Rock 'n' roll pantheon is sadly mortal

Keith Emerson joined heaven's rock band when he died on March 10.

"If there's a rock 'n' roll heaven,
Well, you know they've got a hell of a band ... "'
What is happening?
Have the rock 'n' roll gods decided to call for them?
Have Elvis, Buddy, John and Michael decided they are lonely up there in rock 'n' roll heaven?
In 1974 the Righteous Brothers sang the Johnny Stevenson / Alan O'Day hit Rock 'n' Roll Heaven as a dedication to Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Jim Morrison, Jim Croce and Bobby Darin. Seven years later they performed the song and included Elvis, John Lennon and Keith Moon. In a 1991 performance, it was rewritten to include Roy Orbison, Jackie Wilson, Ricky Nelson, Dennis Wilson, Marvin Gay, Sam Cooke and Cass Elliot.
Is it time to rewrite the words?
Since late 2015 it seems every day we look in the papers to find a star has gone off to join that 'band in the skies'.
It was tough enough throughout 2015 when we lost, to name a few: Leslie Gore [It's My Party], Lew Soloff [Blood, Sweat and Tears]; Jimmy Greenspan [Three Dog Night]; AJ Pero, drummer for Twisted Sister; Percy When a Man Loves a Woman Sledge; Jerry Ely of the Kingsmen [Louie Louie]; Ben E King; BB King; Jim Ed Brown [The Browns]; Chris Squire from Yes; Lynn Anderson who 'never promised us a rose garden'; Cilla Black; Gary Richrath of REO Speedwagon; Frankie Sea Cruise Ford; Cory Wells [Three Dog Night]; Allen Toussaint; Cynthia Robinson [Sly]; Scot Weiland; Stevie Wright of the Easybeats; 'Lemmy' Kilmeister of Motorhead and then on the last day of the year, Natalie Cole.
Then came the New Year and we have said farewell to David Bowie which shocked us all.
David Bowie? Gone?
And no sooner did we start to say, 'Come on, enough is enough' than it was goodbye to Glen Frey of the Eagles and then Vanity.
Not long ago it was Sonny James, who had an impressive run on the country charts with 10 consecutive Number One songs between 1967 and 1971 ( Young Love, anyone?) And recently rock keyboardist Keith Emerson, the founder of the progressive rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
It has been a tough couple of years for the music world as these and so many other stars have gone from us.
But they have left us with their music which will live on through the ages.
- and as music is the soul of life, play on and on and on and .........., as the song says,
"They'll all be there together
When they meet in one big show".