GERALD LEVERT
July 13, 1966 – November 10, 2006
“All of us at Atlantic are shocked and deeply saddened by his untimely death. He was one of the greatest voices of our time, who sang with unmatched soulfulness and power, as well as a tremendously gifted composer and an accomplished producer. Above all, he was an exceptional human being whose warmth and grace inspired us all.
Gerald has been a member of our family for two decades, both with the group LeVert and as a solo artist, and he will be greatly missed by everyone who had the pleasure and privilege of working with him through the years. This is a tremendous loss for the music community and for his millions of fans.”
Atlantic Records official statement after Gerald Levert’s death, 2006
LISA “LEFT EYE” LOPES:
May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002
“I believe in transformation. I do believe that there is an afterlife. We all share the same space, so no matter what form you may be in — here or not here, you may be dust. We still share the same space. We’re all around. When someone passes away, look up. A new star is born.”
Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, The Last Days of Left Eye
TUPAC SHAKUR
June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1966
“Tupac influenced me the most, not by what his perceived strengths were—it was his ability to show his weaknesses. He said it was all right to cry. As tough as he was and as tough as we are, we’re still human beings. And I think the humane side of ’Pac is what was most important to me, just the vulnerability of some- body who was perceived to be so strong.
That’s what made the everyday man connect with him. He said he was scared. I felt that way, so it’s aight for me to be scared, as long as I still ride on these fools.”
Rapper/actor David Banner, XXL September 2011
AALIYAH
January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001
“The first time I met her, she was extremely quiet. You [weren’t] going to get a lot of words out of Aaliyah in a first meeting. It takes a lot of time for her to warm up to people overall because she had this shyness. I remember her being shocked at things I would say out loud, whether it was in interviews or when we were hanging out. She would always be gasping for air at some of the things that I would say out loud.
Whenever I was around, if I saw something, whatever it was, she would just be in shock like, ‘I can’t believe you just said that out loud.’I think it’s good for people to know the side of her outside of the music and know that her music was a great reflection of her.
Sometimes people are totally different than the image they represent, but what I love about her is that everything that you saw was really her. When the lights and the cameras were off, that same pleasant, mild mannered, sweet personality, that’s just how she was.”
Singer Monica, Billboard.com August 24, 2011
Like BlackAmericaWeb.com on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
Black Music Month: Artists We Miss was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
