John Lodge, Diane Keaton, Chris Dreja, and Sonny Curtis Dies

These artists were the bassist for the Moody Blues; acted in The Godfather series of movies, Play It Again Sam, Reds, and many more; was the bassist for the Yardbirds and Box of Frogs; and was in Buddy Holly’s band the Crickets, and wrote the theme song for the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

John Lodge was born John Charles Lodge on July 20, 1943, in Erdington, a suburb of Birmingham, England. He grew up in Birmingham, attending Birches Green Infant and Junior School and then Central Grammar School; after his secondary education he studied engineering at the Birmingham College of Advanced Technology.

He first became involved in music in the early 1960s in the local Birmingham scene and played in bands including El Riot and the Rebels; in 1966 he joined The Moody Blues as bassist, co-lead vocalist and songwriter, replacing original members and helping to shape their move into symphonic rock with landmark albums such as Days of Future Passed and In Search of the Lost Chord. Over a career spanning more than fifty years, Lodge wrote or co-wrote many of the Moody Blues’ most enduring

songs including “Ride My See-Saw,” “Isn’t Life Strange,” and “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band),” and he also pursued solo work (issuing albums like Natural Avenue in 1977 and 10,000 Light Years Ago in 2015) and collaborated with Justin Hayward on projects like Blue Jays. He was voted among the ten most influential bass players, received awards from organizations such as ASCAP, and was honored with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding

Contribution to Music; with The Moody Blues he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 and later in his career earned a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Prog Awards. In his personal life he was married to Kirsten Wright since 1968, and they had two children,

Emily (for whom he wrote “Emily’s Song”) and Kristian; he was an evangelical Christian, a faith he credited with helping him maintain balance despite the excesses often associated with rock-and-roll, and he also had passions outside music—including wine (he founded a boutique wine label called Krisemma) and golf. John Lodge died on Friday, October 10, 2025, at the age of 82, surrounded by loved ones. He is survived by his wife Kirsten, by his two children Emily and Kristian, and by his grandson.

Diane Keaton was born Diane Hall on January 5, 1946, in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Dorothy Deanne Keaton, a homemaker and amateur photographer, and John Newton Hall, a civil engineer and real estate broker. She grew up in a creative environment in the Los Angeles suburbs and was inspired by her mother’s participation in local pageants and her flair for presentation.

Keaton attended Santa Ana College and later Orange Coast College before moving to New York City to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where she was taught by Sanford Meisner. Her early professional work included stage performances, notably in the original Broadway production of Hair in 1968.

She gained early attention for her role in Woody Allen’s play Play It Again, Sam, which she would later reprise in the 1972 film adaptation. Her screen career developed rapidly in the 1970s when she appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather as Kay Adams, a role that brought her widespread recognition and that she repeated in the film’s sequels. Her collaboration with Woody Allen over eight films, culminating in Annie Hall (1977),

made her one of the defining figures of American cinema in that decade. Annie Hall won her the Academy Award for Best Actress and solidified her public image as quirky, intelligent, and stylish. She continued to work prolifically, balancing comedic and dramatic roles in films such as Reds, Marvin’s Room,

Baby Boom, Father of the Bride, The First Wives Club, and Something’s Gotta Give, which earned her another Academy Award nomination. Keaton also pursued work behind the camera, directing the feature film Hanging Up in 2000 and several documentaries and television projects. Beyond acting and directing, she became known for her writing and her passion for architecture and design, authoring several books on her life, style, and home restoration projects.

In her personal life, Keaton chose not to marry, though she was romantically linked in earlier years with Woody Allen, Al Pacino, and Warren Beatty. She adopted two children, Dexter and Duke, later in life and often spoke about how motherhood changed her perspective. Keaton was open about her lifelong struggles with self-image

and bulimia, and she also addressed her experience with skin cancer, which led to her recognizable preference for wide-brimmed hats and high-collared clothing. Her signature fashion—often featuring men’s suits and ties—became a cultural hallmark, reinforcing her reputation as both unconventional and influential. Over her long career, she received numerous accolades including the Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe,

and she was honored with the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award in 2017 for her contributions to film and culture. Diane Keaton died on Saturday, October 11, 2025, at the age of seventy-nine. She is survived by her two children, Dexter and Duke.

Christopher Walenty Dreja was born on November 11, 1946 in Surbiton, Surrey, England, and grew up in Kingston upon Thames, the son of Alojzy Dreja—a Polish émigré who had served in the Polish Air Force during World War II—and Joyce Guillan. As a youth he attended local schools and was involved in

art programs, where he met Anthony “Top” Topham through a pre-college art class; it was through that friendship that their musical collaboration began. In the early 1960s he and Topham formed a blues-influenced band that evolved into The Yardbirds when Keith Relf, Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim McCarty and others joined.

Dreja initially played rhythm guitar and, after the original bassist departed, switched to bass. During the 1960s the Yardbirds became one of Britain’s most influential rock groups, working with guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, and Dreja contributed to songwriting, arrangements, and

even drew the album art for their 1966 LP commonly called Roger the Engineer. After the Yardbirds disbanded in 1968, Page invited Dreja to join what would become Led Zeppelin, but Dreja declined and instead pursued a career in photography; he shot numerous music icons and is credited with photographing the back cover of Led Zeppelin’s debut album.

In the 1980s he joined a Yardbirds spin-off called Box of Frogs, and later rejoined in the 1992 reformation of The Yardbirds, with which he performed until health problems forced his retirement in the early 2010s. In private life, Dreja married an American woman named Pat Lalley in the 1960s; later he had a daughter,

Jacqueline Dreja Zamboni. During his later years he suffered a series of strokes and declining health, which led to his withdrawal from public performing. Chris Dreja died on Thursday, September 25, 2025, at the age of 79, in a nursing home in London. He is survived by his daughter Jacqueline and by extended family including his sister-in-law Muriel Levy and his long-time partner Katy Levy.

Sonny Curtis was born May 9, 1937, near Meadow, Texas, the second youngest of six children of Arthur and Violet Curtis, who were cotton farmers. Growing up in a musical family, Curtis learned guitar as a child (around age four) and was influenced by his uncles, the Mayfield Brothers, who were bluegrass musicians. He attended local schools, and after high school he worked early in music — performing, writing songs, and recording —

including early recordings with Buddy Holly and later joining The Crickets in late 1958. Curtis was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1959 and during basic training composed songs, including “Walk Right Back.” Following his discharge he continued his career as a singer, guitarist, and prolific songwriter, contributing such enduring works as “I Fought the Law,” “More Than I Can Say,” “Walk Right Back,” and “Love Is All Around,” the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

He also wrote for a variety of artists across genres and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991, the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007, and with The Crickets into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. In his personal life Curtis married Louise Halverson in 1970; they had a daughter, Sarah,

and lived on a farm outside Nashville, Tennessee. Sonny Curtis died on Friday, September 19, 2025, at the age of 88. He is survived by his wife Louise Curtis, daughter Sarah Curtis Graziano, son-in-law Neal Graziano, granddaughters Estella, Mira, and Sylvie Graziano, and his sister Alene Richardson.