Generation Esmeralda
Drummer Parker Dies

Brad Parker, drummer for Generation Esmeralda featuring Jimmy Goings, suffered a heart attack during the band’s Sept. 22 gig in Uba, Brazil, and later died at a nearby hospital. He was 59, according to New York Daily News.

Goings confirmed Parker’s death Sept. 23 on the band’s Facebook page, saying, “To Dispell [sic] All rumors and hopefully re-focus intentions to the family I am deeply saddened to report that during our concert in Uba, Brazil, last night, we lost our friend and brother Brad Parker to a fatal heart attack. … Please honor Brad as we do in his memory and remember him and his amazing talent and for the loving person he was.”

Generation Esmeralda features memebers of ’70s disco group Santa Esmeralda, which had hits with covers of “House of the Rising Sun” and “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.”