Stephen P. MORSE

MORSE, Stephen P. 1948 - 2024 Of Cambridge, MA, passed away peacefully on October 26, 2024. He was the son of Marjorie and Walter (Prince) Morse, formerly of Wellesley, MA. He leaves behind a son, Nick Morse of Watertown, MA; his fiancée, Jessa; his sister, Cindy Carbeau, and husband Jerry Carbeau of Millis, MA; and two nephews, John and Jesse Carbeau.

Steve was a graduate of Wellesley High School in 1966 and Brown University in 1970. After graduation, he taught sociology and psychology at Barrington High School in RI for two years. Then, freelanced at the Warwick Beacon and Walpole Times, among other local weeklies. Subsequently, freelanced music reviews at the Boston Globe from 1975-1978, when he was hired. He attended 250 concerts a year for 30 years. Through the years, he interviewed Tom Petty seven times and multiple times with U2, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Nicks, Allman Brothers, Pearl Jam, AC/DC, Dave Matthews, Jimmy Buffett, Willie Nelson, Grateful Dead, Sleepy LaBeef, etc. He also interviewed Bob Marley, Muddy Waters, Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, Joan Baez, Phish, Huey Lewis, Eric Clapton, REM, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Kenny Chesney, Bob Seger, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, and multiple interviews with Boston bands Aerosmith, Boston, the J. Geils Band and The Cars.

Major events covered: Live Aid, the first Farm Aid, Conspiracy Hope Tour (that benefitted Amnesty International), and Woodstock II and III. He served seven years on the nominating committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was the first to nominate AC/DC! Freelanced for Billboard Magazine, Rolling Stone and Musician Magazine. For two years after leaving The Globe in 2005, he had the weekly radio show "Morse on Music" for WBOS. He wrote and taught the online rock history course for Berklee Online for the last 12 years, teaching thousands of students from all over the world.

He was on the parents committee at the Cardinal Cushing Center, where his son, Nick, went for ten years. He also helped get Nick into the special needs art day program at Outside the Lines Studio in Medford and coordinated his exhibits at Cambridge Open Studios, Club Passim, ZuZu, and Precinct. He travelled widely and was lucky enough to catch Led Zeppelin, twice, in England, in 1969 and The Rolling Stones Hyde Park concert, in 1969. Also, early on, he saw The Doors, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, and Fleetwood Mac around Boston in the 60's. He also was inducted into The New England Music Hall of Fame in 2023.

Services will be private for immediate family only. A Memorial Service for friends and colleagues will be scheduled for the spring. A GoFundMe page will be set up shortly for his son, Nick.