Chuck Negron, Catherine O’Hara, Billy Bass Nelson, and Demond Wilson Die

These individuals have been a lead vocalist for the the group Three Dog Night; acted in movies and TV such as Home Alone, Beetlejuice, and SCTV; was the original bassist for the band Funkadelic; and acted in movies and television such as Sanford and Son, Baby… I’m Back!, and The New Odd Couple.

Charles “Chuck” Negron II was born on June 8, 1942, in Manhattan, New York City, and grew up in the Bronx, where from a young age he sang in doo-wop groups and showed a natural musical gift alongside an early passion for basketball that eventually brought him to California State University to play the sport and opened the door to his life in music.

After moving to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s he became deeply immersed in the local scene and in 1967 joined singers Cory Wells and Danny Hutton to form a trio that evolved into the band Three Dog Night, a group that blended R&B, rock ’n’ roll and pop influences and quickly rose to prominence with a string of chart-topping singles.

With his powerful, multioctave tenor at the forefront, Negron sang on some of the band’s biggest hits—including “One,” “Easy to Be Hard,” “An Old-Fashioned Love Song,” “The Show Must Go On,” and the iconic “Joy to the World,” whose opening line “Jeremiah was a bullfrog!” became embedded in the cultural memory of the era—

and helped the group achieve extraordinary commercial success with numerous gold and platinum records and over twenty Top 40 hits between 1969 and 1974. At the same time that he enjoyed professional acclaim, Negron struggled with severe drug addiction that grew during the band’s peak years and eventually contributed to his departure from Three Dog Night in the mid-1980s;

he spent significant periods in rehabilitation and, at his lowest point, lost his wealth and ended up living on Skid Row before achieving sobriety in 1991 and rebuilding his life with a successful solo career that produced seven albums between 1995 and 2017 and a candid memoir, Three Dog Nightmare, that chronicled both his rise and his battles with addiction.

His personal life included four marriages and fathering five children; in later years he was married to his manager, Ami Albea Negron, and maintained close relationships with his family while also advocating for others facing substance abuse challenges. Negron’s career brought him widespread recognition among fans of classic rock and pop,

and although he did not garner many major industry awards he left an indelible mark on popular music through the enduring popularity of the songs he helped bring to life. On Monday, February 2, 2026, he died at his home in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles at the age of 83 from complications of heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and he was survived by his wife Ami, his five children, and extended family members.

Catherine Anne O’Hara was born on March 4, 1954, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and grew up in the suburb of Etobicoke, where she developed a love for performance and comedy from an early age; after completing her schooling she began working at Toronto’s Second City Theatre as a waitress and soon became a

performer in the improvisational comedy troupe, gaining experience that would form the foundation of her long career in entertainment. Her early professional work included ensemble comedy on the sketch series SCTV, where she earned her first Primetime Emmy Award for writing in 1982 and became known for her sharp character work and impersonations.

She briefly joined Saturday Night Live before returning to SCTV when it moved into the U.S. market; this early success opened doors to film and television roles that showcased her versatility as an actor and comedian. Over the next five decades O’Hara built a remarkable body of work that spanned genres and media,

from her memorable turn as Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice to her beloved portrayal of Kate McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and including voice work in animated films and frequent collaborations with ensemble casts in mockumentary comedies such as Best in Show and A Mighty Wind; in her later career she enjoyed a renaissance of global attention as Moira Rose on the acclaimed sitcom Schitt’s Creek.

Her Schitt’s Creek role brought her additional Emmy and Golden Globe Awards as well as Screen Actors Guild recognition and endeared her to a new generation of fans. Off screen, O’Hara met production designer Bo Welch while working on Beetlejuice in the late 1980s, and the two married in 1992, building a life together and raising two sons, Matthew and Luke, while maintaining friendships with many of her long-time collaborators;

she was also honored as an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of her contributions to the performing arts. Catherine O’Hara died on Friday, January 30, 2026, at the age of 71 at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness, and she was survived by her husband Bo Welch, their sons Matthew and Luke, and her extended family; her passing was widely mourned by colleagues, friends and fans around the world, who celebrated her extraordinary talent and the joy she brought to audiences over more than half a century.

William “Billy Bass” Nelson Jr. was born on January 28, 1951, in Plainfield, New Jersey, where he grew up with a deep affinity for music that emerged in his teenage years while working at future bandmate George Clinton’s barbershop,

sweeping floors and entertaining customers with singing and dancing before being recruited by Clinton as a musician in the doo-wop vocal group the Parliaments and eventually becoming the original bassist and a defining creative force behind the funk collective that would evolve into Funkadelic and Parliament-Funkadelic. His early involvement in the burgeoning funk scene of the late 1960s positioned him at the heart of a transformative period in

American music as he and guitarist Eddie Hazel helped craft a new sound that blended raw funk grooves with psychedelic rock energy, with Nelson even coining the name “Funkadelic” to reflect the band’s fusion of styles and playing bass and contributing vocals on their seminal early albums, including Funkadelic (1970),

Free Your Mind… and Your Ass Will Follow (1970), and Maggot Brain (1971). After leaving the group in 1971 following a financial dispute with Clinton, Nelson continued his musical career by performing and recording with a diverse array of acts, including The Temptations, the Commodores, Jermaine Jackson, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, and others.

In the early 1990s he experienced renewed recognition as his early work was widely sampled and cited by later generations of bassists and hip-hop artists; in 1994 he briefly fronted a project under the name O.G. Funk that released the album Out of the Dark and rejoined Parliament-Funkadelic for touring and performance,

and in 1997 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with his fellow P-Funk alumni in recognition of his essential role in shaping one of the most influential collectives in popular music. Nelson’s personal life was deeply rooted in his passion for music and collaboration, and his contributions to the funk genre earned him respect among peers and fans alike even as he remained a somewhat understated figure compared with some of his successors;

his impact on the evolution of funk bass playing and his early work with George Clinton’s ensembles left a lasting legacy on multiple generations of musicians. On Saturday, January 31, 2026, just days after his 75th birthday and reported to have been in hospice care, Billy Bass Nelson died, and he was mourned by the music community and his many admirers around the world, survived by his family and the enduring influence of his pioneering work in the development of funk music.

Grady Demond Wilson was born on October 13, 1946, in Valdosta, Georgia, and was raised in the Harlem section of Manhattan, where his early life was shaped by a deep engagement with performance; he studied tap dance and ballet, appeared on Broadway at the age of four, and danced at the Apollo Theater by age 12, experiences that laid the foundation for a long career in entertainment. After his appendix ruptured when he was 12 and nearly cost him his life.

He made a personal vow to serve God in some capacity as an adult, a commitment that would later guide his life outside of acting. Wilson served in the United States Army from 1966 to 1968, where he was a member of the 4th Infantry Division and was wounded during the Vietnam War, experiences that interrupted but ultimately informed his career in the arts and his perspective on life.

Upon returning from military service he resumed performing on Broadway and in Off-Broadway productions before relocating to Hollywood, where he appeared in guest roles on television shows such as Mission: Impossible and All in the Family and in films including The Organization (1971) and Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1972),

work that led to his breakout role as Lamont Sanford on the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son, a series notable for its primarily Black cast and enduring appeal. In Sanford and Son Wilson portrayed the thoughtful son of Redd Foxx’s irascible Fred Sanford, co-anchoring the show through its six-season run and helping

shape its blend of humor and social commentary before moving on to star in other television projects such as Baby, I’m Back and The New Odd Couple and later appearing on Girlfriends and in films into the early 2000s; despite his success, he at times expressed a sense of disillusionment with show business and found greater personal fulfillment through faith and service. In the 1980s Wilson left Hollywood to become an ordained minister and devoted himself to pastoral work and community outreach,

founding Restoration House of America to assist former inmates and writing books that ranged from explorations of faith to his own memoir, Second Banana: The Bittersweet Memoirs of the Sanford & Son Years, along with children’s books and other publications. Wilson married former model Cicely Johnston in 1974, and the couple built a family together with six children, maintaining a life rooted in faith, service, and compassion even as he balanced occasional returns to

screen work with his ministry and writing. On Friday, January 30, 2026, Demond Wilson died at the age of 79 at his home in Palm Springs, California, from complications related to cancer, and he was survived by his wife Cicely, their children, and grandchildren, leaving behind a legacy as both a beloved television actor and a committed minister whose impact extended beyond the screen.