myDeathJams.com

Dying US man uses his last months for community service in all 50 states Doug Ruch embarked on ‘dying to serve tour’ after learning he had fewer than 18 months left amid cancer battle

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

"Denis Was A Bird" @tomrosenthal.bsky.social

A tribute to his father who died in 2019 from Parkinson's and dementia. The album begins with Tom witnessing his father's death-which he called "one of the great privileges" l of his life-and tracks his grief journey.

#grief #music

"Until It Sleeps by @metallica.com

Written by James Hetfield about his mother Cynthia's battle with cancer, which ultimately took her life in 1979 when he was only 16 years old. The song addresses both her physical pain and his emotional grief.

#grief #music

"Grief is Only Love" by @stephenwilsonjr01.bsky.social

Written about the loss of his father, who passed away in 2018. Stephen has shared that his father's last words to him were "Write a good song for me," and then "I love you" four times, spoken over the phone.

#grief #music

“Camera” by @remhq.bsky.social
Written for photographer Carol Levy, a close friend of the band who died in a car crash the day after their debut album was released.

#grief #music

Little acoustic snippet of God,We tried.
Please excuse the half decorated living room ( sorry mum, I know you’d be fuming having it look like this online 😂) and my rubbish guitar playing.

Love
C
X

“Inevitable” @charlotteoc.bsky.social

Written the day she arrived in London after learning her father, John O’Connor, had throat cancer.

“This song is about the realization that no matter how much you don’t want it - losing someone is inevitable.”

#grief #music

"The Hunter" - Mastodon

Written by Brent Hinds for his brother Brad, who died while hunting in December 2010. According to bandmate Brann Dailor: "It's some heavy s--t. We weren't sure if Brent would want to write about it as it was pretty fresh. But I think he had to."

#grief #Mastodon

Written for Isaac Brock's brother, Ansel, and others lost in 2004. Brock shared "I don't usually like to talk about my songs but I really mean it where it says 'And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both grow old.'"

#grief #modestmouse

"All I Do is Watch TV" offers a glimpse into Al Olender's grief after the death of her brother Keith, whose early support of her music shaped her path. "It's like every single thing I do in my life – my brother is so much in the front of my mind."

#grief #alolender

UNC music professors memorialize lost loved ones in concert The hour-long faculty concert was held in Hill Hall’s Moeser Auditorium. Each piece they played was either dedicated to or written for someone by its original composers. 

More information can be found at www.dailytarheel.com/article/2025...

Julian Michael Swart / The Daily Tar Heel Heidi Radtke (Saxophone) and Mimi Solomon (piano) play “ Feast of Memory" by JoAnne Harris at Moeser Auditorium on Monday, March 24th, 2025.

UNC professors Mimi Solomon and Heidi Radtke recently performed "In Remembrance", exploring grief through piano and three saxophones.

"The idea of memory and grieving and thinking of people we've lost is kind of universal," Solomon said.

Each piece honored someone specific.

#Grief #UNC #UNCmusic

Following the 2020 deaths of husband Ryan and friend Max, Jones shared, "Music was an outlet for me – like most songwriters, it was a place I went to express myself and process my experiences. All that has changed now. Music has become a place I go to be with the dead."

#Grief #AnnabelJones

Pusha T - "Santeria"

This track from his 2018 album "DAYTONA" was written as a tribute to his road manager and friend De'Von Pickett, who was tragically killed in 2015. "This was my way of processing the senseless violence that took someone who was like family to me.”

#grief #music

Watchhouse "Golden Embers"

Written by Andrew Marlin after losing his mother, who had passed away when he was young. "This song became a way for me to process grief that I'd carried since childhood, but hadn't fully addressed.”

#grief

Stromae “Papaoutai”

Written about his father who was killed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide when Stromae was nine. "When you lose someone at such a young age, you grow up with a void that's difficult to explain."

@rufus-wainwright.bsky.social - "Memphis Skyline"

The song is a tribute to Jeff Buckley, who drowned in Memphis in 1997. "The song is about my realization of his brilliance and also an apology for not appreciating him while he was alive."

#grief #music

@yellowcard.bsky.social - "View From Heaven"

"I really wish I'd got to say goodbye"

An acoustic ballad written for guitarist Ben Harper's friend Scott who died in a car accident. "I think there's something comforting about imagining that the people we've lost can still see us."

#grief #music

@billybragg.bsky.social - "Tank Park Salute"

"You were so tall / How could you fall?"

A moving tribute to his father, who died of lung cancer when Billy was just 18. "Writing this song was a way to hold onto those memories, to preserve them."

#music #grief

#JasonHawkHarris - Bring Out the Lillies

Written the day his mother died of liver failure: “I wrote that song the day she died. We were in the hospital room, and I had just watched her take her last breath. I went home, picked up my guitar, and those words came out almost completely formed.” #grief

Let’s Eat Grandma “Watching You Go”

Written by Jenny Hollingsworth about watching her boyfriend and fellow musician Billy Clayton take his last breath after a battle with bone cancer. “Making music about grief doesn’t fix anything, but it gives you somewhere to put those feelings.”

#grief #music

"Tears don't care if I don't 'em to come / I'm tryna take it like a man but I'm taking like a son"

#WalkerHayes wrote "Dad's Sailboat" after losing his father Charles. "The hardest songs to perform are the most honest ones. Every time I sing it, I'm right back in that raw place."

#grief #music

#TheDeadShips "The Big Quiet"
Devlin McCluskey on his father's death: "There's this strange quietness that happens after someone is gone. The world keeps moving but there's this deafening absence. The song came from trying to articulate that feeling - the big quiet that death leaves behind."
#grief

Run the Jewels "Thursday in the Danger Room"

@el-p.bsky.social raps about the pain of watching a friend battle cancer. "I was writing about watching my friend slowly lose his battle with cancer. It's about the frustration and helplessness you feel when there's nothing you can do but be there."

"Because of the Shame" by Against Me!

Singer @laurajanegrace.bsky.social expressed her emotions after the murder of her friend, C.C. Walker, in her journal: “There are so many things that I regret about my relationship with C.C., so many reasons to feel guilt."

#grief #music #AgainstMe

#ToriAmos - "Spark"

Written after her 1996 miscarriage. "This song is about finding your fire again when you think it's gone out completely. After my miscarriage, I didn't think I would ever feel whole again. The song came from that place of trying to rebuild."

#grief #music #GriefandMusic

"I'll bet it's so nice up in Heaven since you arrived"

"Dancing in the Sky" #DaniandLizzy

Written for their friend Danielle who died at 16. "The song is written like a list of questions you'd want to ask someone who's passed away. We were thinking about what we'd want to ask Danielle if we could."

The Cure "I Can Never Say Goodbye"

Written for Richard Smith, Robert's brother who passed in 2018. The song came to Robert almost fully formed while sitting at a lake they used to visit together, resulting in what he calls "probably the most personal song I've ever written."

#TheCure #Grief #Music

Zach Bryan - "November Air"

Written for his mother Annette, who passed in 2016. "Some nights I can barely get through it. Other nights, it feels like a celebration of her life. It depends on where my head's at, but I always feel her presence when I play it."

#ZachBryan #Grief #Music #Grieving