revealing Science Of God” – can’t get enough of it!

Browse all 1,000 albums on sale this month for only $5 each.