When did The Time made its debut? All about rock band as drummer Jellybean Johnson passes away at 69 – By Anisa Nandy, PrineTimer || Jellybean Johnson, a key part of Prince’s well-known band The Time, has died. According to TMZ, his relatives said the artist – real name Garry George Johnson – passed suddenly on Friday evening. He played a big role in shaping the Minneapolis sound, influencing loads of funk and R&B musicians over the years. News traveled quickly, catching both fans and other artists off guard with the sudden news.
Jellybean Johnson was a pillar of the Minneapolis Sound and a multi-talented force who shaped an era.
Jellybean Johnson wasn’t just the beat behind The Time, which debuted on July 29, 1981, and later evolved into Morris Day and the Time before becoming The Original 7ven; he was a driving force in shaping the Minneapolis Sound, a bold fusion of funk, rock, and soul that defined the late ’70s and ’80s.
While drumming was his beginning, he didn’t stop there; picking up guitar, writing tracks, producing records, slipping deep into Prince’s inner circle, eventually landing in The Family, another band birthed by Prince’s vision. He popped up on film too, showing real presence in the 1984 hit ‘Purple Rain,’ playing a version of himself, stamping his mark onto pop culture like ink.
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Read more on Mr. Johnson and his career here.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/when-did-the-time-made-its-debut-all-about-rock-band-as-drummer-jellybean-johnson-passes-away-at-69/ar-AA1QX5Kn?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=6921e82bcab44a13bcc00de2367565f4&ei=17
OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS
Services for Greg Carr Announced for December 6th
If you ever bought a Chris Daniels and the Kings album or CD from “Louie Louie” to our newest “40:Blues with Horns Volume II” ( 10 albums )you got to enjoy the art and design brilliance of Greg Carr. There is much more to tell and I’ll get to that. But what’s important is we are gathering to celebrate the life and kindness and joy and art of Greg Carr at Swallow Hill Music on December 6 at 2pm. If you knew Greg or just loved his art and videos from all the Lodo Festival posters to Steve Martin’s “Rare Bird Alert” to Hazel Miller’s “Icons” please come help us celebrate our dear friend’s life. We’d love for you to be there.
Big Hugs, CD
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Warning Signs of Suicide – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or if you want to discuss, call the old numbers at 800-273-TALK or 800-273-8255 for English and 888-628-9454 for Spanish. Learn the signs of someone who may be contemplating suicide.
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Posting for my singer/songwriter/musician friend/Veteran Troy Hoss: Heavy on my heart so here goes: This is a very real problem … 22 Veterans a day surrender to their demons. #SuicideAwareness | Call Veteran’s Hotline: 988 #1 or 844-647-1354
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From Care2 via Jock Bartley on Facebook: Trump shut down our LGBTQ+ suicide and mental health hotline, but CANADA opened a US toll-free number to theirs… so our citizens can get help anytime, at no cost: 1-877-330-6366
Kindness & empathy have no borders.
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If you want to know more about any of the musicians we lost, please check them out at http://www.wikipedia.com
November 2025
26: Shpat Kasapi, 40, Albanian singer-songwriter, heart attack.
25: Biyouna, 73, Algerian singer and actress (Bacon on the Side, Holiday, Belleville Cop); Albert Kassabi, 63, Tunisian-born French singer; Guy Morançon, 97, French composer and organist.
24: Jimmy Cliff, 81, Jamaican Hall of Fame reggae singer-songwriter (“Many Rivers to Cross”, “You Can Get It If You Really Want”) and actor (The Harder They Come), pneumonia.
23: Antonio Buonomo, 92, Italian percussionist; Ljiljana Jorgovanović, 66, Serbian songwriter; Ian Lees, Australian bassist (Moving Pictures), heart attack.
22: Lesyk Sam, 58, Ukrainian singer (Dzidzio); Dadou Pasquet, 72, Haitian singer-songwriter and guitarist.
21: Leon Bates, 76, American classical pianist; Jean Guidoni, 74, French singer and songwriter; Jellybean Johnson, 69, American musician (The Time), songwriter (“Criticize”), and record producer (“Black Cat”); René Karst, 59, Dutch singer and guitarist, cardiac arrest; Ornella Vanoni, 91, Italian singer (“Senza fine”, “L’appuntamento”) and actress (Duel of the Titans), heart attack.
20: Mani, 63, English rock bassist (The Stone Roses, Primal Scream).
19: Walt Aldridge, 70, American singer-songwriter (The Shooters); Jean-Claude Éloy, 87, French composer; André Geraissati, 74, Brazilian guitarist and composer; Kai Kiil, 78, Norwegian singer and guitarist; Gerti Möller, 95, German singer; Iwan Zen, 56, Indonesian singer and radio announcer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2025
Photo: Greg Carr artwork