NASHVILLE (CelebrityAccess) — Sally Tiven, a prolific American songwriter and musician who worked primarily in the blues and soul genres, passed away on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.
She played guitar on recordings by B.B. King (“All You Ever Give Me Is the Blues”) and bass guitar on Wilson Pickett’s It’s Harder Now (1999), Don Covay’s Adlib (2000), and Sir Mack Rice’s This Is What I Do (2001). She also contributed as a songwriter to those projects.
Her songs have been recorded by a wide range of artists, including Huey Lewis & The News (“He Don’t Know”), Buddy Guy (“Heavy Love”), Shemekia Copeland (“Married to the Blues,” “Big Lovin’ Woman,” and “Has Anybody Seen My Man”), Irma Thomas (“Trying to Catch a Cab in the Rain”), Australia’s Ian Moss (“Mr. Rain”), and the Jeff Healey Band (“River of No Return”).
Born Sally Young, she met music journalist and producer Jon Tiven in New York in 1977. The couple fell in love and married in 1979, beginning a 46-year marriage and a close musical partnership. Sally joined his group, the Yankees, and together they played in bands that backed a formidable list of artists including P.F. Sloan, Stephen J. Kalinich, Ellis Hooks, Syl Johnson, Bettye Harris, Billie Ray Martin, Al Franken, Marty Brown, Howard Tate, Garnet Mimms, Willie Jones, Bebe Buell, Creed Bratton, Troy Turner, and Little Milton.
In 1991, Sally gave birth to their daughter, Jacqueline Lucile Tiven, and became deeply involved as a school volunteer. After the family relocated to Nashville in 2002, she immersed herself in the Nashville Adult Literacy Program, dedicating time to teaching English to individuals unfamiliar with reading and writing in the language.
Sally is survived by her husband, Jon; daughter, Lucy; sisters Robin Young, Tracy Young, and Susan Sandomirsky; nephew, Nick; and niece, Robin.
