Each year, our reflections on the past 12 months tend to focus mostly on its best and brightest moments. But there’s also a sadder side to assessing the past year, such as remembering the music legends who left us this year.

In 2022 we lost some huge icons, from Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie to Migos member Takeoff, and a wealth of pioneering talent who’ve made modern music what it is today.

Calvin Simon (May 22, 1942 – January 6, 2022)

A founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic, Calvin Simon helped steer the legendary collective through R&B, funk, acid-rock and much more, contributing to some of their most revered albums along the way. He featured on Parliament’s classic ‘Mothership Connection’ and Funkadelic’s ‘Cosmic Slop’ as a singer, before he parted ways with the collective in 1977. 20 years later, he reunited with Parliament-Funkadelic during their Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction speech. Simon died in January at the age of 79.

Ronnie Spector (August 10, 1943 – January 12, 2022)

An icon of pop, Ronnie Spector co-founded the seminal ‘60s girl group The Ronettes, launching a career that continues to hold great influence over pop music (the late Amy Winehouse in particular cited Spector as her hero). The Ronettes toured with and supported The Rolling Stones and The Beatles in their prime, while five tracks from their 1964 debut album charted in the US. They split in 1967…