Sly Stone died on June 9, 2025, and Brian Wilson on June 11. Between them they had made Pet Sounds, “Good Vibrations”, “Everyday People” and There’s a Riot Goin’ On, and both had spent years unable to work because of mental illness and drugs. Two of the most important American musicians of the 1960s died within 48 hours. These are ten of the best-known people who died in June 2025.
1. Jonathan Joss (June 1, aged 59)
Jonathan Joss voiced John Redcorn in King of the Hill for more than a decade and played Chief Ken Hotate in Parks and Recreation. He was shot dead outside his former home in San Antonio. A neighbour was charged with murder.
2. Sly Stone (June 9, aged 82)
Sylvester Stewart led Sly and the Family Stone, a band of black and white, male and female musicians who mixed soul, rock and psychedelia into “Dance to the Music”, “Everyday People” and “Family Affair”. Their set at Woodstock is one of the most celebrated of the festival. He died after a long illness with lung disease.
3. Brian Wilson (June 11, aged 82)
Brian Wilson wrote and produced most of the Beach Boys’ greatest records, from “Surfin’ U.S.A.” to Pet Sounds and “Good Vibrations”. He stopped touring in 1964 after a breakdown, spent years in and out of illness, and returned to the stage in the 1990s and 2000s. His family announced his death.
4. Alfred Brendel (June 17, aged 94)
The Austrian pianist was one of the great interpreters of Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart, and the first pianist to record all of Beethoven’s piano music. He retired from the concert stage in 2008 and wrote poetry and essays in London, where he lived for decades.
5. Gailard Sartain (June 19, aged 81)
Gailard Sartain was a regular on Hee Haw and appeared in films including Fried Green Tomatoes and The Buddy Holly Story.
6. Lynn Hamilton (June 19, aged 95)
Lynn Hamilton played Donna Harris, Fred Sanford’s girlfriend, in Sanford and Son, and Verdie Grant Foster in The Waltons.
7. Bobby Sherman (June 24, aged 81)
Bobby Sherman was a teen idol of the late 1960s, with hits like “Little Woman” and “Julie, Do Ya Love Me”. He left show business to become a paramedic and police reserve officer in California. He had announced his kidney cancer earlier in the year.
8. Rick Hurst (June 26, aged 79)
Rick Hurst played Deputy Cletus Hogg in The Dukes of Hazzard.
9. Bill Moyers (June 26, aged 91)
Bill Moyers was Lyndon Johnson’s press secretary and then one of the most respected interviewers in American public television, winning more than thirty Emmys.
10. Kenneth Colley (June 30, aged 87)
Kenneth Colley played Admiral Piett, the officer who survives Darth Vader’s temper through two Star Wars films, and Jesus in Monty Python’s Life of Brian. He died of pneumonia after catching COVID-19.
Wilson and Stone both stopped touring at the height of their fame and both came back decades later, Wilson to perform Smile, the album he had abandoned in 1967, and Stone to write a memoir.