By Samantha Whidden, Suggest | Robert Taylor, the classic rock guitarist who was once a member of the band Dragon, has suddenly passed away. He was 74 years old. Kerry Jacobson, a friend and former Dragon bandmate, confirmed the news.
“I’m writing to share the unexpected and devastating news of the passing of my mentor, my partner in crime for some of the best times, my musical comrade through the hardest of times, and my dear friend of decades…the [irreplaceable] Robert Taylor,” he wrote.
Jacobson further shared, “Many admired his songwriting and his musical talent, and, after all these years, people would still speak to me with great reverence of his talent and contribution to Australian music.”
Jacobson also said that he admired Taylor’s loyalty and mateship while also valuing his consistency. “I absolutely loved it when often the phone would ring and he was up for a chat,” he continued. “He had a dry wit, was a keen observer and had a memory like a razor but mostly he was just one of the good ones.”
. . .
Read more here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/classic-rock-guitarist-robert-taylor-has-died/
OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS
Gladys Stone Wright (100) (March 8, 1925 – October 29, 2025) was an American band director. She was among the first woman band directors in the United States. Wright was also a composer, author, music judge and clinician, and won multiple awards for her work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_Stone_Wright
BTW, a scholarship is offered in Mrs. Wright’s name for young women who want to be band directors! Go to her Wikipedia bio page for more information!
Posting for my Veteran/singer/songwriter/musician friend 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
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.
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.
If you want to know more about any of the musicians we lost, please check them out at http://www.wikipedia.com
November 2025
4: Robert Taylor, 74, New Zealand guitarist (Dragon) and songwriter (“This Time”, “Magic”).
3: Victor Conte, 75, American musician (Tower of Power), businessman and convicted money launderer (BALCO scandal), founder and president (1983–2003) of BALCO, pancreatic cancer; Dipak Sarma, 57, Indian flutist.
2: Aki Banayi, 81, Iranian singer; Lô Borges, 73, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Clube da Esquina), multiple organ failure complicated by medication poisoning; Donna Jean Godchaux, 78, American Hall of Fame singer (Grateful Dead, Donna Jean Godchaux Band), cancer; Françoise Lengellé, 80–81, French harpsichordist and music professor (Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Lyon); John Wesley Ryles, 74, American country music singer (“Kay”) and songwriter.
1: Ray Drummond, 78, American jazz bassist and teacher; Archie Fisher, 86, Scottish folk singer and songwriter; Young Bleed, 51, American rapper, complications from ruptured brain aneurysm.
October 2025
31: Leo Leandros, 102, Greek singer and lyricist; Eike Wilm Schulte, 86, German operatic baritone (Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden).
30: Karin Glenmark, 73, Swedish singer (Gemini); Ki u Hưng, 88, Vietnamese singer; Érik Marchand, 70, French singer and musician; Scott Sorry, 47, American rock musician and songwriter (The Wildhearts, Sorry and the Sinatras, Amen), brain cancer; Akinloye Tofowomo, 50, Nigerian singer-songwriter.
29: Pierre Robert, 70, American disc jockey (WMMR); James Senese, 80, Italian jazz saxophonist (Napoli Centrale), singer-songwriter, and actor (No Thanks, Coffee Makes Me Nervous, Zora the Vampire), complications from pneumonia; Gladys Stone Wright, 100, American band director.