Warren Anthony Petty
August 30, 1957 – July 25th, 2024, Melbourne Florida
Warren Anthony Petty was born to Wallow and Sarah Petty on August 30, 1957, in Oklahoma. He had three siblings: Edwarde Duane Petty, Eulanda Delphine Petty, & Timothy Jay Petty. Warren’s father was in the Air Force & they traveled the world. They settled in Fairfield California, where the marriage dissolved. Sarah met Ray Barbour and remarried. Ray had 2 children Preston Barbour & Veronica Barbour (Warren’s stepbrother & sister).
Warren was predeceased by his father Wallow Petty, niece Lakisha Petty, sister Eulanda Petty, brother Edwarde Petty, brother Timothy Petty, stepfather Ray Barbour, & mother Sarah P. Barbour.
Warren is survived by his wife Kimberly Elizabeth Petty, daughter Britani Johnson, grandson Nathan, granddaughter Jaelyn, stepbrother Preston Barbour (wife Susan, Children Madeline & Payton), stepsister Veronica Barbour, nephew Wallace Petty (Son of Edwarde), nephew Timothy Jai Petty (Son of Timothy), nephew Anthony Griffin (Son of Eulanda), great nephews Lamar Argueta, Jayden Petty & great neice Kamiah Clark (Children of Lakisha).
Warren was a natural born musician. Sarah said he came out of the womb singing. He loved every kind of music. He started on Trumpet. He was hit in the lip playing baseball and picked up the guitar. At the age of 13 Warren picked up to the Bass Guitar. Warren (age 15) & Michael Loatman (age 17, Childhood Friend) started a band called Ebony Expression and played all the Air Force Bases on the weekends while still in high school.
At the age of 18 they became Cold Fire. Cold Fire was signed with Capitol Records and traveled with Parliament-Funkadelic and the Bar-Kays on the Flashlight Tour in 1980. The group had multiple tours in the United States & Japan, where Warren learned to speak Japanese. Warren left the Cold Fire project and formed his own group. He took his group back to Japan for a year before returning to the states.
He loved working with all the amazing artists including C W Vern, Getting Even, Burning Vernon, Bridget Marie, Alvin Draper, Mo Hill, Jackie Turner, Lady Chico, Icey Hott, Bobby Love, Cougar Unleashed, Tony Johns, Jake Mackey, Isaiah Pickett, Kimball Hooker, Tortilla Soup, Cisco Kid, Redeemer Lutheran Church in Redwood City, East Palo Alto Seventh Day Adventist Church with Michael Turner, New Shiloh Christian Center, and so many others. The loss of this amazing artist has truly impacted our musical community.
I loved Warren from the day we met at Little Lou’s BBQ jam session hosted by Tony Johns on May 6th, 2013 & we married June 26th, 2016. My husband, my partner, my friend and the love of my life. We lost an amazing man. He was a happy loving person that would give you the shirt off his back. Warren perfected his gift of playing the Bass Guitar to excellence! He was so in demand as a ‘Bass Man’ that he was playing with ten bands at one time. He gave so much to so many. I miss him with every part of my being! This feels like a dream and he’s going to walk through that door any moment. He will be appearing in the Celestial Choir. I know that God is very pleased with him. Warren truly loved the lord. I pray that we will be seeing him again in the Kingdom of Heaven.
“Warren Anthony Petty was a beacon of light in this world.
He will be missed by us all!”