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Guitarist played with Curtis Mayfield, Michael Jackson
Los Angeles Times
|December 08, 2025
Among the classic records he performed on was Chaka Khan’s ‘I’m Every Woman.’
ALWAYS IN DEMAND The prolific session guitarist plays at North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands in 1983. Upchurch had a hit of his own in 1961 with "You Can't Sit Down."
FRANS SCHELLEKENS Redferns
Phil Upchurch, a prolific session musician who played guitar on records by artists such as Michael Jackson, Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway and George Benson, died Nov. 23 in Los Angeles. He was 84.
His death was confirmed by his wife, Sonya Maddox-Upchurch, who didn’t specify a cause or say where in L.A. he died.
This story is from the December 08, 2025 edition of Los Angeles Times.
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