According to Billboard eleven days after being taken off of life support due to a massive brain hemorrhage he suffered last month, producer Jerry Finn died Thursday, August 21st.

The famed producer worked on notable albums from Blink-182, Morrissey, Green Day, Rancid, Bad Religion, AFI and Alkaline Trio. For a list of his production credits, see Wikipedia. Plans for a donation or scholarship fund are in the works, as is a memorial for friends and family.

Our deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Legendary Irish folk musician Ronnie Drew has passed away. The 73-year-old founder of The Dubliners had been battling ill health for some time. His family confirmed he passed away at St Vincent's Private Hospital in Dublin at 2pm on Saturday.

In 1962, he founded the Ronnie Drew Group with Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna and Ciaran Bourke. This group was later to be known as The Dubliners, and would become one of the best known Irish folk groups. After the end of the band in 1995, he pursued a solo career and also became a frequent collaborator. Among the artists he recorded with, were Christy Moore, The Pogues, Antonio Breschi, Dropkick Murphys, Eleanor Shanley and others.

His collaboration with the Dropkick Murphys and Spider Stacy can be seen here.

Our deepest condolences to his friends and family.

Trumpet player 'Dizzy' Johnny Moore, a founding member of pioneering Jamaican ska and reggae act The Skatalites, has passed away. Moore died at his home in Kingston on Saturday after being released from a hospital where he was being treated for colon cancer.

Moore helped form the band in 1964 with saxophonists Tommy McCook and Roland Alphonso and trombonist Don Drummond. The band helped establish the ska sound over 14 months in the 60s before they split up, only to regroup in New York City twenty years later. Moore was one of the most recorded soloists of the early reggae era, appearing on records such as Something Special, Ringo, Man in the Street, Schooling the Duke, the Wailers' Love and Affection, Lonesome Feeling, and Nice Time. Further details can be found at the Jamaica Observer.

Johnny is survived by his mother, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Our deepest condolences go out to his friends and family.

Now defunct San Francisco punk rock band The Lucky Stiffs recently announced the death of their former guitarist Shin "Shinister" Kodachi. The band announced:

It sadden us to write this, but our former guitarist and family member Shin took his own life on the night of the 23rd in Japan. He was a great human being, loved music and friends. We are honored to have shared a stage, home and laughs with him. This is a rough time for us all, and we thank you all for the support. Please keep his family in mind as well, this is such a hard thing to go through.You will be missed Shin, hope the pain is gone now.

The band last released Gold in Peace, Iron in War in 2007 and broke up later that year. Our deepest condolences go out to Shin's family and friends.

Comedian George Carlin died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday. He was 71. Carlin was celebrated as a counter-culture icon for his provocative anti-establishment material in the 70s, particularly the routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television." A live performance of the obscenity laden bit saw him arrested in Milwaukee in 1972 for disturbing the peace, and a radio broadcast of the routine in 1973 brought the ire of the FCC upon a New York City radio station. The resulting legal battle went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1978. Amid the controversy Carlin's became the first person to host television comedy institution Saturday Night Live.

Carlin's humor and commentary remained consistently critical of modern American life, taking a nihilistic slant that resonated to this day. In a 2001 Reuters interview he commented "I don't have any beliefs or allegiances. I don't believe in this country, I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't believe in all these man-made institutional ideas." Carlin's career spawned 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, and numerous TV and movie appearances. He was slated to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor later this year.

Carlin is survived by his wife Sally Wade, and daughter Kelly Carlin McCall. Our deepest condolences go out to his family, friends and fans.

Pioneering blues and rock'n'roll musician Bo Diddley has passed away due to heart failure. Diddley was born Ellas Bates McDaniel in McComb, Mississippi. He was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in January 1987 and proved influential particularly for his role in bridging the gap between blues and rock and roll.

His music had been covered by a diverse range of artists including Elvis Presley, The Doors, The Stooges, The Clash, Johnny Thunders, The Rolliing Stones and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Both the New York Dolls and The Lurkers recorded their own version of his song "Pills", and Diddley was the opening act on The Clash's first U.S. tour.

Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.

Dub reggae legend Mikey Dread passed away this Saturday. He was 54. The influential musician and produer was diagnosted with a brain tumor half a year ago.

Dread, born Michael Campbell in Port Antonio, Jamaica, first made waves as the host of the overnight JBC radio show Dread At The Controls. The pioneering show was the first Jamaican radio program to focus on then-underground reggae music. Dread championed the cause by playing artists like King Tubby, Augustus Pablo and Linval Thompson, none of which could otherwise be heard on the conservatively run station. Moving into producion Dread was a vital contributor to the Clash, producing their "Bank Robber" single and co-producing the Sandinista! full length. While in the UK he narrated a six-part series on Jamaican culture for the BBC entitled Deep Roots Music. The early 80s also gave rise to important solo full lengths such as `81's Beyond World War 3 and `84's Pave The Way.

Mikey Dread is survived by his wife Monika and six children. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.

Gary Gygax, one of the key creators for the popular role playing game Dungeons and Dragons, passed away in his home on Tuesday morning at the age of 69. He had been battling various health issues for years, including an abdominal aneurysm. Dungeons and Dragons was created in 1974 with Dave Arneson, and has served as the standard in role playing games ever since, inspiring numerous video games directly and in-directed based off of the system. It has also served as a tool of inspiration for many bands, helping develop a fascination with the fantasy world that sometimes extends to a group's lyrical endeavors. Gary was also a prolific writer and a figurehead of the role-playing community, even playing a cartoon version of himself once on the cartoon Futurama. He will be missed by many.

Punknews.org sends our condolences and best wishes to his friends and family.

Mike Conley, former vocalist of Orange County punk band MIA was found dead yesterday in Chicago. According to the news report, Mike was found unresponsive at 5:40 a.m. by a person staying in the hotel in the 2300 block of North Mannheim Road, sheriff's police spokeswoman Penny Mateck said. He appeared to have suffered head injuries.

All Music Guide called M.I.A. "one of the 50 best So-Cal punk bands of the great early-'80s second wave explosion."

Our condolences to Mike's friends and family.

10 people were killed and dozens injured after a stampede broke out at a metal concert in Bandung, Indonesia. The show took place Saturday night and featured local band Beside. Doctors are reporting that most of the deceased were teenagers who were trampled during the stampede at a club which some say was filled over capacity, although no official reports have been made.

Our deepest condolences to the friends and family of the deceased.

Dischord Records is reporting the sad news that drummer Sean Finnegan of Void passed away on Wednesday January 30th from an apparent heart attack. Sean played with the early hardcore act while the band was active from 1980 to 1983, and was most recently working on the set of HBO show The Wire.

Sean's family will receive friends today from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 PM at Harry H. Witzke's Family Funeral Home in Ellicott City, Maryland. In lieu of flowers his family ask that donations may be made to the Fisher House at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Our deepest condolences to Sean's friends and family.

Mike Park has passed on some sad news about his former band mate from Skankin’ Pickle, Lynette Knackstedt:

Lynette Knackstedt passed away on Friday, December 7th, 2008. We went to middle school, high school, and spent 7 of our adult years together in Skankin' Pickle. She was only 37 years old.

Lynette was the much loved guitarist of the San Francisco based sextet. After the break up of the Pickle in 1996, Knackstedt and trombonist Lars Nylander went on to form the 78 RPMs.

Our deepest condolences to Lynette's friends and family.

Arsonists Get All The Girls' bassist Pat Mason has passed away on the night of his 21st birthday. The band has posted the following message on MySpace:

We can't describe the pain and sorrow that we all are feeling right now. Last night/early this morning our bassist, Pat Mason, passed away. Pat was an amazing person and brother to all of us. It was his 21st birthday and we all got to see him at band practice. He then proceeded to go out to the bars. He went to sleep at a friend's house. We don't know the full details but when friends tried to wake him up this morning he didn't wake up. We could never trade him for the world and could never replace him. We will always love him and will always be in our hearts. We are going to continue with the band cause that is what Pat would have wanted. There will be a donation account set up soon for his family and possibly a local benefit show as well. Thanks for everyone for the support that the band has since the beginning. We love you all and Pat loves you all as well.

Punknews.org sends our condolences and best wishes to his bandmates and family.

Dayton, Ohio's Hawthorne Heights has announced the sad news that rhythm guitarist Casey Calvert has passed away. He was 26. The band made the following announcement:

Today is probably the worst day ever. Its with our deepest regrets that we have to write this. Casey Calvert passed away in his sleep last night. We found out this afternoon before sound-check. We've spent the entire day trying to come to grips with this and figure out as much as possible. At this time we're not sure what exactly happened. Just last night he was joking around with everyone before he went to bed. We can say with absolute certainty that he was not doing anything illegal. Please, out of respect to Casey and his family, don't contribute or succumb to any gossip you may hear. We don't want his memory to be tainted in the least. Casey was our best friend. He was quirky and awesome and there will truly be no others like him! His loss is unexplainable. As soon as we know more we will let you know.

The band last released If Only You Were Lonely in 2006.

Our deepest condolences to Casey's friends and family.

Drummer Witold "Vitek" Kiełtyka of Poland-based hardcore/tech/metal act Decapitated has passed away. On October 29, 2007, while travelling to a show in Gomel, Belarus, Decapitated was involved in a bus accident. Their tour bus collided with a truck carrying wood, giving serious head injuries to Vitek and Adrian Kowanek.

Decapitated formed in 1996 in Krosno in southern Poland, when the average age of the band was fourteen and all the members were still attending music school. The band released their last album, Organic Hallucinosis in 2006 via Earache.

Our condolences to Witold's friends and family.