Kitty Chrisp
Published December 9, 2025 9:37pm
Updated December 9, 2025 9:58pm
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Jubilant Sykes has been stabbed to death in his Santa Monica home, police say (Picture: Getty Images)
Grammy-nominated classical, opera and gospel singer Jubilant Sykes was stabbed to death at his Santa Monica home on Monday.
Sykes, who died aged 71, was pronounced dead at the scene and his son has been taken to custody, police said in a statement.
The Santa Monica Police Department released a statement revealing they responded to a 911 call Monday at approximately 9.20pm.
On arrival, Sykes was found with ‘critical injuries consistent with a stabbing’, according to the official report.
‘The suspect, the victim’s son, Micah Sykes, 31, was found inside the residence and taken into custody without incident,’ police continued.
He will be ‘booked for homicide, and the case will be presented to the LA County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration’, the statement added.
Classical, opera and gospel singer Jubilant Sykes was stabbed to death in his Santa Monica home on Monday, police say (Picture: Brill/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
‘The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation,’ police said, as they are processing evidence, including a weapon recovered at the scene.
They added: ‘This appears to be an isolated incident occurring within a private residence, and there is no ongoing threat to the community.’
Raised in Los Angeles, Sykes sang soprano as a child, and went on to perform all over the world in major venues, despite opera singing not being on the agenda as a youngster.
‘Initially, I had no dreams of becoming an opera singer,’ he told CSUF News in 2019.
‘But that changed when I was at Cal State Fullerton. I had teachers who poured their lives into me. I had everything I needed right on campus to prepare me for my career.’
He performed all over the world with many orchestras (Picture: Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images)
Sykes performed the role of the celebrant in the Grammy Award-nominated 2009 recording of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass.
Over the years, Sykes was described as ‘inspired’ by the New York Times, and as ‘a man whose voice is the unforced center of his personal expression…grand…relaxed…artistic…intimate,’ in Los Angeles Times.
‘Sykes is a charismatic baritone of multifarious resources, a powerful and welcome presence in Bach and Mozart,’ the publication added in a review.
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‘His voice is rich and beautifully controlled, with a molten bottom and shimmering top, the articulation razor-sharp,’ wrote Washington Post.
He performed on stages including the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Arena di Verona in Italy, London’s Barbican Center to the New Orleans Jazz Festival, the Apollo Theater and Hollywood Bowl.
The baritone also performed with a number of renowned orchestras, including London Symphony, and he collaborated with artists including Brian Wilson and Julie Andrews.
Sykes had three sons – Madison, Morgan and Micah – who he welcomed with wife Cecelia.
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