‘All Those Years Ago’ – George Harrison about John Lennon

When John Lennon was tragically murdered in 1981, fans of The Beatles were understandably distraught. However, the toll it took on his bandmates was much greater. Despite the challenges the band faced as it came to an end, the members were all massive parts of each other’s lives and couldn’t quite believe that their friend had been shot dead.

A year after the murder, Harrison penned a track as a tribute to his late friend. Appearing on his solo album Somewhere In England, ‘All Those Years Ago’ is a touching elegy to Lennon, featuring Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, marking the first reunion of the remaining bandmates since 1970.

‘Elegia’ – New Order about Ian Curtis

New Order proved the power of their musicianship by providing a powerful and emotional tribute to their former Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis without the need for any lyrics. The five-minute track, ‘Elegia’, glitters with dark synths as the band’s signature guitar sound lingers in the background.

According to drummer Stephen Morris, the track is a cut-down version of a 17-and-a-half-minute recording. Peter Hook has frequently expressed the heartbreak and guilt he feels years after Curtis’ death, saying, “It was heartbreaking to put it all away and never promote Closer, never promote ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, put it in a box, put it in the back of the cupboard. And we went off to New Order.”

‘Friend of a Friend’ – Foo Fighters about Kurt Cobain

Dave Grohl decided to strip his tribute to former Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain back to basics, delivering a delicate song in memory of the grunge icon with just an acoustic guitar on ‘Friend of a Friend’. Although the song appears on Foo Fighters’ 2005 album In Your Honor, it was originally written (and secretly recorded) in 1990, shortly after Grohl met his new bandmates.

‘Friend of a Friend’ is a fitting tribute to the Nirvana frontman, and you can undoubtedly hear Cobain’s influence on the track’s acoustic sound. Grohl sings, “He says ‘Nevermind'” in reference to the band’s second album, and “When he plays/ No one speaks”, alluding to the breathtaking impact Cobain had on audiences.

‘Never Without You’ – Ringo Starr about George Harrison

Although Ringo was never the strongest member of The Beatles and had the weakest solo discography, his heartwarming tribute to George Harrison, released in 2003, cannot be forgotten. Starr was closest to Harrison out of all the Beatles, especially post-breakup, so he penned ‘Never Without You’ to express “how I miss him in my heart and in music.”

Featuring Eric Clapton on guitar, Starr’s bittersweet track is hardly covert. He sings lyrics that directly reference Harrison’s songs.”‘Here Comes The Sun’ is about you” and “I know all things must pass”, Starr declares that Harrison will never be forgotten. “Now we will carry on/ Never without you.”

‘Shine A Light’ – The Rolling Stones about Brian Jones

The Rolling Stones lost their founding member Brian Jones after increasing issues with drugs and alcohol led to his drowning whilst under the influence in 1969. Mick Jagger originally wrote the song ‘Shine A Light’ in 1968, detailing Jones’ drug addiction. However, Jagger edited the lyrics to create a tribute to his former friend after his passing.

Released in 1972 as part of the album Exile On Main Street, the song is an upbeat celebration of Jones, despite his issues. Jagger wishes his friend the best in the afterlife, singing, “May the good Lord shine a light on you, yeah/ Make every song you sing your favourite tune.”

‘2000 Miles’ – The Pretenders about Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott

Though it is now thought of as a Christmas staple, the foundations of The Pretenders‘ classic ‘2000 Miles’ is actually one of the more sobering moments on our list. The song was penned for Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott, two of the group’s original members who lost their lives in tragic circumstances.

Both Honeyman-Scott and Farndon would die following a drug incident. Honeyman-Scott passed away following a cocaine intolerance, which saw him succumb to heart failure. Farndon, who had been fired from the Pretenders and was forming a new group, passed away after a heroin overdose saw him drown in his own bathtub.

It left the Pretenders with only two original members. But Chrissie Hynde vowed to fight on and make the music the quartet had always wanted to. ‘2000 Miles’ is just one of those classic songs.

‘My Lovely Man’ – Red Hot Chili Peppers about Hillel Slovak

Hillel Slovak should have been a name etched in the history of music, not by the sadness of his tragic passing, but by his work alongside Anthony Kiedis, Flea and Chad Smith as part of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The guitarist, who would be replaced by John Frusciante, tragically died following a speedball overdose.

There are a few songs in the RHCP canon that pay homage to Slovak, with Kiedis particularly open about how debilitating his death was. But one of the msot forthright pieces is ‘My Lovely Man’, which acts like a love letter between the two men.

“‘My Lovely Man’ is about my love for Hillel and the fact that eventually I will find him,” explained Kiedis to Rolling Stone in 1992. “It’s kind of like when I die, I am counting on him to save me a seat. And whenever I sing that song, Hillel is completely in my world.”

‘Back in Black’ – AC/DC about Bon Scott

Recorded and released just five months after the tragic death of AC/DC’s original lead singer, Bon Scott, ‘Back In Black’ is perhaps the biggest song on our list. Big in every sense of the word, too. Not only is it now considered an anthemic moment of any AC/DC show but also one of the most commercially sound entries to boot.

“Forget the hearse ’cause I never die,” sings new frontman Brian Johnson for Scott. The connection between the two singers goes deeper than that, too. Johnson had previously been the singer for a band called Geordie, a group that Scott had caught once in 1973. Scott had always talked up the Geordie singer, and when Scott tragically passed away, Johnson was immediately lined up as his replacement.

There’s a relationship within this song between the band and their departed leader that suggests not only resilience but a refusal to accept their apparent loss. It’s defiant and deliberate, much like Scott himself.

‘Here Today’ – Paul McCartney about John Lennon

Written in tribute to his friend after John Lennon’s shocking murder in 1980, the song sees Paul McCartney pose his now-deceased friend a series of questions, answering them the way he thought John would have. It is a truly heart-wrenching song that, as well as being laden with pop sentiment, is also a voracious piece of therapeutic work as McCartney works through his grief.

McCartney paints a beautiful, earnest, and honest reflection of his friend on his canvas. Warts and all, Lennon is accurately rendered for a generation who will now only know his memory. Macca adds texture to this image, showing their relationship’s tender moments, hinting at the day they met and ‘the night they cried’.

While we cannot be sure, it’s fair to assume that the two songwriters didn’t say half of what they should have to each other when Lennon was alive. We’d bet the use of the word ‘love’ in this track is a hint to what McCartney wishes he had told his friend. It goes down as one of McCartney’s most poignant tracks and one that always deserves listening to as the typification of the Lennon-McCartney partnership.

‘The Needle and The Damage Done’ – Neil Young about Danny Whitten

Taken from Neil Young’s 1972 album Harvest, this is quite possibly the greatest anti-drug song you’ll ever hear. Considering it was written in the early 1970s, the idea of such a track was a dicey affair. However, it would be inspired by Danny Whitten’s tragic heroin addiction.

Young has often claimed Whitten to have been his musical soulmate, but Whitten’s addiction got the better of him, and he succumbed to an overdose on the night Young fired him from his touring band. It’s undoubtedly one of the sadder stories on our list, and when considering Young’s connection to the death of Whitten, it is certainly one of the bravest, too.

Young shows his vulnerability and allows his friend’s spirit to rise from the tune. Young once described Whitten as the only guitarist he ever truly felt comfortable with, and considering the talent he’s played with, that’s a compliment.