Dave Mason, the Worcester-born singer, songwriter, and guitarist who co-founded Traffic, wrote some of classic rock’s most enduring songs, and left his fingerprints on recordings by Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, George Harrison, and dozens more, passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 19, at the age of 79. According to a statement from his family, Mason had just cooked dinner with his beloved wife Winifred, sat down in his favourite chair in the Carson Valley he loved, and drifted off. His daughter Danielle survives him. He was preceded in death by his son True and his sister Valerie Leonard.
The family’s statement said it plainly: “Dave Mason lived a remarkable life devoted to the music and people he loved.” For anyone who followed his career, that’s not a summary. That’s an accurate description of how the man moved through the world, from the earliest days of Traffic to his final years as a tireless live performer who played every room, large or small, with the same conviction.
Mason came to prominence in 1967 as a founding member of Traffic alongside Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood. In his brief but impactful tenure with the band, he wrote and sang “Hole in My Shoe,” which hit No. 2 on the UK charts, and “Feelin’ Alright?,” a Traffic album cut that Joe Cocker later transformed into one of rock radio’s most recognizable songs. It’s a quirk of music history that Cocker removed the question mark, fundamentally altering the meaning. Mason himself noted with good humor in 2014 that the song was actually about not feeling very good at all. But without Cocker’s version, he acknowledged, the song might never have reached the audience it deserved. That generosity of spirit defined him.
His session work during this period remains staggering in scope. He played 12-string acoustic guitar on Jimi Hendrix’s recording of “All Along the Watchtower” on ‘Electric Ladyland,’ appeared on the Rolling Stones’ ‘Beggars Banquet’ playing shehnai and bass drum on “Street Fighting Man,” and contributed to George Harrison’s landmark ‘All Things Must Pass.’ He also played on early sessions for Derek and the Dominos, appeared on records by Graham Nash, David Crosby, Paul McCartney, and Wings, and dueted with Michael Jackson on his 1980 single “Save Me.” The list reads like a who’s who of rock’s most significant recordings, and Mason was simply there, instrument in hand, doing the work.
His solo career produced several genuine classics. ‘Alone Together,’ his 1970 debut, went gold and peaked in the Top 25 on the strength of “Only You Know and I Know.” The 1977 album ‘Let It Flow’ went platinum behind “We Just Disagree,” co-written with Jim Krueger, which reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has remained a staple of classic rock radio ever since. His 1987 duet with Phoebe Snow, “Dreams I Dream,” reached No. 11 on the adult contemporary charts. These weren’t a lucky streak. They were the output of a songwriter who understood melody, storytelling, and the emotional weight a well-placed vocal could carry.
A curious and often overlooked chapter in his story came in the mid-1990s when longtime friend Mick Fleetwood invited him into a rebuilding Fleetwood Mac. Mason appeared on the 1995 album ‘Time’ and toured with the group, contributing songs, guitar, and vocals to a lineup navigating a complicated transitional moment. The reunion of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks eventually rendered that lineup a footnote, but Mason was typically gracious about it: “They got Stevie and Lindsey back in the band, which was pretty much for the best.” That’s the kind of man he was.
Beyond music, Mason invested deeply in causes he believed in. He was an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, providing free instruments and lessons to public school children across the United States. He co-founded Rock Our Vets with longtime friend Ted Knapp, an all-volunteer charity supporting homeless veterans, continuing education for vets, and suicide prevention. He also co-founded RKS Guitars in 2004 with industrial designer Ravi Sawhney, building one of the earliest sustainable electric guitar designs, work that earned two Silver IDEA Awards from the Industrial Designers Society of America and a case study from Harvard Business Review.
Mason was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 as a founding member of Traffic, with Dave Matthews doing the honours. Health challenges in his final years forced him to retire from touring in September 2025, though he made clear he wasn’t done with music entirely. His most recent show had been in August 2024. He spent his final months in the Carson Valley, at peace, surrounded by the landscape he loved. “I love playing,” he once told the Newark Advocate, “so why not keep doing it while I can?” He did, right up until the end, and the music he left behind will keep doing the same.
