The 2000s gave birth to new technologies and musical innovations — but they also brought the deaths of some of our brightest and most influential stars. As you look forward to the next decade, look back at some of the great voices that were silenced over the last 10 years.

The gallery is arranged in the order of the artists’ passings.

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN GALLERY

From Billboard 12/30/09

http://www.billboard.com/news#/features/gone-but-not-forgotten-the-decade-in-deaths-1004055783.story

Earlier this month, Eddie Vedder, Melissa Etheridge, John Mellencamp, Ben Harper and Sting brought the songs of Bruce Springsteen to an unlikely venue: Washington, DC’s opulent Kennedy Center. The full Kennedy Center Honors aired on CBS last night, giving fans the opportunity to see the New Jersey legend sitting beside President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as a cavalcade of artists professed their admiration for his life and music. Caroline Kennedy described Springsteen as “a rocker from the Jersey shore who created his own musical universe and across America and the world became ‘The Boss,’ ” at the top of the show. (Read our on-the-scene report from the Kennedy Center Honors, which also paid tribute to Robert DeNiro, Dave Brubeck, Mel Brooks and Grace Bumbry.)

“I am not a music critic. Nor historian, nor archivist,” Jon Stewart began his introduction to Springsteen’s tribute. “I cannot tell you where Bruce Springsteen falls in the pantheon of the American songbook. I can not illuminate the context of his work or his roots in the folk and oral history traditions of our great nation. But I am from New Jersey,” Stewart joked, “and so I can tell you what I believe, and what I believe is this: I believe that Bob Dylan and James Brown had a baby. And they abandoned this child on the side of the road, between the exit interchanges of 8A and 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike. That child is Bruce Springsteen,” he said as Springsteen erupted in laughter in the balcony.

“When you listen to Bruce’s music, you aren’t a loser. You are a character in an epic poem … about losers,” Stewart continued. Before a montage that traced Springsteen’s Jersey roots, Stewart referenced Springsteen’s work ethic and heart: “He empties the tank, every time. He empties that tank for his family, he empties that tank for his art, he empties that tank for his audience and he empties that tank for his country.”

Ron Kovic, the author of Born on the 4th of July, next related a story about meeting Springsteen and being moved to tears when Bruce dedicated “Darkness on the Edge of Town” to him at a San Francisco concert.

John Mellencamp kicked off the musical tribute with an acoustic version of “Born in the U.S.A.” that exploded into a full-band rock out. Ben Harper and Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles took the stage for a countrified duet on “I’m on Fire.” Melissa Etheridge next turned in a traditional take on “Born to Run” that brought the crowd to its feet, and Eddie Vedder did an intimate take on The Rising’s “My City of Ruins” with a gospel chorus. Sting arrived onstage last to massive cheers for a performance of “The Rising” that was so intense that even the Obamas — along with the rest of the audience — stood and swayed.

The Kennedy Center Honors also featured Aretha Franklin paying tribute to Grace Bumbry, calling the mezzo-soprano singer “the hallmark of the true diva.” A tribute to Mel Brooks featured Jack Black singing in the Robin Hood role of Mel Brooks’ Men in Tights, as well as Harry Connick Jr., Frank Langella, Martin Short, Glee’s Matthew Morrison and Matthew Broderick taking on selections from Brooks’ hilarious songbook. The sounds of Dave Brubeck’s “Take 5″ filled the auditorium as Herbie Hancock explained how the jazz great inspired him. And Ben Stiller interrupted his speech for Robert DeNiro to stare in awe at Springsteen, chanting “Bruce!” with his fist in the air.

From Rolling Stone 12/30/09

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/12/30/bruce-springsteen-honored-at-kennedy-center-by-mellencamp-vedder-sting/

Though the British Invasion boasted a plethora of bands that literally exploded overnight and disappeared the next day, a handful actually endured with incredible influence and longevity. Of course there were The Beatles, but others from that same era like The Kinks, The Animals and The Zombies were also major players in shaping the sounds of the 1960s, in turn, rubbing off on the Brit-pop movement from the ‘90s through today. In fact, that latter act is still alive and thriving as documented on its new DVD The Zombies: Odessey & Oracle (Revisited): The 40th Anniversary Concert (MVD Visual). (more…)

Goodbye, year! Goodbye, decade!

HIM frontman Ville Valo says that “accessibility was a key factor” in making the Finnish hard rockers’ seventh studio album, “Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice,” which is due out Feb. 9.

Acknowledging that the 13-song set is the group’s most “straightforward” and hook-filled release yet, Valo tells Billboard.com that he wanted “Screamworks” to “kind of have the similar vibe as Depeche Mode‘s classic albums such as ‘Violator’ and ‘Songs of Faith and Devotion’ — brooding, melancholy albums but they still make you want to dance. The big picture production view I had was to have the rock in there so you could drink a beer and do all things legal and illegal but then hopefully have that more poetic and sensitive sensibility in there as well.”

Valo, however, might not be hoisting his own glass while listening to the album. “I quit drinking — not for good but for awhile — about two and a half years ago,” he says. “This is the first album I wrote fully sober, and I wanted to put all the energy I used to put into hanging out in pubs into working on the music. So it was pretty insane, working 18-hour days for the past year, year and a half. We really went for all those details and didn’t leave any stone unturned. Hopefully it shows.”

Valo and his HIM mates recorded “Screamworks” in Los Angeles with producer Matt Squire, and he says the locale helped keep him healthy as well.

“Since I don’t drive,” Valo explains, “I was walking to the studio or walking to the house where the rest of the guys were staying, walking five miles everyday, enjoying the sun. Normally I don’t do that. I even got a bit of a tan, and people were surprised. But I was in good shape, getting rid of all the excess flab of doing nothing back home.”

Valo says the long walks also allowed him to immerse himself in the sounds of Jane’s Addiction and new French house music artists. Other influences on “Screamworks” included Duran Duran, Kraftwerk, a-ha and Pink Floyd‘s “On the Run.” “In the past we used synthesizers to emulate real instruments — piano and strings and all that,” Valo notes. “This time we wanted all the synths to sound like synths. It’s a pretty 80s album for us, but I grew up in the 80s and I love the 80s because the 80s, musically, was about melody and huge choruses. That’s very essential for me.”

HIM will start touring in mid-February, according to Valo, with showcase dates in Europe and followed by a run on the Soundwave tour in Australia with Jane’s Addiction and Faith No More. HIM will then tour the U.K. and hit North America for a lengthy tour starting in mid-March. HIM also plans to play the European festival circuit this summer.

From Billboard 12/29/09

http://www.billboard.com/news#/news/him-hopes-screamworks-hooks-new-fans-1004055739.story

Even after ten years together sold during its initial incarnation and over 35 million albums sold, Creed never released a concert DVD until its reunion tour in 2009. Creed Live follows the foursome getting back together with all previous tensions transferred into a pummeling hard rock road show. Filmed in Houston in front of over 18,000 attendees, the disc defies convention with an astounding high definition shoot directed by the venerable Daniel E. Catullo III (Rush, Smashing Pumpkins, Nickelback). (more…)

Photo: AP Photo/Jason DeCrow

Avenged Sevenfold drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan was found dead at his home in Huntington Beach, California, yesterday. He was 28. Preliminary police reports indicate Sullivan died of natural causes, but the Orange County Coroner’s Office is investigating his death, the OC Register reports. Sullivan helped found Avenged Sevenfold in 1999, and featured on all four of the band’s studio albums.

“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we tell you of the passing today of Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan,” Sullivan’s Avenged Sevenfold bandmates wrote on their Website. “Jimmy was not only one of the world’s best drummers, but more importantly he was our best friend and brother. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jimmy’s family and we hope that you will respect their privacy during this difficult time. Jimmy you are forever in our hearts.”

After playing Ozzfest in 2006, Avenged Sevenfold memorably beat out Rihanna, Chris Brown, Panic! at the Disco, Angels and Airwaves and James Blunt for the title of Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, thanks in part to their Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-inspired song “Bat Country.” Avenged Sevenfold then reached Number Four on the Billboard Top 200 with their self-titled fourth album. The band spent the past two years on a co-headlining tour with Buckcherry. The band was reportedly in the process of recording their fifth album.

From Rolling Stone 12/29/09

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/12/29/avenged-sevenfold-drummer-jimmy-the-rev-sullivan-dead-at-28/#more-22223