Ricky Lawson Rest In Peace

Studio drummer Ricky Lawson, a collaborator with musicians including Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and Whitney Houston, died at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center following a brain aneurism. He was 59.  Ricky became disoriented during a performance on December 13 and was diagnosed with an aneurism.  Lawson was removed from life support 10 days after the aneurism diagnosis and died around 7 p.m. Monday.  The Detroit native learned to play drums at age 16 and jumped into the music business even before graduating from Cooley High School, developing into one of the nation’s top studio musicians in the 1980s.  Ricky Lawson was a founding member of the Yellowjackets, which won a Grammy Award in 1986 for R&B instrumental performance for the song “And You Know That“.  Lawson’s organs were donated for possible transplant to others.