Charles Segal, 92, of Los Angeles, California, born in Lithuania, and formerly of Cape Town, South Africa and Newton, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully in the company of his loving family on the evening of Sunday, July 4, 2021, in Los Angeles.
Charles is survived by his loving wife, Colleen, and his children: Michelle (Shapiro) Barone and her husband Joseph; Mark Shapiro and his wife Bridget (Zech); Reeve Segal and his wife Kaela (Crawford); and Melanie Segal. Charles is also survived by his grandchildren, Benjamin and Charles’ soon-to-be granddaughter Segal.
Charles was a unique force of nature - a highly trained, talented and accomplished musician and composer whose passion for music spanned a lifetime - from the 1920s to the 2020s.
In his 92 years of life, Charles achieved so much, including currently beating his Guinness World Record as the Most Recorded pianist, with over 28,000 tracks currently on SoundCloud.com, over a million plays on Pandora and music on many platforms including YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and many more.
Charles loved music and he loved people. His outgoing, kind and gentle nature touched countless people. If you met him, you remembered him!
Charles’ sudden departure after a very short illness has left those who love and admire him with a vacuum that will be hard to fill. His huge presence will be greatly missed.
Charles has left the world a legacy of amazing music that we can all still enjoy for many years to come. His family is grateful for his vigor for life and for his artistic touch to the work so people can be inspired to live life like Charles did - with infinite enthusiasm, passion, kindness and drive.
Services will be held on Thursday, July 8, 2021 at 1:00 PM PST at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.