Time catches up with us all, and sadly, several oldies music artists passed away in 2007. Here's a list, in alphabetical order, of the deceased and what they meant to music, especially rock and roll. If I've missed a nationally famous or important musical performer who passed away this year, feel free to e-mail me.

1. Teresa Brewer

Died: October 17, New Rochelle, N.Y., age 76 (neuromuscular brain disease)
Best known song:"Music! Music! Music!" (1950)
Contributions to music: Teresa was America's original postwar, pre-rock Sweetheart, "the little girl with the big voice" who got amazing pipes out of her 100-pound teenage body. After rock dried up the hits in 1961, she devoted herself to her family but re-emerged in the '70s as an unlikely (but well-respected) jazz vocalist, recording with some of the music's living legends.More »

2. Bobby Byrd

Died: September 12, Loganville, GA, age 73 (cancer)
Best known song:"I Know You Got Soul" (1971)
Contributions to music: When James Brown hollered "Get up!" on his funk standard "Sex Machine," Bobby was the man with the much deeper voice who answered back, "Get on up!" Brown's greatest sideman, founder and original leader of the Famous Flames, who worked with the Godfather of Soul until 1968, vocalist/organist Byrd was also a successful solo artist in his own right. Some have wondered, in fact, whether Bobby didn't contribute a lot more to the James Brown sound than James let on.More »

3. Denny Doherty

Died: January 19, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, age 66 (kidney failure)
Best known song:"California Dreamin'" (1966)
Contributions to music: "Zallie said 'Denny, you know there aren't many who can sing a song the way that you do.'" That line from the Mamas and the Papas' hit "Creeque Alley" refers to Papa Denny Doherty, who sang the male lead on "California Dreamin'" and several other of the band's big hits. ("Zallie" is the Lovin' Spoonful's Zal Yanovsky.) Fellow Nova Scotians may also remember him from his later TV stint as the host of the children's series Theodore Tugboat.More »

4. Robert Goulet

Died: October 30, Los Angeles, age 73 (pulmonary fibrosis)
Best known song:"If Ever I Would Leave You" (1960)
Contributions to music: The man some call simply "Goulet" rose to stardom in 1960 by starring in the Lerner-Loewe musical Camelot (which itself became a theme of sorts for the youthful, doomed JFK Presidency). After that, he became an icon of lounge cool, parodied endlessly by Will Ferrell, shot off of a TV screen by Elvis, and championed by "fellow" Vegas icon Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, on the show TV Funhouse ("You do not touch Goulet!")More »

5. Lee Hazlewood

Died: August 4, Henderson, NV, age 78 (renal cancer)
Best known song:"Some Velvet Morning" (1968)
Contributions to music: Hazlewood had a number of hits on his own, most memorably his series of duets with Nancy Sinatra. But his work behind the scenes is even more impressive: not only did he mentor Frank's daughter, writing hits like "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" for her, but he also developed guitar god Duane Eddy's classic "twangy" sound in the Fifties, and also wrote Sanford Clark's 1956 hit "The Fool." Not to mention creating a whole genre of music called Cowboy Psychedelia.More »

6. Billy Henderson

Died: February 2, Dayton Beach, FL, age 67 (diabetes)
Best known song:"The Rubberband Man" (1976)
Contributions to music: When you hear the high end of the Spinners' classic harmonies on tracks like "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love," "One of a Kind (Love Affair)," and "I'll Be Around," you're hearing, in part, Henderson, one of the group's founding members who stayed with the Detroit soul legends for fifty full years!More »

7. Joe Hunter

Died: February 2, Detroit, MI, age 79 (diabetes)
Best known song:"Money," Barrett Strong (1960)
Contributions to music: As pianist and original leader of Motown's "house band," the Funk Brothers, Hunter's work can be heard on such deathless soul classics as The Miracles' "Shop Around," Martha and the Vandellas' "Heat Wave," and The Contours' "Do You Love Me." While at the label, he is said to have been a major influence on a young artist named Stevie Wonder.More »

8. Luther Ingram

Died: March 19, Belleville, IL, age 69 (heart failure)
Best known song:"(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" (1972)
Contributions to music: He's best known for that one giant soul hit, but Northern Soul aficionados already know him from his sides on the HIB label. He was also a respected songwriter who co-wrote the Staple Singers' hit "Respect Yourself."More »

9. Frankie Laine

Died: February 6, San Diego, CA, age 93 (natural causes)
Best known song:"That's My Desire" (1947)
Contributions to music: Between the crooner era and the rock star era there were the "Belters," epitomized best by Frankie Laine, whose voice was so brash and so on the beat he was known, variously, as "Old Leather Lungs" and "Mr. Rhythm." His Western themes like TV's Rawhide led to the film theme for Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, a joke Laine delivered so convincingly it got him an Oscar nod. When Elvis came along, it was Laine to whom the pop press compared him.More »

10. Hank Medress

Died: June 18, Manhattan, New York, NY, age 68 (lung cancer)
Best known song:"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (1961)
Contributions to music: As a member of the Tokens, Medress will be forever remembered for his 1961 smash (which, among other things, inspired a young Brian Wilson to record), but the group also had a production deal that allowed them to find and produce new artists -- which is why Hank is also responsible for the success of The Chiffons ("One Fine Day") and Tony Orlando and Dawn ("Tie A Yellow Ribbon") as well as Buster Poindexter's "Hot! Hot! Hot!"More »