As we look back on the Top 89 of 2015, we also reflect on significant artists we lost over the past year. Before the Top 89 countdown begins, The Current's Mac Wilson spins tracks by these late musicians.

Lesley Gore

On Feb. 17, Lesley Gore died of cancer at age 68. Discovered by Quincy Jones as a 16-year-old ingenue, Gore performed the indelible 1963 hit “It’s My Party” as well as “You Don’t Own Me,” “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” and “She’s a Fool” – all top five hits, with “It’s My Party” taking Gore to number one just weeks after her 17th birthday. Though she didn’t write her early hits, later in her career Gore became a songwriter and was nominated for an Academy Award for cowriting Irene Cara‘s 1980 hit “Out Here On My Own” from Fame. (New York Times). During his March 6 in-studio session at The Current, BØRNS covered Gore's "It's My Party."

Percy Sledge

Soul legend Percy Sledge died April 14 at age 74. Sledge was at home in Baton Rouge, La. Sledge is best-known for his hit "When a Man Loves a Woman," which topped the Billboard singles chart in 1966 and became one of the era's most indelible classics, routinely appearing on lists of the greatest singles of all time.

B.B. King

B.B. King, one of the greatest bluesmen ever, died on May 14, at age 89. King had been suffering from health issues related to diabetes, and was in hospice care at his home in Las Vegas. Local musician AJ Scheiber shared this reflection on the life and legacy of King.

Allen Toussaint

R&B legend Allen Toussaint died Tuesday, Nov. 10, of an apparent heart attack after a concert in Madrid. He was 77 years old. The Current's program director, Jim McGuinn, shared a personal reflection on Toussaint's life and career.

Scott Weiland

Scott Weiland, a rock singer and songwriter best-known for fronting Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, died in Bloomington, Minn., on Dec. 3, at age 48. Born in San Jose in 1967, Weiland got his start on the southern California rock scene in the 1980s and quickly rose to international stardom when Stone Temple Pilots released their first albums in the early 1990s. The Current's Jim McGuinn shared some of his own thoughts about Weiland's work and legacy.

Lemmy Kilmister

Lemmy Kilmister, the frontman and only constant member of Motörhead, died on Dec. 28, at age 70. With Motörhead, Kilmister — born Ian Fraser Kilmister in Staffordshire, England — was a leading light of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, which won scores of fans among the disaffected British working class — and ultimately, around the world — as punk subsided in the late 1970s and early 1980s.