DJ Peachez (Born Terika Grooms)
DOB Unknown – November 25, 2009
DJ Peachez was a popular DJ for Richmond, VA radio station, iPower WCDX 92.1. After graduating with honors from James Madison University where she began DJing at the school’s station as a freshman, DJ Peachez was hired by WCDX in 2006. Colleagues have said she was an inspiration to young women with dreams of being a DJ. She was also a popular draw at clubs throughout the area. DJ Peachez reportedly died after recently being hospitalized for meningitis.
Jam-Master Jay (Born Jason Mizell)
January 21, 1965 – October 30, 2002
Jason Mizell, who went by the stage name, Jam-Master-Jay, was a musician in and DJ for Run D.M.C., arguably the most influential rap group ever. In 2009, they would become the first hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. An accomplished drummer, keyboardist and bass player, Mizell performed in a handful of bands before joining up with Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels to form Run D.M.C. in 1983. The group, who sold upwards of seven million albums, was positioned at number 48 in Rolling Stone’s list of the greatest musical acts of all time. They were even instrumental in bridging the gap between rap and rock. Their cover of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” with guests, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, was one of the most popular songs of the era. On October 30, 2002, Jam-Master-Jay, 37, was in his recording studio when two assailants came in and shot and killed him. The murder remains unsolved.
John Peel (born John Ravenscroft)
August 30, 1939 – October 25, 2004
John Peel was an extremely influential British disc jockey and journalist. For nearly 40 years, he hosted a program on BBC Radio that featured an eclectic mix of psychedelic rock, punk, reggae, pop, alternative rock, hip-hop and death metal. It was the first place many listeners heard future superstars. He was also a frequent host of BBC Television’s popular Top of the Pops program during the ’80s. A popular segment in Peel’s radio show was the John Peel Sessions druing which artists would perform a handful of songs live in the studio. Over the course of his career, over 2000 acts recorded over 4000 sessions. Many have been made available on album or CD. A thorough list of artists who have been featured on the John Peel Sessions can be found here. John Peel, 65, died of a heart attack on October 25, 2004.
Mr. Magic (Born John Rivas)
DOB Unknown – October 2, 2009
Mr. Magic was a New York City disc jockey who helped bring hip-hop and rap to a much wider audience during the early ’80s. Premiering on WBLS in 1983, Mr. Magic’s “Rap Attack” program was the first to ever play hip hop exclusively on any major radio station in the U.S. For the next six years, the show helped launch the careers of such artists as Whodini, Marley Marl and Boogie Down Productions. He was also noted as an influence on the likes of Tupac Shakur and the Notrorius B.I.G. Younger generations may recoginize his name and voice as the DJ on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Mr. Magic died of a heart attack on October 2, 2009.
Rory Storm (born Alan Caldwell)
September 21, 1939 – September 28, 1972
There was a time when Rory Storm & the Hurricanes were more popular than the Beatles. Also from Liverpool at the time, Storm and his band offered up a rollicking show mostly covering the popular American early rock ‘n roll and rockabilly, much like the Beatles were doing at the time. In fact, Storm’s drummer at the time, was Ringo Starr who left him to replace Pete Best in the Beatles. Although the band were a great live act, generally opening for popular American rockers that came through town, they never were able to parlay that into a recording career. They made just two singles during their run. Storm broke up the band in 1967 after original member Ty O’Brien died of complications from appendicitis surgery. He had collapsed on stage, from the appendicitis. Storm went on to become a local disc jockey and ski instructor. In September of 1972, Storm was living back to take care of his mother after his father died. Battling a chest infection, he took sleeping pills to get a good night’s sleep. The next morning, both he and his mother were found dead. It is believed that Storm died of an accidental overdose since there was also alcohol in his system. It was suggested that Storm’s mother, who also had sleeping pills in her system, may have committed suicide after discovering her son dead. Rory Storm was 33 when he died.
Alison Steele (Born Ceil Loman)
January 26, 1937 – September 27, 1995
Alison Steele was a popular disc jockey at New York’s WNEW, one of the country’s first FM stations to switch to a progressive album-track oriented format during the ’60s. For many years, Steele hosted the night shift, becoming known as “The Nightbird” to her many fans, most of whom were young male adults attracted to her sexy smoky voice. Jimi Hendrix’s “Night Bird Flying” was inspired by Steele. In later years Steele worked as a correspondent for CNN and did numourous voice-overs for television and radio. Alison Steele died of stomach cancer at the age of 58.
Roc Raida (Born Anthony Williams)
1972(?) – September 19, 2009
Roc Raida was a DJ / Turntablist primarily known for his work with the X-Ecutioners, a crew of New York DJs who gained popularity in the ’90s. They collaborated with many hip hop greats including Cypress Hill and Kool G Rap. In 2002, the X-Ecutioners released Built From Scratch on Loud Records. An innovator on the turntable, Raida worked on recordings by the likes ofBig Pun and Buckshot LeFonque with Branford Marsalis. In August of 2009, unconfirmed reports indicated that Raida was in the hospital with a serious spinal chord injury sustained in an automobile accident. According to several online sources, 37 year old Roc Raida died on September 19, 2009, possibly a result of the earlier car accident.
DJ AM (Born Adam Goldstein)
March 30, 1973 – August 28, 2009
DJ AM was found dead in his New York apartment at 5:20 local time on Augutst 28, 2009. Cause of death was not initially released, but on September 29, 2009, the coroner’s report was released. In it, it was concluded that Goldstein died of acute intoxication, or accidental overdose of various drugs including cocaine, Xanax and OxyContin. DJ AM first came to prominence in the late ’90s rock band, Crazy Town, whose “Butterfly” was a radio hit in 2001. A popular DJ with celebrities, he’s been known to play parties for the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna and Will Smith. In recent years DJ AM was collaborating with Travis Barker of Blink 182. The two survived a horrific private plane crash on September 19, 2008. Four others were killed in the crash. In 2005, DJ AM was engaged to Nicole Richie but the engagement was later called off.
Scott “La Rock” Sterling
March 2, 1962 – August 27, 1987
Scott “La Rock” Sterling was a social worker and DJ when he met rapper KRS-One in 1986. The two along with D-Nice, formed rap group Boogie Down Productions in 1986. The group helped usher in what would later be called ganster rap with their gritty songs that married dancehall reggae with hip hop. Their debut hit album, Criminal Minded is considered a cornerstone of the genre. Scott Sterling died in a hospital operating room shortly after being shot by alleged hoods in the South Bronx. He was just 25.
Barton Lee Hazlewood
July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007
Lee Hazlewood was a country singer, songwriter, musician and producer whose work with Nancy Sinatra during the ’60s are essential records of the era. Hazlewood settled in Arizona as a disc jockey after being leaving the military in the early ’50s. He soon partnered with Duane Eddy as a songwriter and producer on such hits as “Peter Gunn.” During the mid ’60s, he began working with Nancy Sinatra, writing and producing “These Boots Are Made For Walking,” and many more. Hazelwood all but retired from music during the ’70s, but his songs lived on having been covered by such unlikely artists as Megadeth, Beck, Nick Cave, Lydia Lunch and the Tubes. He died of renal cancer at the age of 78.
George Taylor Morris was a popular FM disc jockey who most recently could be heard on XM Satellite’s classic rock channel, Deep Tracks. Morris began his radio career while still in high school in Kansas City, and after graduating, he moved to a station in Lake Tahoe to work as programmer and disc jockey. Over the years, Morris worked at popular stations from Santa Barbara, California to New York City. He is perhaps best remembered for sparking a minor phenomenon while on the air at Boston’s WZLX in 1997. He had been tipped off about several remarkable similarities between The Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd’sDark Side Of The Moon. After syncing the opening of the movie up with the album at home one evening, Morris went on the air the next day and discussed the amazing synchronicity of the two, especially when you’re stoned. The word spread around the world almost immediately, despite the fact that the internet was basically in it’s infancy at the time. Morris went to work at XM in 2001 where he spun classic rock records and hosted the popular “XM Artist Confidential” interview series where he sat down with many of music’s biggest names. George Taylor Morris died of throat cancer at the age of 62.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums and Gary Case for the info
K-Swift (Born Khia Edgerton)
October 19, 1980 – July 21, 2008
Khia Edgerton, aka DJ K-Swift was a popular Baltimore area DJ. She died after fracturing her neck in what was ruled a swimming accident when she dived into her backyard pool. Edgerton first interned at local radio station 92Q, while in college, and soon went to work for them full time. In 1998, she began co-hosting a program which became Baltimore’s highest rated radio show. Edgerton was also a popular draw at the local clubs and owned her own label, graphics company and management company. She was 27 when she died.
Born in Queens, Barry Lederer, started his DJ career while attending college in upstate New York. It was there that began throwing parties, entertaining guests with tapes he made from the radio. Lederer moved back to New York City after college and started hanging out a club called the Firehouse. After complaining to management about the music being played, he was given a shot at putting his money where his mouth was. Before long, he was drawing crowds of as many as 1500 on weekends. He soon became a popular draw at the gay clubs throughout New York’s Fire Island. Lederer also wrote a Disco column in Billboard magazine during the hieght of the era. He passed away of heart disease on May 31, 2008.
Erika Roman was a popular radio personality at Orlando’s Power 95.3 FM where she hosted the morning show. Born in New York City, Roman began her radio career while still in college where she was a co-host at Stonybrook University’s WUSB. She also worked at Fever Records where she promoted their artists at night clubs and other events while still in college. Later, Roman went to work as a co-host with Ed Lover and Dr. Dre on Hot 97’s morning show. In 2006, Roman went to work at Power 95.3 in Orlando. Roman was killed on May 1, 2009 in a single car accident while trying to avoid a discarded piece of furniture in the road. She was 31.
Richard Pegue—noted DJ, producer, songwriter and musician—died of a heart attack Monday. Richard Pegue was born on July 29, 1944 in Chicago to a beautician and a policeman. More than any other local disc jockey (save for Herb Kent), Pegue did a lot to spread the concept of “dusties,” basically another way of saying “African-American oldies.” His Saturday dusties show jumped from station to station for the last 28 years, from high-wattage frequencies like WGCI-FM to college stations like Kennedy-King’s WKKC (which is where he could be heard in recent years), but still managed a deep following. At one point in the ‘80s, his show was so popular that a competing black station (the long-gone WBMX) slotted a similar show on Sunday afternoons. As an old drop-in on Pegue’s show used to say, “when you hear the same songs on Sunday afternoons that you hear on Saturday nights, you know everybody’s listening to Richard Pegue and the Best Music Of Your Life!” The competing show on WBMX tanked. The DJs had little connection to the songs played, and often sounded like they didn’t want one, wisecracking, “This is my older brother’s record, I’m way too young to remember this!” Pegue, as he pointed out, was there when it happened. He spun stories about the time he stole some guitar sheet music from a ’60s Gene Chandler session, or the time his old singing group were recording at Chess Records while “these ugly white guys” (better known as the Rolling Stones) waited their turn. More importantly, he was proud of the local music scene. A typical Pegue show featured a heavy dose of the Chicago sound, usually from local acts who never broke nationally. Every now and then he’d play something he produced himself, like Renaldo Domino’s “Not Too Cool To Cry” (1969) or Little Ben & the Cheers’ “I’m Not Ready To Settle Down” (1965). In a city that boasted several producers with individualistic sounds, Pegue was not afraid to leave his touches all over a record—the Domino song is the only sweet soul song I can think of offhand with a fiddle solo. And true to his altar-boy roots, several of Pegue’s productions had eerie choral backgrounds. – James Porter (Time Out Chicago)
Bill Drake, who set the tone at hundreds of pop stations with a radio format that placed music — rather than disc jockeys — at the center of the broadcast, has died. He was 71. Drake died Saturday of cancer at West Hills Hospital in the San Fernando Valley, his domestic partner Carole Scott said. He was 71. At the height of his career as a radio programming consultant in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Drake championed a streamlined format that came to be known as “Boss Radio,” which made announcers’ personalities secondary to the Top 40 hits they were spinning. Under Drake’s guidance, radio stations such as KGB in San Diego, KHJ in Los Angeles and KFRC in San Francisco shot to the No. 1 slots in their markets by promising more music and less chatter. Drake, whose given name was Philip Yarbrough, was born Jan. 14, 1937, in southwest Georgia and began his professional radio career as a disk jockey and later program director at WAKE in Atlanta. His name was changed to Drake because the station wanted a name that rhymed with the call letters, according to a biography on Drake’s Web site. – Associated Press
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the info.
DJ Peachez was a popular DJ for Richmond, VA radio station, iPower WCDX 92.1. After graduating with honors from James Madison University where she began DJing at the school’s station as a freshman, DJ Peachez was hired by WCDX in 2006. Colleagues have said she was an inspiration to young women with dreams of being a DJ. She was also a popular draw at clubs throughout the area. DJ Peachez reportedly died after recently being hospitalized for meningitis.
Jason Mizell, who went by the stage name, Jam-Master-Jay, was a musician in and DJ for Run D.M.C., arguably the most influential rap group ever. In 2009, they would become the first hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. An accomplished drummer, keyboardist and bass player, Mizell performed in a handful of bands before joining up with Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels to form Run D.M.C. in 1983. The group, who sold upwards of seven million albums, was positioned at number 48 in Rolling Stone’s list of the greatest musical acts of all time. They were even instrumental in bridging the gap between rap and rock. Their cover of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” with guests, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, was one of the most popular songs of the era. On October 30, 2002, Jam-Master-Jay, 37, was in his recording studio when two assailants came in and shot and killed him. The murder remains unsolved.
Mr. Magic was a New York City disc jockey who helped bring hip-hop and rap to a much wider audience during the early ’80s. Premiering on WBLS in 1983, Mr. Magic’s “Rap Attack” program was the first to ever play hip hop exclusively on any major radio station in the U.S. For the next six years, the show helped launch the careers of such artists as Whodini, Marley Marl and Boogie Down Productions. He was also noted as an influence on the likes of 
There was a time when Rory Storm & the Hurricanes were more popular than the Beatles. Also from Liverpool at the time, Storm and his band offered up a rollicking show mostly covering the popular American early rock ‘n roll and rockabilly, much like the Beatles were doing at the time. In fact, Storm’s drummer at the time, was Ringo Starr who left him to replace Pete Best in the Beatles. Although the band were a great live act, generally opening for popular American rockers that came through town, they never were able to parlay that into a recording career. They made just two singles during their run. Storm broke up the band in 1967 after original member Ty O’Brien died of complications from appendicitis surgery. He had collapsed on stage, from the appendicitis. Storm went on to become a local disc jockey and ski instructor. In September of 1972, Storm was living back to take care of his mother after his father died. Battling a chest infection, he took sleeping pills to get a good night’s sleep. The next morning, both he and his mother were found dead. It is believed that Storm died of an accidental overdose since there was also alcohol in his system. It was suggested that Storm’s mother, who also had sleeping pills in her system, may have committed suicide after discovering her son dead. Rory Storm was 33 when he died.
Alison Steele was a popular disc jockey at New York’s WNEW, one of the country’s first FM stations to switch to a progressive album-track oriented format during the ’60s. For many years, Steele hosted the night shift, becoming known as “The Nightbird” to her many fans, most of whom were young male adults attracted to her sexy smoky voice. 
Roc Raida was a DJ / Turntablist primarily known for his work with the X-Ecutioners, a crew of New York DJs who gained popularity in the ’90s. They collaborated with many hip hop greats including Cypress Hill and Kool G Rap. In 2002, the X-Ecutioners released Built From Scratch on Loud Records. An innovator on the turntable, Raida worked on recordings by the likes of 
DJ AM was found dead in his New York apartment at 5:20 local time on Augutst 28, 2009. Cause of death was not initially released, but on September 29, 2009, the coroner’s report was released. In it, it was concluded that Goldstein died of acute intoxication, or accidental overdose of various drugs including cocaine, Xanax and OxyContin. DJ AM first came to prominence in the late ’90s rock band, Crazy Town, whose “Butterfly” was a radio hit in 2001. A popular DJ with celebrities, he’s been known to play parties for the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna and Will Smith. In recent years DJ AM was collaborating with Travis Barker of Blink 182. The two survived a horrific private plane crash on September 19, 2008. Four others were killed in the crash. In 2005, DJ AM was engaged to Nicole Richie but the engagement was later called off.
Scott “La Rock” Sterling was a social worker and DJ when he met rapper KRS-One in 1986. The two along with D-Nice, formed rap group Boogie Down Productions in 1986. The group helped usher in what would later be called ganster rap with their gritty songs that married dancehall reggae with hip hop. Their debut hit album, Criminal Minded is considered a cornerstone of the genre. Scott Sterling died in a hospital operating room shortly after being shot by alleged hoods in the South Bronx. He was just 25.
George Taylor Morris was a popular FM disc jockey who most recently could be heard on XM Satellite’s classic rock channel, Deep Tracks. Morris began his radio career while still in high school in Kansas City, and after graduating, he moved to a station in Lake Tahoe to work as programmer and disc jockey. Over the years, Morris worked at popular stations from Santa Barbara, California to New York City. He is perhaps best remembered for sparking a minor phenomenon while on the air at Boston’s WZLX in 1997. He had been tipped off about several remarkable similarities between The Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon. After syncing the opening of the movie up with the album at home one evening, Morris went on the air the next day and discussed the amazing synchronicity of the two, especially when you’re stoned. The word spread around the world almost immediately, despite the fact that the internet was basically in it’s infancy at the time. Morris went to work at XM in 2001 where he spun classic rock records and hosted the popular “XM Artist Confidential” interview series where he sat down with many of music’s biggest names. George Taylor Morris died of throat cancer at the age of 62.
Khia Edgerton, aka DJ K-Swift was a popular Baltimore area DJ. She died after fracturing her neck in what was ruled a swimming accident when she dived into her backyard pool. Edgerton first interned at local radio station 92Q, while in college, and soon went to work for them full time. In 1998, she began co-hosting a program which became Baltimore’s highest rated radio show. Edgerton was also a popular draw at the local clubs and owned her own label, graphics company and management company. She was 27 when she died.
