2012年 Feb 13日 Monday, 7:18

This is an article in which I tried to bundle all the great losses of rock'n roll and modern music. That means all the musicians which are worldwide known and died at young age (before 51 years old). I tried to give a little information about the way they died. Most of the information I got from Wikipedia. When someone thinks I forgot an artist or that the information is incorrect… I'm open for new information.

The list is in order of age of dying
For the artists younger than 37 I'll recommend you Pt 1;
http://www.last.fm/user/thomas10/journal/2011/07/23/4i06tu_famous_dead_musiciansartists_and_causes_of_death_%28pt_1%2C_age_16-36%29

37
Lhasa de Sela (Lhasa) (1972-2010)
Following a 21-month-long battle with breast cancer, Lhasa died, age 37, on the evening of January 1, 2010, at her home in Montreal.
Rhett Forrester (Riot) (1956-1994)
Murdered. He was shot and killed in Atlanta, Georgia, after he refused to give up his vehicle in an attempted carjacking. The crime has not to date, been solved.
King Curtis (1934-1971)
Murdered. Around midnight Curtis was lugging an air-conditioning unit towards his brownstone apartment on West 86th Street in New York City when he noticed two junkies were using drugs on the steps to his home. When he asked them to leave, an argument started. The argument quickly became heated and turned into a fist-fight with one of the men, 26-year old Juan Montañez. Suddenly, Montañez pulled out a knife and stabbed Curtis in the chest. Curtis managed to wrestle the knife away and stab his assailant four times before collapsing. Montañez staggered away from the scene and Curtis was taken to a hospital, where he died from his wounds less than an hour later. Montañez was arrested at the same hospital Curtis had been taken to. When police officers investigating the murder learned that another man had been admitted to the hospital with stab wounds around the same time as Curtis, they quickly realized that the two events were connected. Montañez was charged with Curtis' murder and subsequently sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
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Jeffrey Lee Pierce (The Gun Club) (1958-1996)
Brain hemorrhage. His health had been poor for some time, and he suffered further from prolonged use of opiates ("I beat scars into my arms waiting for an early death"). The final Gun Club album, 1993's Lucky Jim includes the songs "Idiot Waltz" and "Desire." In the early stages of his career, Pierce was supported by Debbie Harry of Blondie, who was convinced of his potential as musician and artist. He originally met Harry, as well as Chris Stein (also of Blondie), through his position as the president of Blondie's US fan club. Jeffrey Lee Pierce died from a brain hemorrhage.
Jam Master Jay (Run-D.M.C.) (1965-2002)
Murdered. He was shot and killed in a recording studio in Queens. The other person in the room, 25-year-old Urieco Rincon, was shot in the ankle and survived. In 2003, Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, a convicted drug dealer and longtime friend of Murder Inc. heads Irv and Chris Gotti, was investigated for targeting Mizell because the DJ defied an industry blacklist of rapper 50 Cent that was imposed because of "Ghetto Qu'ran", a song 50 Cent wrote about McGriff's drug history. In 2007, federal prosecutors named Ronald "Tenad" Washington as an accomplice in the murder. Washington also is a suspect in the 1995 murder of Randy "Stretch" Walker, a close associate of the late rapper Tupac Shakur. According to court papers filed by the prosecution, Washington “pointed his gun at those present in the studio, ordered them to get on the ground and provided cover for his associate to shoot and kill Jason Mizell (a.k.a. Jam Master Jay)."
Bobby Darin (1936-1973)
Heart attack. In 1971, he underwent his first heart surgery in an attempt to correct some of the heart damage he had lived with since childhood. In 1973, Darin's ill health took a turn for the worse. After failing to take medication to protect his heart before a dental visit, he developed blood poisoning. This weakened his body and badly affected one of his heart valves. On December 11, Darin entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for surgery to repair two artificial heart valves he had received in the previous heart operation back in January 1971. On December 19, a five-man surgical team worked for over six hours to repair Darin's damaged heart. Darin died minutes afterward in the recovery room.
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Michael Hutchence (INXS) (1960-1997)
Suicide. The New South Wales coroner determined that Hutchence's death was the result of suicide. The coroner's report states: "An analysis report of the deceased's blood indicates the presence of alcohol, cocaine, Prozac and other prescription drugs. On consideration of the entirety of the evidence gathered I am satisfied that the deceased was in a severe depressed state on the morning of the 22nd November, 1997, due to a number of factors, including the relationship with Paula Yates and the pressure of the on-going dispute with Bob Geldof, combined with the effects of the substances that he had ingested at that time. As indicated I am satisfied that the deceased intended and did take his own life." Kym Wilson and her then boyfriend Andrew Reyment were the last people to see Michael alive as they left him; he was still awaiting a phone call from London concerning whether Yates would be able to bring his daughter Tiger to Australia. Michael Hutchence's last outgoing phone calls were to his manager, Martha Troup, and his former long-time girlfriend, Michele Bennett, who stated that Hutchence was crying, tired and said he needed to see her. Bennett arrived at his door soon after at approximately but, there was no answer. The message he left for his manager was "I've f-ing had enough." Hutchence's body was discovered by a hotel maid: "He was in a kneeling position facing the door. He had used his black leather belt to tie a knot on the automatic door closure at the top of the door, and had strained his head forward into the loop so hard that the buckle had broken."
Joe Meek (1929-1967)
Suicide. Meek was obsessed with the occult and the idea of "the other side". He would set up tape machines in graveyards in a vain attempt to record voices from beyond the grave, in one instance capturing the meows of a cat he claimed was speaking in human tones, asking for help. In particular, he had an obsession with Buddy Holly (claiming the late American rocker had communicated with him in dreams) and other dead rock and roll musicians. His professional efforts were often hindered by his paranoia (Meek was convinced that Decca Records would put hidden microphones behind his wallpaper in order to steal his ideas), drug use and attacks of rage or depression. Meek's homosexuality - illegal in the UK at the time - put him under further pressure; he had been convicted of "importuning for immoral purposes" and fined £15: he was consequently subject to blackmail. In January 1967, police in Suffolk, discovered a suitcase containing the mutilated body of Bernard Oliver. According to some accounts, Meek became concerned that he would be implicated in the murder investigation when the Metropolitan Police stated that they would be interviewing all known homosexuals in the city. One month later, the eighth anniversary of Buddy Holly's death, Meek killed his landlady and then himself with a single barreled shotgun that he had confiscated from his protegé.
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Paul Gray (Slipknot) (1972-2010)
Drug overdose. Gray had been found dead in room 431 at the Towneplace Suites hotel in Urbandale, Iowa. Autopsy results were released that stated Gray had died of an accidental overdose of morphine and fentanyl, and had also shown signs of "significant heart disease".
Bob Hite (Canned Heat) (1943-1981)
Heart attack. Hite was found dead in his van of a heart attack.
David Byron (Uriah Heep) (1947-1985)
Alcohol related complications. He died of alcohol related complications in Reading. The coroner's report cited epilepsy and fatty liver.
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole (1959-1997)
Weight-related respiratory illness. Kamakawiwoʻole was obese and at one point carried 757 pounds (343 kg; 54.1 st) on his 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m) frame. He endured several hospitalizations because of problems caused by his weight and died at The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu.
Keith Hudson (1946-1984)
Hudson was diagnosed with lung cancer in August 1984, and appeared to be responding well to treatment, but on the morning of 14 November he complained of stomach pains, collapsed and died.
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Brain tumor. In 1937 Gershwin began to complain of blinding headaches and a recurring impression that he was smelling burned rubber. Doctors discovered he had developed a type of cystic malignant brain tumor known as glioblastoma multiforme. Although some tried to trace his disease to a blow on the head from a golf ball, the cause of this type of cancer is still unknown. It occurs most often in males, accounts for 52% of all brain cancers, and is nearly always fatal. Gershwin suffered "musical blackouts" during his final performances. It was in Hollywood, while working on the score of The Goldwyn Follies, that he collapsed.
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Dimebag Darrell (Pantera & Damageplan) (1966-2004)
Murdered. He was shot onstage while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. The gunman was Nathan Gale, who shot Abbott eight times, including five times in the head, killing him instantly. Gale then continued shooting, killing four others and wounding a further seven. Gale fired a total of fifteen shots, taking the time to reload once and remaining silent throughout the shooting. Early theories of motive suggested that Gale may have turned to violence in response to the breakup of Pantera, or the public dispute between Dimebag Darrell and Pantera singer Phil Anselmo, but these were later ruled out by investigators. Another theory was that Gale believed Dimebag Darrell had stolen a song that he had written. In the book, A Vulgar Display Of Power, several of Gale's personal writings, given to the author by his mother, suggest that the gunman was not angry about Pantera's breakup or about a belief that Pantera had "stolen songs;" instead, the documents suggest that Gale's paranoid schizophrenia caused delusions that the band could read his mind, and that they were "stealing" his thoughts and laughing at him.
Suba (1961-1999)
He was working on the postproduction of the album of his newfound diva, Bebel Gilberto, when his studio caught fire. Overcome by smoke, he died trying to rescue the newly recorded material with her. Suba died just a few days after the release of his now-legendary album São Paulo Confessions, and shortly before the completion of Bebel Gilberto's acclaimed Tanto Tempo, the biggest selling Brazilian album outside Brazil.
Van McCoy (1940-1979)
Heart attack. McCoy died from a heart attack in Englewood, New Jersey.
Harry Chapin (1942-1981)
Car accident. Chapin was driving in the left lane on the Long Island Expressway at about 65 mph on the way to perform at a free concert scheduled for later that evening in East Meadow, New York. Near exit 40 in Jericho he put on his emergency flashers, presumably because of either a mechanical or medical problem (possibly a heart attack). He then slowed to about 15 miles (24 km) per hour and veered into the center lane, nearly colliding with another car. He swerved left, then to the right again, ending up directly in the path of a tractor-trailer truck. The truck could not brake in time and rammed the rear of Chapin's blue 1975 Volkswagen Rabbit, rupturing the fuel tank by climbing its back and causing it to burst into flames. The driver of the truck and a passerby were able to get Chapin out of the burning car through the window and by cutting the seat belts before the car was completely engulfed in flames. He was taken by police helicopter to a hospital, where ten doctors tried for 30 minutes to revive him. A spokesman for the Nassau County Medical Center said Chapin had suffered a heart attack and "died of cardiac arrest", but there was no way of knowing whether it occurred before or after the accident.
Lester Butler (The Red Devils) (1959-1998)
Speedball. Butler died of an overdose of heroin and cocaine in Los Angeles. Two of his friends were convicted in his death with involuntary manslaughter.
Dédé Fortin (Les Colocs) (1962-2000)
Suicide. He committed seppuku, a Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment, (removing of some of the vital organs) in his apartment in Montreal. A friend found him in a pool of blood.
Jeffrey Porcaro (Toto) (1954-1992)
Gardening accident. He was spraying insecticide in his garden and inhaled too much of the spray, triggering a heart attack. An autopsy revealed a serious heart condition that had been previously undiagnosed.
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El Duce (The Mentors) (1958-1997)
Death by misadventure, but his notoriety stems from his claim that Courtney Love offered him 50 thousand dollars to kill her husband, grunge icon, Kurt Coabin. In 1996, El Duce told his story to a film-maker and a polygraph test supposedly determined that he was telling the truth. A week after the interview, he was found dead by a railway track. Supposedly there was a high volume of alcohol in his blood and the authorities dubbed his a death by misadventure, but his friends suspect foul play.
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Dennis Wilson (The Beach Boys) (1944-1983)
Drowned. Succeeding years saw Wilson battling alcohol abuse. Smoking and drugs had also taken a toll on his vocal chords, although the resultant gravelly effect helped define him as a singer. On December 28, 1983, Wilson drowned at Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles after drinking all day and diving in the afternoon to recover items he had thrown overboard at the marina from his yacht back in 1980.
Brenda Fassie (1964-2004)
Cocaine overdose. Brenda collapsed at her home in Buccleuch and was admitted into a hospital in Johannesburg. The press were told that she had suffered cardiac arrest but later reported that she had slipped into a coma brought on by an asthma attack. The post-mortem report revealed that she had taken an overdose of cocaine in the night of her collapse, and this was the cause of her coma. She stopped breathing and suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. Fassie was visited in the hospital by Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, and Thabo Mbeki, and her condition was front-page news in South African papers. She died in hospital without returning to consciousness after her life support machines were turned off. According to the South African Sunday Times and the managers of her music company, the post-mortem report also showed that she was HIV-positive.
Billy MacKenzie (The Associates) (1957-1997)
Drug overdose. Depression and the death of his mother are believed to have contributed to his suicide. He overdosed on a combination of the anti-depressant amitriptyline, temazepam, and paracetamol in the garden shed of his father's house in Dundee.
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Johnny Thunders (The New York Dolls) (1952-1991)
Conflicting sources report heroin overdose or methadone and cocaine poisoning or that the autopsy did not disclose a cause of death. He apparently died of drug-related causes, but it has been speculated that it was the result of foul play. Dee Dee Ramone took a call in New York the next day from Stevie Klasson, Johnny's rhythm guitar player. "They told me that Johnny had gotten mixed up with some bastards… who ripped him off for his methadone supply. They had given him LSD and then murdered him. He had gotten a pretty large supply of methadone in England, so he could travel and stay away from those creeps - the drug dealers, Thunders imitators, and losers like that." What is known for certain is that Johnny's room was ransacked and most of his possessions were missing (passport, makeup, clothes). Rigor mortis had set in with his body positioned in an unnatural state, described by eyewitnesses as "like a pretzel", underneath a coffee table. Friends and acquaintances acknowledge he had not been using heroin for some time, relying on his methadone prescriptions. The police did not open a criminal investigation.
Jermaine Stewart (1957-1997)
AIDS-related liver cancer. He died in the Chicago suburb of Homewood, Illinois.
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Tim Hardin (1941-1980)
Heroin overdose. During the years Hardin moved between England and the U.S. his heroin addiction had taken control of his life by the time his last album, "Nine". He sold his writers' rights in the late 1970s. Tim Hardin died of a heroin overdose in 1980.
Blaze Foley (1949-1989)
Murdered. Foley was shot to death while helping his friend Concho January defend himself from his violent son Carey January on the verandah of Concho's house. Carey January was acquitted of murder in the first degree by reason of self-defense. Friends of Foley were outraged at the verdict.
Clyde McPhatter (The Drifters) (1932-1972)
Alcohol-related compications. McPhatter died in his sleep at the age of 39 from complications of heart, liver, and kidney disease, brought on by alcohol abuse - abuse that had been fueled by a failed career and the resentment he harbored towards the fans he felt had deserted him. In a 1971 interview with journalist Marcia Vance, McPhatter told Vance "I have no fans."
Claude François (1939-1978)
Electrocuted. After finishing a shower, Francois noticed that the light bulb in the socket hanging above him was burned out. With his feet still in the water, he reached up to change the bulb and was instantly electrocuted. Several female fans committed suicide upon news of his death.
Fats Waller (1904-1943)
Pneumonia. Waller contracted pneumonia and died on a cross country train trip near Kansas City, Missouri. Upon arrival at Kansas City, word of Waller's death immediately spread throughout the station and onto another train headed west. Also on the train was Louis Armstrong who, upon hearing the news, cried for hours.
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Dinah Washington (1924-1963)
Drug overdose. Dinah's eighth husband, NFL player Dick "Night Train" Lane went to sleep with his wife and awoke later to find Dinah slumped over and not responsive. The doctor came to the scene to pronounce her dead. An autopsy later showed a lethal combination of secobarbital and amobarbital which contributed to her untimely death.
Al Jackson Jr. (Booker T. & The MG's) (1935-1975)
Murdered. After the Ali-Frazier fight, Jackson returned home and found intruders in his house. He was reportedly told to get down on his knees and then shot fatally five times in the back. Around 3:00 a.m., Barbara Jackson ran out in the street, yelling for help. She told police that burglars had tied her up and then shot her husband when he returned home. Police found nothing in the house out of place and Al Jackson's wallet and jewelry were still on him. The man police believed to have pulled the trigger had reportedly known someone in Memphis and after robbing a bank in Florida, told them to meet him over at Al Jackson's house. Tracked through Florida to Memphis to Seattle, Washington, the suspected triggerman was killed by a police officer on July 15, 1976 after a gun battle.
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Sergio Vega (1969-2010)
Murdered. Vega was murdered while on his way to perform at a village festival concert in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Gunmen travelling in a truck drove alongside his red Cadillac and opened fire on the vehicle. They then reportedly fired shots at Vega's head and chest from close range. At the time of his death, rumours had been circulating online that he had already been killed. Just hours before he was shot, Vega was interviewed for an article on entertainment website La Oreja, in which he confirmed he was still alive. Vega was a singer of narcocorridos — ballads that celebrate the lives of drug dealers. Musicians who play this kind of music in Mexico are known to sometimes become the targets of rival gangs.
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John Lennon (1940-1980)
Murdered. When Lennon and Yoko Ono returned to the Dakota, the New York apartment building where they lived, when Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times at the entrance to the building. Earlier that evening, Lennon had autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman. Lennon was taken to the emergency room of the nearby hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival.
Glenn Miller (1904-1944)
Disapeared. On December 15, 1944, Miller was to fly from the United Kingdom to Paris, France, to play for the soldiers there. His plane departed from Bedfordshire and disappeared while flying over the English Channel. No trace of the aircrew, passengers or plane has ever been found. Miller's status is missing in action. There are a few theories about what happened to Miller's plane, including the suggestion that he might have been hit by Royal Air Force bombs after an abortive raid on Germany. One hundred and thirty-eight Lancaster bombers, short on fuel, jettisoned approximately 100,000 incendiaries in a designated area before landing. The logbooks a Royal Air Force navigator recorded that he saw a small, single-engined monoplane spiraling out of control and crashing into the water. However, a second source, while acknowledging the possibility, cites other RAF crew members flying the same mission who stated that the drop area was in the North Sea. In a book by a former member of Dwight D. Eisenhower's personal staff, argues that the U.S. government covered up Miller's death. This suggested that Miller, who spoke German, had been enlisted by Eisenhower to covertly attempt to convince some German officers to end the war early. The book goes on to suggest that Miller was captured and killed in a Paris brothel, and his death covered up to save the government embarrassment.
41
Falco (1957-1998)
Car crash. He died of severe injuries received from a collision with a bus in his Mitsubishi Montero in the Dominican Republic. It was initially reported that the autopsy showed high blood levels of alcohol and cocaine, however this was later dismissed. At the time of his death, he was planning a comeback.
Adrian Borland (The Sound) (1957-1999)
Borland had lived with severe depression for about 14 years and he had tried to commit suicide at least three times, the third (according to his mother) when he jumped in front of a car. He had also developed a drinking problem. At Christmas horrified commuters watched as Borland committed suicide by throwing himself under a train at Wimbledon Station.
Ira Louvin (The Louvin Brothers) (1924-1965)
Carcrash. Louvin was notorious for his drinking and short temper. He married four times, his third wife having shot him multiple times in the chest and hand after he allegedly beat her. He died in 1965 when a drunken driver struck his car in Williamsburg, Missouri. At the time, a warrant for Louvin's arrest had been issued on a DUI charge.
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John Coltrane (1926-1967)
Liver cancer. The cause of his illness was hepatitis, although he also attributed the disease to Coltrane's heroin use. In an interview Albert Ayler claimed that Coltrane was consulting a Hindu meditative healer for his illness instead of Western medicine, though Alice Coltrane later denied this.
Eric Carr (KISS) (1950-1991)
He was diagnosed with an unexpectedly serious and extremely rare type of cancer - heart cancer.
Sylvester (1947-1988)
Complications from AIDS. He died in San Francisco.
Kevin Wilkinson (The Waterboys) (1958-1999)
Suicide. Wilkinson commited suicide by hanging himself in the family home in Baydon, near Swindon.
Joe Dassin (1938-1980)
Heart attack. Dassin died of a heart attack during a vacation to Tahiti.
Bobby DeBarge (Switch/(DeBarge) (1956-1999)
AIDS. In 1988, Bobby and his younger brother Chico were arrested for intention to distribute drugs in their hometown of Grand Rapids. Bobby served his five years in a federal penitentiary in Wisconsin, and his brother Chico served five years in a federal penitentiary in Milan, Michigan. During the prison intake process, Bobby found out he had AIDS which he contracted through heroin use. After leaving prison and gaining sobriety, DeBarge tried continuing his music career, but shortly after his release, Bobby died from complications of AIDS.
Kirsty MacColl (1959-2000)
Killed in a controversial boating incident. On a holiday in Mexico, with her sons and her partner, she and her sons went diving in a specific diving area that watercraft were restricted from entering. With the group was a local veteran divemaster. As the group was surfacing from a dive, a speeding powerboat entered the restricted area. MacColl saw the boat coming before her sons did; Louis was not in the boat's path, but Jamie was. She was able to push him out of the way (he sustained minor head and rib injuries) but in doing so, she was hit by the boat and killed instantly.
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Divine (1945-1988)
Sleep apnea. One week after Hairspray was released, Divine was staying at the Regency Hotel in Los Angeles. The next day, he auditioned for a part in the Fox network's television series Married… with Children. After dining with friends and returning to the hotel, he died in his sleep of sleep apneu and an enlarged heart.
Eddie Hazel (Parliament & Funkadelic) (1950-1992)
Alcohol related illness. Hazel died from internal bleeding and liver failure.
Freddie King (1934-1976)
Near-constant touring took its toll on Freddie King (he was on the road almost 300 days out of the year), and in 1976 he began suffering stomach ulcers. His health quickly deteriorated and he died complications from that and acute pancreatitis.
Philip Taylor Kramer (Iron Butterfly) (1953-1995)
Presumed suicide. He disappeared without a trace in 1995. Four years later hikers in LA found his remains in a car at the bottom of a 200 foot ravine. Kramer was also working on guidance systems for the MX missile for the US government. Prior to his discovery, many theories abounded regarding his sudden and unexplained disappearance.
Elvis Presley (1935-1977)
Cardiac arrhythmia. In 1977 he was hugely overweight, his mind dulled by the pharmacopoeia he daily ingested, he was barely able to pull himself through his abbreviated concerts. In Louisiana, the singer was on stage for less than an hour and was impossible to understand. He failed to appear in Baton Rouge: he was unable to get out of his hotel bed, and the rest of the tour was cancelled. Despite the accelerating deterioration of his health, he stuck to most touring commitments. In South Dakota, he was so nervous on stage that he could hardly talk, and unable to perform any significant movement. The fans were becoming increasingly voluble about their disappointment, but it all seemed to go right past. His world was now confined almost entirely to his room and his spiritualism books. A cousin, recalled how Presley would sit in his room and chat for hours, sometimes recounting favorite Monty Python sketches and his own past escapades, but more often gripped by paranoid obsessions. When he was scheduled to fly out of Memphis, to begin another tour, ih that afternoon he was discovered unresponsive on his bathroom floor. Attempts to revive him failed, and death was officially pronounced . Autopsy founds in his system "significant" levels of ethinamate, methaqualone, codeine and different barbiturates, including amobarbital, pentobarbital, and phenobarbital.
Ofra Haza (1957-2000)
Ofra Haza died of AIDS-related pneumonia. While the fact of her HIV infection is now generally acknowledged, the decision by the major Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz to report about it shortly after her death caused controversy in Israel. That a star with a reputation for clean living could be stricken caused shock among fans, debate about the media's potential invasion of her privacy, and speculation about how she had become infected, particularly blaming her husband. Other reports indicate that she may have contracted the virus as a result of a blood transfusion in a Turkish hospital following a miscarriage.
Billy Fury (1940-1983)
Rheumatic fever, which he first contracted as a child, damaged his heart and ultimately contributed to his death. After returning from a recording session in London in the early hours of 28 January 1983, Fury collapsed in his home in Wales during the night. His wife Lisa Voice found him unconscious the next morning. He was rushed to a hospital, but died later in the afternoon.
Peter Tosh (1944-1987)
Murdered. Just after Tosh had returned to his home in Jamaica, a three-man gang came to his house demanding money. Tosh replied that he did not have any with him but the gang did not believe him. They stayed at his residence for several hours in an attempt to extort money from Tosh. During this time, many of Tosh's friends came to his house to greet him following his return to Jamaica. As people began to arrive, the gunmen became more and more frustrated, especially the leader of the gang, Dennis 'Leppo' Lobban, a man whom Tosh had befriended and tried to help find work after a long jail sentence. Tosh said he had no money in the house, after which the gang's leader put a gun to Tosh's head and fired twice, killing him.
Jeff Healey (The Jeff Healey Band) (1966-2008)
Cancer. Healey underwent surgery to remove metastatic tissue from both lungs. In the previous eighteen months, he had two sarcomas removed from his legs.
Healey died of cancer.
Chi Cheng (The Deftones) (1970-2013)
Cardiac arrest. His career came to an abrupt halt in 2008, when he was involved in a serious automobile accident in Santa Clara, California. Cheng was traveling with his sister, when their vehicle flipped three times after hitting another car. Cheng, who was in the passenger seat, was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle. After the accident, he remained in a semi-comatose state for four years before dying of a cardiac arrest.
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John Balance (Coil) (1962-2004)
He died after falling from a second floor landing in his home. Peter Christopherson announced Balance's death on the Threshold House website and provided details surrounding the tragedy.
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Robbin Crosby (Ratt) (1959-2002)
Reported causes of his death include heroin overdose and AIDS-related complications, which he admitted to contracting from shooting drugs.
Django Reinhardt (1944-1987)
While walking from the Avon railway station after playing in a Paris club he collapsed outside his house from a brain haemorrhage. It was a Saturday and it took a full day for a doctor to arrive and Reinhardt was declared dead on arrival at the hospital in Fontainebleau.
Stuart Adamson (The Skids/Big Country) (1958-2001)
Suicide. Adamson was found dead, after committing suicide by hanging in a room at the Best Western Plaza Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time of death he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.279%.
Johnny O'Keefe (1935-1978)
Drug overdose. By the late 1970s O'Keefe had become a heavy consumer of a wide range of drugs, and he reportedly carried a briefcase containing a large quantity of many types of prescription medications. These drugs were treatment for his bipolar disorder. It was also reported that he was deeply depressed by the death of his idol Elvis Presley, and that he had repeatedly remarked to friends "I'll be next". Johnny O'Keefe died one year later from a heart attack induced by an accidental overdose of prescribed drugs.
Richard Manuel (The Band) (1943-1986)
Suicide. He was in hotel with other Band-mates. Manuel talked with Levon Helm about music, film, etc., in Helm's room. According to Helm, at around 2:30 Manuel said he needed to get something from his room. Upon returning to his motel room, it is believed that he finished one last bottle of Grand Marnier before hanging himself. Manuel's wife Arlie—also intoxicated at the time—discovered his body along with the depleted bottle and a small amount of cocaine the following morning.
Bernard Edwards (Chic) (1952-1996)
Edwards teamed up with Nile Rodgers again for the Chic reunion in the early 1990s. In 1996 Nile Rodgers was named JT Superproducer of the Year in Japan, and was invited to perform there with Chic. Just before the concert in Tokyo, Edwards fell ill, but despite Rodgers' insistence, he refused to cancel the gig. He managed to perform but had to be helped at times. After the concert he retired to his hotel room where he was later found dead by Rodgers. The cause of death was ruled to be pneumonia.
Lucky Dube (1964-2007)
Murdered. He was killed in a Johannesburg suburb shortly after dropping two of his seven children off at their uncle's house. Dube was driving his Chrysler 300C which the assailants were apparently after. Police reports suggest he was shot dead by carjackers. Five men have been arrested in connection with the murder.
Paul Butterfield (The Paul Butterfield Blues Band) (1942-1987)
Died from heart failure due to an overdose of unspecified drugs.
Bessie Smith (1894-1937)
Smith was critically injured in a car accident while traveling along U.S. Route 61 between Memphis, Tennessee, and Clarksdale, Mississippi. Her lover, Richard Morgan, was driving and, probably mesmerized by the long stretch of straight road, misjudged the speed of a slow-moving truck ahead of him. Tire marks at the scene suggested that Morgan tried to avoid the truck by driving around its left side, but he hit the rear of the truck side-on at high speed. The tailgate of the truck sheared off the wooden roof of Smith's old Packard. Smith, who was in the passenger seat, probably with her right arm or elbow out the window, took the full brunt of the impact. Morgan escaped without injuries. Bessie Smith was taken to Clarksdale's Afro-American Hospital where her right arm was amputated. She died that morning without regaining consciousness. After Smith's death, an often repeated but now discredited story emerged about the circumstances; namely, that she had died as a result of having been refused admission to a "whites only" hospital in Clarksdale.
Larry Williams (1935-1980)
Williams was found dead from a gunshot wound to his head in his Los Angeles, California home. The death was deemed suicide, though there was much speculation otherwise, because Williams was found with his hands cuffed behind his back. No suspects were ever arrested or charged.
Dan Hartman (1950-1994)
Brain tumor resluting from AIDS.
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Billie Holiday (1915-1959)
Results of heroin- and alcoholaddiction. Holiday was taken to a hospital in New York suffering from liver and heart disease. Police officers were stationed at the door to her room. She was arrested for drug possession as she lay dying, and her hospital room was raided by authorities. Holiday remained under police guard at the hospital until she died from cirrhosis of the liver. In the final years of her life, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with $0.70 in the bank and $750 (a tabloid fee) on her person.
Steve Marriott (The Small Faces)/(Humble Pie) (1947-1991)
Burned in a fire. Marriott and his wife were on a flight home from the USA, where he had been recording songs. During the flight, according to his wife, Marriott was drinking heavily and was in a foul mood, and they constantly argued. On arrival in the UK they were met by a mutual friend and ate at one of Marriott's favourite restaurants, where he consumed more alcohol. They returned to their friend's house and decided to stay overnight, since it was now the early hours of the next morning, but upstairs in bed, Marriott and his wife continued to argue. She finally fell asleep and was unaware that Marriott had called a taxi and made his way home alone. The following morning a passing motorist saw the roof of Marriott's cottage ablaze and called the fire brigade. It was reported that four fire engines were needed to put out the fire. It is believed that the most likely cause of the fire was that soon after arriving home, jet-lagged and tired, in the early hours, Marriott had lit a cigarette whilst in bed and almost immediately fallen into a deep sleep. Since Marriott was found lying on the floor between the bed and wall, investigators concluded he may have tried unsuccessfully to escape after being awakened by the blaze. Disoriented and confused after inhaling large amounts of thick smoke, Marriott had turned left instead of right towards the bedroom door and safety. He had been unable to rectify his mistake before being overcome with smoke. At the inquest, a verdict of accidental death by smoke inhalation was recorded. Marriott's blood was also found to contain quantities of valium (taken earlier for flight nerves), alcohol and cocaine.
Mike Starr (Alice In Chains) (1966-2011)
Heroin overdose. In February 2011, he was arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance in Salt Lake City, Utah. A month later, he was found dead in a Salt Lake City home. In 2010, Starr appeared on the television series, Celebrity Rehab for heroin addiction. He remembered Alice in Chains lead singer, Layne Staley, and his death in 2002. Starr was the last known person to see Staley alive; he spent time with the singer the day before his death. He stated that Staley was extremely ill, but would not call 911. The two argued and Starr stormed off with Staley calling after him, "Not like this, don't leave like this." Starr regretted not calling 911 to save his friend's life and blamed himself for Staley's death.
Vincent Crane (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown) (1943-1989)
Suicide. Crane died of an overdose of painkillers after a lifetime of struggling with manic depression.
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Marvin Gaye (1939-1984)
Murdered. After a tour, he isolated himself by moving into his parents' house. He threatened to commit suicide several times after bitter arguments with his father. Gaye's father fatally shot him after an argument that started after his parents squabbled over misplaced business documents. Gaye attempted to intervene, and was killed by his father using a gun that Marvin Jr. had given him four months before. Marvin Sr. was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Charges of first-degree murder were dropped after it was revealed that Marvin Sr. had been beaten by Gaye before the killing. Doctors discovered Marvin Sr. had a brain tumor but was deemed fit for trial.
Ricky Nelson (1940-1985)
Plane crash. In-flight fire due to faulty combustion heater. Nelson dreaded airplane flying but refused to travel by bus. He decided he needed a private plane and purchased a luxurious plane for private use that once belonged to the DuPont family and later to Jerry Lee Lewis. The plane was plagued with annoying mechanical mishaps. In one incident, the band was forced to push the plane off the runaway after an engine blew, and in another incident, a malfunctioning sparkplug prevented Nelson from participating in the first Farm Aid concert. But Nelson's private copilot Ken Ferguson stated there were no areas of "major safety concern" with the plane.
Fred "Sonic" Smith (MC5) (1949-1994)
Heart attack. He was Patti Smith's husband.
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Freddie Mercury (Queen) (1946-1991)
Bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS. Mercury was an acknowledged bisexual. While some critics claimed he hid his sexual orientation from the public, others claimed he was "openly gay". According to his partner, Mercury was already diagnosed with AIDS in 1987. Mercury denied the rumours for the press by saying he was tested HIV negative. In 1991 Mercury held a public statement by confirming he had AIDS. Only one day later he died of the disease.
Randy California (Spirit) (1951-1997)
Drowned. California drowned in the ocean while rescuing his twelve-year-old son from a rip current near the home of Bernice Pearl at Molokai, Hawaii. He managed to push his son Quinn (who survived) towards the shore.
Fad Gadget (1956-2002)
Heart attack. Frank Tovey suffered from heart problems since his childhood.
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Vic Chesnutt (1964-2009)
Suicide. Chesnutt died from an overdose of muscle relaxants that had left him in a coma in an Athens hospital. In a 2009 interview, while discussing the song "Flirted with You All My Life", he said, "You know, I've attempted suicide three or four times. It didn't take".
Wes Montgomery (1923-1968)
Heart attack. Despite he had no interest in the vices that often attend the jazz world, Wes died a heart attack at young age.
Chris Whitley (1960-2005)
Lungcancer. He cancelled his tour due to health issues. Dan Whitley, his brother, revealed that he was "in a comfortable warm home with hospice care at his disposal". Later that week it was revealed that Whitley was terminally ill with lung cancer.
Jerry Nolan (The New York Dolls)/(Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers) (1946-1992)
In late 1991, while Nolan was being treated for bacterial meningitis and bacterial pneumonia at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, he suffered a stroke and went into a coma from which he never recovered. He died in 1992, spending his final weeks on a life support system.
John Baker Saunders (Mad Season)/(The Walkabouts) (1954-1999)
Heroin overdose. After Saunders had gone 10 years without heroin, he had a relapse and died in 1999. Three years later, Mad Season vocalist Layne Staley would also die from an overdose of heroin.
Jay Bennett (Wilco)/(Titanic Love Affair) (1963-2009)
Bennett died unexpectedly in his sleep. The Champaign County coroner reported about one month later that his death was accidental, and was the result of an overdose of the prescription painkiller fentanyl. He was wearing a Duragesic patch on his back when his body was found.
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Nat King Cole (1919-1965)
Lung cancar. Cole was a heavy smoker of Kool menthol cigarettes, believing that smoking up to three packs a day gave his voice the rich sound it had (Cole would smoke several cigarettes in rapid succession before a recording for this very purpose). The many years of smoking caught up with him, resulting in his death from lung cancer.
Paul Hester (Crowded House/Split Enz) (1959-2005)
Suicide. Hester committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in a public park near his home. He had split from the mother of his two daughters. It was known to family and close friends that he had been suffering from depression for a number of years, and he was known for his extreme mood swings.
Héctor Lavoe (1946-1993)
Complications caused by AIDS. Lavoe's life was plagued by tragic events, emotional turmoil, and pain. Both his mother-in-law and father died, and his seventeen year old son Héctor, Jr. was accidentally shot by a friend. Also, Lavoe was diagnosed with HIV, the virus that can progress to AIDS. These events would push him to the limit. In 1988, Héctor attempted to commit suicide by jumping off the ninth floor of a hotel in Puerto Rico. He survived the attempt, but from that day forward, he would never completely recover as AIDS began to ravage his body due to the use of intravenous drugs and shared needles. Héctor died in 1993, at a hospital in New York City. The cause of death was diagnosed as “a complication caused by AIDS".
Phyllis Hyman (1949-1995)
Suicide. Hyman committed suicide by overdosing on pentobarbital and secobarbital in her New York City apartment. She was found hours before she was scheduled to perform at the Apollo Theatre. Her suicide note read in part: "I'm tired. I'm tired. Those of you that I love know who you are. May God bless you."
Mark Sandman (Morphine) (1952-1999)
Heart attack. Sandman collapsed on stage in Italy while performing with Morphine. He was soon pronounced dead of a sudden heart attack.
Paul Raven (Killing Joke)/(Ministry)(1961-2007)
Raven died of an apparent heart attack in his sleep, while recording in Geneva, Switzerland.
Alex Harvey (Sensational Alex Harvey Band) (1935-1982)
Heart attack. While waiting to take a ferry back to shore after performing his last concert with his new band, the Electric Cowboys, Harvey suffered a massive heart attack. In an ambulance on the way to the hospital, he suffered a second heart attack, this one fatal.
Leslie Cheung (張國榮) (1956-2003)
Suicide. He leapt from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, located in the Central district of Hong Kong Island. He left a suicide note saying that he had been suffering from depression. Rumors about the cause of his death spread so fast that his family urged tabloids to let Cheung rest in peace, and not to sensationalize his sexual orientation and reasons for suicide. The day after Leslie's death, his long time partner, Tong, confirmed that Cheung suffered from (clinical) depression and had been seeing psychiatrists for treatment for almost a year. He also revealed that Cheung had attempted suicide in 2002. Recently, he was voted into CNN's "top five most iconic musician of all time" placing behind Michael Jackson and The Beatles.
John Panozzo (Styx) (1948-1996)
Alcohol-related illness. Years of partying with Styx and excessive drinking began to take a toll on his liver. In the mid-1990s, as Styx was about to embark on its first tour with the classic line-up since 1983, John fell seriously ill and began battling cirrhosis of the liver, eventually dying of gastrointestinal hemorrhaging.
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Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) (1962-2010)
Suicide. Linkous committed suicide by shooting himself in the heart outside a friend's house in Knoxville. According to a spokesperson for the Police Department, the musician was staying with two friends, who told authorities that he had been drinking heavily and had become upset after trading text messages with an unknown person. The friends said Linkous went upstairs for a short period, then told the two that he was going for a walk and exited through a back door. A witness saw him sit down in the alley near Irwin Street, pull out his rifle, and fire into his own chest. Linkous was declared dead at the scene; police did not find a suicide note, but told the press that he was having "personal problems".
Gene Clark (The Byrds) (1944-1991)
Cumulative effects of alcohol. Clark's health continued to decline as his drinking accelerated. He died of a heart attack in his home in Sherman Oaks, Califonia.
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Laura Branigan (1957-2004)
Brain aneurysm. Branigan died at her home on Long Island, New York. Her death was attributed to a previously undiagnosed brain aneurysm. It was reported in the media that she had been experiencing headaches for several weeks before her death but did not seek medical attention.
Édith Piaf (1915-1963)
She died of liver cancer at Plascassier, on the French Riviera. She had been drifting in and out of consciousness for several months. It is said that Sarapo drove her body back to Paris secretly so that fans would think she had died in her hometown. She is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris next to her daughter, where her grave is among the most visited. Although she was denied a funeral mass by the Roman Catholic archbishop of Paris because of her lifestyle, her funeral procession drew tens of thousands of mourners onto the streets of Paris and the ceremony at the cemetery was attended by more than 100,000 fans. Charles Aznavour recalled that Piaf's funeral procession was the only time since the end of World War II that he saw Parisian traffic come to a complete stop.
Ian Stewart (1938-1985)
Heart attack. Also known as "the sixth Rolling Stone", in 1963, the band's manager said Stewart should no longer be onstage, that six members were too many for a popular group and that the burly, square-jawed Stewart didn't fit the image. He said Stewart could stay as road manager and play piano on recordings. Stewart accepted this demotion. In 1985, Stewart began having respiratory problems as he went to a clinic to have the problem examined; he suffered a heart attack and died in the waiting room.
Adam Yauch (Beastie Boys) (1964-2012)
In 2009, Yauch was diagnosed and treated for a cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node and underwent surgery and radiation therapy, delaying the release of Hot Sauce Committee Part Two and the subsequent tour. He was unable to appear in music videos for the album. Yauch became a vegan under the recommendation of his Tibetan doctors. At the time, Yauch described the cancer as "very treatable".
Yauch died on May 4, 2012
Judy Garland (1922-1969)
An incautious self-overdosage of barbiturates. Garland was found dead by her husband, Mickey Deans, in the bathroom of their rented Chelsea, London house. The coroner, stated at the inquest that the cause of death was "an incautious self-overdosage" of barbiturates; her blood contained the equivalent of ten 1.5-grain (97 mg) Seconal capsules. He also stressed that the overdose had been unintentional and that there was no evidence to suggest she had committed suicide. Garland's autopsy showed that there was no inflammation of her stomach lining and no drug residue in her stomach, which indicated that the drug had been ingested over a long period of time, rather than in one dose. Her death certificate stated that her death had been "accidental".
Rory Gallagher (1948-1995)
Complications from a liver transplant. According to sources close to Rory, including his brother Donal, Rory had a great fear of flying. He also had a great deal of trust in doctors and medicine. Combinations of prescription medication and alcohol use resulted in severe liver damage. Despite this he continued touring. By the time of his final performance in 1995 in the Netherlands, he was visibly sick. His cause of death was complications from a liver transplant, that became necessary and was nearly successful. It is suggested that a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection possibly developed. His health quickly worsened and he died in London.
LeRoi Moore (Dave Matthews Band) (1961-2008)
Moore was injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident on his farm outside Charlottesville, Virginia, breaking several ribs and puncturing a lung, and was hospitalized at UVA for several days. Moore was riding the ATV to another part of his farm to check a fence when the vehicle hit a grass-covered ditch. This caused the ATV to flip and partially land on Moore. After Moore was released from the University of Virginia Health System, he traveled to his home in Los Angeles, California, to start his rehabilitation program. On the morning of August 19, Moore was feeling unwell and those who were present could see that his lips were turning blue. It was at this point that he was rushed to the hospital, but died shortly thereafter. While it was widely reported that he had died from a blood clot, the coroner's office determined his cause of death to be pneumonia.
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Wendy O. Williams (Plasmatics) (1949-1998)
Suicide. Williams had first attempted suicide in 1993 by hammering a knife into her chest; the knife lodged in her sternum and she changed her mind, calling a friend to take her to hospital. She attempted suicide again in 1997 with an overdose of ephedrine. Finally Williams died, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a wooded area near her home.
Peter Steele (Type O Negative) (1962-2010)
Heart attack. Peter Steele died of heart failure. Prior to his death, Steele had been enjoying a long period of sobriety and improved health and was imminently due to begin writing and recording new music.
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Guru (1961-2010)
Heart attack as a result from cancer. On February 28, 2010, Guru went into cardiac arrest and, following surgery, fell into a coma. It was claimed that Guru had briefly awakened from his coma but died on April 19, 2010, from cancer.
Tom Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) (1941-1990)
AIDS. Tom Fogerty died in Arizona of AIDS (specifically from a tuberculosis infection), having contracted HIV from blood transfusions for back ailments.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997)
Sudden cardiac arrest. Khan was taken ill with kidney and liver failure in London, England while on the way to Los Angeles in order to receive a kidney transplant. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest at Cromwell Hospital, London.
Roy Buchanan (1939-1988)
Suicide. According to his agent and others, Buchanan was doing well, having gained control of his drinking habit and playing again, when he was arrested for public intoxication after a domestic dispute, and was found hanged from his own shirt in a jail cell on 14 August 1988 in the Fairfax County, Virginia Jail. According to Jerry Hentman, who was in a cell nearby Buchanan's, the Deputy Sheriff opened the door early in the morning and found Buchanan with the shirt around his neck. His cause of death was officially recorded as suicide, a finding disputed by Buchanan's friends and family. One of his friends, Marc Fisher, reported seeing Roy's body with bruises on the head.
Whitney Houston (1963-2012)
Accidental drowning and the effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use. Houston was found dead at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, California. She was running late to get ready for a pre-Grammy party being held four floors down in the hotel by her mentor, Clive Davis. After her stylists and bodyguards became concerned that she was in the bathroom for over an hour, they knocked on the door but Houston did not answer back. A female hairdresser went to check on Houston and found her lying in the bathtub. A bodyguard came in and quickly pulled Houston out of the bathtub. It was reported that Houston's face was underwater and her legs were up as if she had slid down the back of the bathtub. Her body was reported to be very cold as her bodyguard unsuccessfully attempted to perform CPR before alerting hotel security. The office stated the amount of cocaine found in Houston's body indicated that she used the substance shortly before her death.
Roger (Zapp) (1941-1999)
Found shot and critically wounded outside his recording studio. According to doctors, he had been shot several times in the torso and was in critical condition; he died during surgery at the local hospital. Roger's brother Larry was discovered dead in a car a few blocks away with a single gunshot wound to the head. A pistol was found inside the vehicle, which matched the description of a car leaving the scene of Roger's shooting. Police concluded it to be an apparent murder-suicide, but family members could not offer any reason or motive. It is likely that a personal dispute had developed between the two brothers; as far as can be determined, Larry shot Roger, then shot himself.
Ari Up (The Slits) (1962-2010)
She died from cancer in Los Angeles. Her death that morning was initially announced on John Lydon's homepage, who was her stepfather.
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Nico (1938-1988)
Heart attack. Nico was a heroin-addict. While on holiday with her son in Ibiza, Spain, Nico had a minor heart attack while riding a bicycle and hit her head as she fell. A passing taxi driver found her unconscious and had difficulty getting her admitted to local hospitals. She was incorrectly diagnosed as suffering from heat-exposure and died at eight o'clock that evening. X-rays later revealed a severe cerebral hemorrhage as the cause of death.
Lester Young (1909-1959)
Alcohol-related illness. Lester Young made his final studio recordings and live performances in Paris with drummer Kenny Clarke at the tail end of an abbreviated European tour during which he ate next to nothing and virtually drank himself to death.
Jeff Hanneman (Slayer) (1964-2013)
Liver failure. The official cause of death was announced as alcohol-related cirrhosis.
Laura Nyro (1947-1997)
Ovarian cancer. Nyro died the same disease had claimed the life of her mother at the same age.
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Jacques Brel (1929-1978)
In 1973 he embarked in a yacht, planning to sail around the world. When he reached the Canary Islands, Brel was diagnosed with lung cancer. He returned to Paris for treatment and later continued his ocean voyage. He was also a keen pilot and owned several small planes, including the eponymous 'Jojo'. In 1975 he reached the Marquesas Islands, and decided to stay, remaining there until 1977 when he returned to Paris and recorded his well-received final album. He died in 1978.
Joey Ramone (The Ramones) (1951-2001)
Lymphoma. Joey Ramone died of lymphoma at a New York hospital, after a seven year battle. He was reportedly listening to the song "In a Little While" by U2 when he died. This was during U2's Elevation Tour, and from that point on during shows Bono would introduce the song as a tune that was originally about a lovestruck hangover but that Joey turned it into a gospel song.
Jackie Wilson (1935-1984)
Heart attack on stage in 1975 results in a coma. Died after 8 years in coma.
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Rowland S. Howard (The Birthday Party) (1959-2009)
Howard died from liver cancer.
David Ruffin (The Temptations) (1941-1991)
Accidental overdose of cocaine. Ruffin collapsed in a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania crack house after sharing ten vials with a friend in under half an hour. Ruffin's family and friends suspected foul play, claiming that a money belt containing the proceeds from a tour ($40,000) was missing from his body.
Joe Strummer (The Clash) (1952-2002)
Heart attack. Strummer died suddenly in his home in Somerset, the victim of an undiagnosed congenital heart defect.
Cozy Powell (1947-1998)
He died following a car crash while driving his Saab 9000 at 104 mph (167 km/h) in bad weather on the M4 motorway near Bristol. According to the BBC report, at the time of the crash, Powell's blood-alcohol reading was over the legal limit, he was not wearing a seatbelt, and he was talking to his girlfriend on his mobile phone. He was living in Berkshire at the time and had returned to the studio shortly before his death to record with Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green. By that time, he had been the drummer on at least 66 albums with minor contributions on many other recordings. Many rock drummers have cited him as a major influence.
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Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
Personal physician administered lethal dose of propofol along with two sedatives. Jackson was passed out in his bed at his rented mansion in Los Angeles. Attempts at resuscitating him by Conrad Murray, his personal physician, were unsuccessful. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics received a 911 call, arriving three minutes later at Jackson's location. He was reportedly not breathing and CPR was performed. Resuscitation efforts continued en route to the medical center, and for an hour after arriving there he was pronounced dead.
Dee Dee Ramone (Ramones) (1951-2002)
Heroin overdose.Dee Dee Ramone was found dead by his wife Barbara at his Hollywood apartment. An autopsy established heroin overdose as the official cause of death.