I was never really a fan of the Doors, but somehow always assumed that Ray Manzarek was an alright dude. It probably had something to do with his work with X or his tumbling keyboard part being the least annoying element of "Riders on the Storm."

There's more information on his life and death over here. Rest in Peace, man. I hope you're able to break on through in some way or another.

Are you a Doors fan, man? If so, now is a good time to stick your head out of the nearest open window and yell, "VIVA LA DOORS!"

Via Billboard:

"Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11 am this morning near his Southern California home. He was 49. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed."

I hate this news more than probably a lot of other fans.

It's trending on Twitter and also reported by the BBC. Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly, who became famous at 13, was found dead at 34.

It got lost in the info glut of the Boston Marathon bombing and other bad happenings during the News Week From Hell™, but you should know that Parliament-Funkadelic bassist Cordell “Boogie” Mosson passed away April 18. Cause of death is currently not known. Mosson was 60.

Funkadelic mastermind George Clinton recruited Mosson and guitarist Garry Shider from the New Jersey band United Soul in 1971. A key asset for the hugely influential Funkadelic (and later Parliament), Mosson played on crucial albums such as America Eats Its Young, Cosmic Slop, Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome, and One Nation Under a Groove. His elastic, supremely lubricious bass lines ended up undergirding loads of hiphop tracks through frequent sampling by producers. Although Mosson left P-Funk in the early '80s, he played rhythm guitar and bass for the P-Funk All-Stars on their tour last year.

Mosson is the third P-Funk member to die since 2010: Garry Shider and Phelps "Catfish" Collins passed away that year. You can read an obituary on Mosson from the New Jersey Star-Ledger here. RIP, Boogie.

English graphic designer Storm Thorgerson passed away today at the age of 70 (read the BBC article here). Thorgerson was Pink Floyd's lead designer, responsible for the ultra-iconic The Dark Side of the Moon prism album-cover design, as well as that one poster with Floyd's back catalogue painted on womens' backs. You know the one!

• Thorgerson's design [not pictured] for The Dark Side of the Moon has been called one of the greatest album covers of all time.

He also designed album covers for bands like the Cranberries, Phish, the Offspring, Ween, Megadeth, Styx, Peter Gabriel, and Led Zeppelin, to name a few.

College dorm rooms worldwide owe Storm Thorgerson big time.

While details are scant, it seems that Scott Miller of Game Theory & Loud Family fame died last Monday. A bunch of Game Theory recordings are available for download on this page, along with the following statement:

I wish it weren't true, but as much as it pains me to write these words, Scott passed away on April 15, 2013. He was a wonderful, loyal friend as well as a brilliant musician, and I will miss him for the rest of my life.

Scott had been planning to start recording a new Game Theory album, Supercalifragile, this summer, and was looking forward to getting back into the studio and reuniting with some of his former collaborators.

If you're unfamiliar, I suggest downloading Lolita Nation from that page and listening to it all day long. It's really great. According to Facebox, industry bigwig Tom Lunt considers Miller one of his heroes after reading Miller's book Music: What Happened?. That might be worth checking out as well. First-class music writer (and ex-Seattleite) Bob Mehr also added this touching remembrance:

Scott was the very first person I ever interviewed on a rookie gig for Patrick Pierson, who took a flyer on a 22 year-old who'd never published a word. I spent a couple hours in the back of the Hollywood Alley in Mesa, Ariz. talking to Scott who dazzled me with his charm, intelligence and generosity. In the 15 years and thousand or so interviews since, I don't know that I've had a better or more important experience. I got lucky that Scott was my first, and that he made the job of talking and thinking about music seem like a noble pursuit. R.I.P. my friend.

Geez, what a week.

British engineer/producer Andy Johns—whose hands and ears helped to contour sounds for classic-rock bands like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Television, Free, Blind Faith, Humble Pie, Mott the Hoople, Jethro Tull, Van Halen, and many others—has passed away April 7 . No official cause of death has been given yet, but Johns recently had been hospitalized due to liver problems. He was 61.

Johns engineered and produced several albums now considered all-time classics, such as the Stones' Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street, and Goats Head Soup, Led Zeppelin's second and fourth LPs, Houses of the Holy, and Physical Graffiti, Television's Marquee Moon, and Blind Faith. Johns is probably the only individual who has credits on records by the Deviants and Godsmack. He played a prominent role in shaping hundreds of songs that will endure indefinitely on radio playlists and on millions of people's internal jukeboxes. RIP, Andy Johns.

Chunklet has a heartbreakingly sad post this morning:

On Saturday night, March 16, 2013, Jason Molina, the songwriting force behind Songs:Ohia and Magnolia Electric Company died from a body that had been drowned in alcohol for years on end. He was far too young to die and his friends and fans have experienced a massive loss.

My heart hurts.

RIP, Jason.

The sublime singer/songwriter Kevin Ayers—an original member of psych-prog legends Soft Machine (and their predecessors, the Wilde Flowers)—passed away in his sleep Feb. 18 at age 68. The cause of death has not been reported.

Ayers played on Soft Machine’s classic self-titled debut album and then set off on a long and rewarding solo career, all the while occasionally collaborating with innovative musicians such as Brian Eno, Nico, John Cale, Robert Wyatt, and Mike Oldfield. Ayers wrote some of the most memorable and compelling compositions on The Soft Machine (aka Volume One), including the catchy as hell and exceptionally eccentric “We Did It Again,” “Lullabye Letter,” and “Joy of a Toy.”

Ayers’ first solo LP, Joy of a Toy, established him as one of the most distinctive vocalists in the British rock scene, his deep, lugubrious pipes especially working magic with the drop-dead-gorgeous ballad “Lady Rachel” and the perennially relevant “Song for Insane Times.” (The contemporaneous single “Religious Experience [Singing a Song in the Morning]” with Syd Barrett is also an immortal beauty.) Ayers went on to cut several other great records, including Shooting at the Moon, Bananamour, The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories, and June 1, 1974 (with Eno, Cale, and Nico). Ayers’ final album, The Unfairground, came out in 2007 and featured contributions from Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera and members of Teenage Fanclub, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, among others.

“Decadence”—from 1973's Bananamour—is my favorite Ayers joint, because it anticipates Spiritualized by 17 years and because it’s so incredibly beautiful and hypnotic. RIP, Kevin Ayers.

Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner—guitarist/vocalist for Ohio Players—passed away Jan. 26 at age 69 in Trotwood-Dayton, Ohio. The cause of death has not been reported.

Ohio Players were one of the biggest, brashest funk bands of the ’70s. Their songs could be brazenly outré as their super-erotic, bondage-y cover art or veer toward outright goofiness. Reflecting the latter, their 1972 hit “Funky Worm” became one of the foundational influences on G-funk and has been sampled dozens of times by hiphop producers. Ohio Players tunes have been covered by artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers (“Love Rollercoaster”), Sly & Robbie (“Fire”), and Soundgarden (“Fopp”).

Check Rolling Stone's obit and Bonner's Facebook page for more info. RIP, Leroy Bonner.

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• RIP

He didn't know what as going to happen to the space after tonight—God, I hope it's not another Chase Bank.

Go down there and have a drink before the doors close forever. And don't forget to tip a little extra if you can. Losing your job sucks.