December 29, 1942 - December 10, 1999
Rick Danko was a founding member of the Band.
His professional musical career began in 1960 at age 17 when he booked himself as the opening act for The Hawks, led by Ronnie Hawkins. Impressed by the young guitarist, Hawkins invited Danko to join his group. He switched from guitar to bass after the original bassist was fired.
Soon, pianist Richard Manuel and organist Garth Hudson joined the group. Levon Helms, a long-time collaborator with Hawkins, completed the band as their drummer.
The Hawks became Bob Dylan's backing band in 1965. The Hawks (without Levon Helm, who left the tour early) toured around the world with Dylan through May, 1966. After the tour, Dylan retreated to his new home in Woodstock, New York.
The Hawks followed Dylan to Woodstock. Danko found a pink house located on Parnassus Lane, just off Stoll Road, in Woodstock, New York. The band set up a rehearsal space in the basement and dubbed the place "Big Pink".
Working over the next few months, the five-piece band (Levon returned) churned out what would become their debut album, Music From Big Pink. Before the band could tour, however,
Danko was severely injured in a car accident, breaking his neck and back in six places, which put him in traction for months. In April 1969 the group finally debuted in concert as The Band, playing at Bill Graham's Winterland in San Francisco.
The Band performed its farewell concert at Winterland in November 1976. The concert was recorded and released on audio and film as the rock classic
The Last Waltz. After The Band, Danko embarked on a solo career. He also occasionally toured with a reformed Band and worked with a few other short-lived collaborations.
In 1989, Danko toured with Levon Helm and Garth Hudson as part of Ringo Starr's first All-Star Band.
Danko recorded demos and made a number of appearances on albums by other artists throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and in 1997, he released Rick Danko in Concert. Two years later, a third solo album (Live on Breeze Hill) was released, and Danko was busy at work on a fourth (Times Like These) at the time of his death.
Rick Danko died in his sleep of heart failure at his home near Woodstock, New York. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; stepson Justin; and daughter, Lisa, by his first marriage.
Ed Cobb
1928 - October 19, 1999
Edward C. Cobb was a songwriter and a member of The Four Preps vocal quartet from 1956 until he left them in 1966.
He is remembered for writing the Standell's Boston-themed hit "Dirty Water" and, in 1964, "Tainted Love", which became a smash hit for the band Soft Cell in the 1980s.
He later worked as a music producer and sound engineer. This work helped earn him 32 Gold and Platinum records and three Grammy Award nominations.
| 10/13/1999 | | Lord Ulli | The Lords, lead vocals | Fell off stage | Germany |
| 09/25/1999 | | Stephen Canaday | Ozark Mountain Daredevils, drummer | Plane Crash | Nashville, TN |
| 08/28/1999 | 63 | Wee Willie Williams | Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps, guitarist | Gun Accident | Bradenton, Florida |
| 08/20/1999 | 31 | Bobby Sheehan | Blues Traveler, bass | Drug related? | New Orleans |
| 07/22/1999 | 41 | Gar Samuelson | Megadeth, drummer | Liver Failure | Orange City, Florida |
| 07/03/1999 | 47 | Mark Sandman | Morphine | Heart Attack | Rome |
| 06/16/1999 | 58 | Screaming Lord Sutch | British musician | Suicide (hanging) | West Harrow, London, UK |
| 06/02/1999 | 50 | Junior Braithwaite | The Wailers, lead vocalist | Murdered | Kingston, Jamaica |
| 05/14/1999 | 37 | E William Tucker | Ministry | Suicide | |
| 05/08/1999 | 61 | Leon Thomas | Santana | Heart Attack | |
| 04/30/1999 | 51 | Darrell Sweet | Nazareth, drums | Heart Failure | New Albany, Indiana |
| 04/27/1999 | 76 | Al Hirt | jazz trumpeter | Medical | New Orleans |
| 04/25/1999 | 54 | Larry Troutman | Zapp | Suicide | Dayton, Ohio |
| 04/25/1999 | 47 | Roger Troutman | Zapp | Murdered | Dayton, Ohio |
| 04/16/1999 | 52 | Skip Spence | Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape | Medical | San Francisco |
| 04/12/1999 | 67 | Boxcar Willie | born Lecil Travis Martin | Leukemia | Branson, MO |
| 04/01/1999 | 97 | Jesse Stone | R&B singer/songwriter | | Altamonte Springs, FL |
| 03/07/1999 | 60 | Marv Ingram | The Four Preps | Heart Failure | |
| 03/02/1999 | 59 | Dusty Springfield | popular singer | Breast Cancer | London |
| 02/14/1999 | 72 | Doug Weston | The Troubadour, founder | | Los Angeles |
| 02/07/1999 | 80 | Bobby Troup | singer/songwriter/actor | Heart Attack | Los Angeles |
| 02/03/1999 | 48 | Gwen Guthrie | singer/songwriter | Uterine Cancer | |
| 02/01/1999 | 63 | Julius Wechter | Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, percussionist | Lung Cancer | California |
| 01/21/1999 | 76 | Charles Brown | blues pianist/singer | Heart Failure | Oakland, CA |
| 01/15/1999 | 44 | John Baker Saunders | Mad Season, guitarist | Heroin Overdose | Seattle, WA |
| 01/11/1999 | 54 | Barry Pritchard | The Fortunes, guitarist | Heart Failure | |
*** 1998 ***

Lynn Strait
August 7, 1968 - December 11, 1998
Lynn Strait (born James Lynn Strait) was rock musician and lead singer for the band Snot. He died in a car crash which also killed his dog Dobbs, Snot's mascot
who graced the cover of the band's 1997 Geffen debut album,
Get Some. The group disbanded after the death of Strait.
Lynn was also the bassist for band Lethal Dose.

J.D. Sumner
November 19, 1924 - November 16, 1998
John Daniel ("J.D.") Sumner was gospel music's best known bass singer. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized him as having recorded the lowest note ever produced by a human being - a double low C note.
J.D. is better known as Elvis Presley's backup singer and as the group leader of J.D. Sumner and the Stamps, a quartet from 1973-1977. He was also a very close personal friend to Elvis, beginning when Elvis was 14 yrs. old.
J.D. sang at Elvis's funeral and that of his mother, Gladys.
| 10/02/1998 | 91 | Gene Autry | country music singer/actor | | Los Angeles
|
| 09/21/1998 | 59 | Paul "Oz" Bach | Spanky and Our Gang, bassist | Cancer | Asheville, NC
|
| 09/14/1998 | 66 | Johnny Adams | blues singer | Stomach Cancer | Baton Rouge
|
| 09/04/1998 | 55 | Lal Waterson | The Watersons | Cancer | Robin's Hood Bay, UK
|
| 08/29/1998 | 66 | Charlie Feathers | rockabilly pioneer | Stroke | Memphis, TN
|
| 07/26/1998 | 50 | Dave "Chico" Ryan | Sha Na Na | ? | Boston, MA
|
| 05/14/1998 | 82 | Frank Sinatra | popular singer | Heart Failure | Los Angeles
|
| 05/10/1998 | 38 | Lester Butler | Red Devils, blues harmonica | Heroin Overdose/Murder | Los Angeles
|
| 05/07/1998 | 56 | Eddie Rabbitt | country singer/songwriter | Lung Cancer | Nashville
|
| 04/17/1998 | 56 | Linda McCartney | Photographer & Musician | Breast Cancer | Tucson, AZ
|
| 04/07/1998 | 48 | Wendy O. Williams | The Plasmatics | Suicide (Gunshot) | Storrs, CT
|
| 04/06/1998 | 55 | Tammy Wynette | country music singer | Pulmonary blood clot | Nashville
|
| 04/05/1998 | 50 | Cozy Powell | Black Sabbath, MSG | Car Accident | Bristol, UK
|
| 04/02/1998 | 32 | Rob Pilatus | Milli Vanilli | Alcohol / Pills | Frankfurt, Germany
|
| 03/13/1998 | 52 | Judge Dread | reggae/ska artist | Heart Failure | Canterbury, UK
|
| 03/11/1998 | 33 | Stacey Guess | Squirrel Nut Zippers | Heroin Overdose | Toronto
|
| 02/20/1998 | 51 | Bob McBride | Lighthouse | | Toronto
|
| 02/15/1998 | 44 | Fleming Williams | The Hues Corporation | | Flint, Michigan
|

Fleming Williams
December 26, 1943 - February 15, 1998
Fleming Williams was a founding member of the Hues Corporation, remembered for their 1974 #1 hit "Rock the Boat."
Fleming left the group soon after recording "Rock The Boat". He died in 1998 (some sources say 1992) after years of drug abuse.
| 02/06/1998 | 40 | Falco | "Rock Me Amadeus" | Car Accident | Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
|
| 02/06/1998 | 51 | Carl Wilson | Beach Boys | Cancer | Los Angeles
|
| 02/05/1998 | 35 | Tim Kelly | Slaughter | Car Accident | Bagdad, AZ
|
| 02/05/1998 | 55 | Joe Stubbs | The Falcons/The Countours | Heart Failure |
|
| 01/19/1998 | 65 | Carl Perkins | songwriter | Stroke | Jackson, TN
|
| 01/15/1998 | 63 | Junior Wells | blues artist | Cancer
|
| 01/10/1998 | 54 | Ken Forssi | The Surfaris / Love, bassist | Brain Tumor | Tallahassee, FL
|
| 01/05/1998 | 62 | Sonny Bono | Sonny & Cher | Skiing Accident | Lake Tahoe
|
*** 1997 ***

Nicolette Larson
July 17, 1952 - December 16, 1997
Nicolette Larson was a talented singer best known for her 1978 cover of Neil Young's "Lotta Love". She also sang on Young's
American Stars 'n Bars and
Comes a Time albums.
and contributed vocals to the Doobie Brothers album
Minute by Minute.
Larson's worked with Commander Cody led to her being signed to Warner Bros. Records. Her debut album,
Nicolette, released September 29, 1978, was produced by
Ted Templeman. The album reached #15 on the strength of the single "Lotta Love."
Larson was featured on 1979's
No Nukes album; the Doobie Brothers back her in her performance of "Lotta Love." Larson can be seen in the No Nukes film but her performance was not shown in the film.
Larson died as a result of a cerebral edema triggered by liver failure and is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) in Los Angeles.

Henry "Sunflower" Vestine
December 25, 1944 - October 21, 1997

Ronnie Lane
April 1, 1946 - June 4, 1997
Ronald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English singer, songwriter and bassist best known for his membership in the Small Faces.
Lane met Kenney Jones at a London pub and they decided to form a group they named "The Outcasts". While visiting the J60 Music Bar in Manor Park, London with his father in order to buy a bass guitar, Lane met
Steve Marriott who was working there. Lane formed Small Faces with Steve Marriott and Kenney Jones in 1965, who were soon joined by Ian McLagan. This lineup lasted
until 1969, when Marriott left the group. Lane formed a new group, Faces, with McLagan, Jones, Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart in 1969. He was the primary songwriter of Faces, composing many of their best loved pieces including "Ooh La La" and "Debris."
Lane quit the Faces in 1973, in part because of the increasing popularity of Rod Stewart.
Pete Townshend recorded an album with Lane
Rough Mix, released in 1977. During the recording of Rough Mix, Lane was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (his mother died from the disease in 1990). Nonetheless, he toured, wrote, and recorded
(with Eric Clapton, among many others) and managed to release yet another album, See Me, which features several songs written by Lane and Clapton.

Brian Connolly
October 5, 1945 - February 9, 1997

Randy California
February 20, 1951 - January 2, 1997
| 01/01/1997 | 45 | Townes Van Zandt | singer/songwriter | Pulmonary Embolism | Nashville, Tennessee
|
Townes Van Zandt
March 7, 1944 - January 1, 1997
Townes Van Zandt is remembered as a great Singer/Songwriter widely admired by other songwriters, but one who was never able to reach a wide commercial audience.
He authored classic songs such as "Pancho and Lefty" (recorded by Willie Nelson) and "If I Needed You" (recorded by EmmyLou Harris).
A live version of Van Zandt's cover of The Rolling Stones' Dead Flowers was used during the final scene of the 1998 film
"The Big Lewboski".
Townes Van Zandt died on New Year's Day in Nashville of a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs) following hip surgery.
*** 1996 ***
| 12/09/1996 | 40 | Patty Donahue | The Waitresses | Lung Cancer | New York |
| 11/30/1996 | 66 | Herbert Khaury | Tiny Tim | Heart Failure | Minneapolis |
| 11/02/1996 | 33 | Eva Cassidy | folk singer | Cancer | Bowie, Maryland |
| 09/10/1996 | 52 | Chris Acland | Lush, drummer | Suicide | UK |
| 09/10/1996 | 52 | Lee Baker | Mud Boy and the Neutrons | Murdered | Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas |
| 09/09/1996 | 84 | Bill Monroe | "The father of Bluegrass" | Stroke |
| 08/11/1996 | 62 | Mel Taylor | The Ventures, Drummer | Lung Cancer | Los Angeles |
| 07/29/1996 | 28 | Jason Thirsk | Pennywise, bassist | Suicide (gunshot) | |
| 07/28/1996 | 48 | Margie Ganser Dorste | The Shangri-Las | Breast Cancer | New York City |
| 07/22/1996 | 41 | Rob Collins | The Charlatans, keyboardist | Car Accident | Wales, UK |
| 07/17/1996 | 57 | Bryan "Chas" Chandler | Animals, bassist | Heart Failure | Newcastle, UK |
| 07/16/1996 | 47 | John Panozzo | Styx | Alcohol | Chicago |
| 07/11/1996 | 34 | Jonathan Melvoin | Smashing Pumpkins | Heroin Overdose | New York City |
| 06/15/1996 | 79 | Ella Fitzgerald | jazz singer | Diabetes | Hollywood |
| 06/10/1996 | | Alan Blakely | The Tremeloes | Cancer |
| 05/31/1996 | 59 | Elsbeary Hobbs, Jr. | The Drifters, bass vocalist | Lung Cancer | New York City |
| 05/31/1996 | 75 | Dr. Timothy Leary | LSD Guru | Cancer | Hollywood |
| 05/30/1996 | 48 | John Kahn | Jerry Garcia Band, bassist | Drug Overdose | Mill Valley, CA |
| 05/25/1996 | 28 | Bradley Nowell | Sublime | Drug Overdose | San Francisco |
| 05/17/1996 | 61 | Johnny "Guitar" Watson | blues guitarist | Heart Attack | Yokohama, Japan |
| 05/17/1996 | 29 | Kevin Gilbert | | Autoerotic Asphyxiation | Pasadena |

Kevin Gilbert
Kevin Gilbert, who shared a Grammy nomination for the hit Sheryl Crow song "All I Wanna Do," was found dead in his bed on May 18, 1996 at his home in Pasadena, California. The
coroner listed the cause of death as "asphyxia due to partial suspension hanging." MTV more bluntly reported the cause of death as autoerotic asphyxiation.
Kevin may be best remembered for discovering Sheryl Crow. Crow was an unknown when she auditioned to be a keyboardist with Gilbert's band Toy Matinee, which released a self-titled CD in 1989.
Crow and Gilbert dated for about two years. During that time Gilbert joined in a weekly jam session known as the "Tuesday Music Club." Crow named her album after the group and described it
in the disc's liner notes. Gilbert did not tour with Crow, and the two parted on less than cordial terms.
Gilbert was a big fan of the rock group Genesis, and wowed crowds with his performance of Genesis covers. According to friends, he was scheduled to fly to London the week after his death to audition to replace Phil Collins.
While never capturing the spotlight for himself, Kevin Gilbert worked with many music giants: playing keys on Eddie Money's
Nothing to Lose album in 1988,
engineering a single for Michael Jackson, and writing songs for Madonna's Dick Tracy soundtrack.
| 05/11/1996 | 46 | Walter Hyatt | Uncle Walt's Band | Plane Crash | Everglades, Florida
|

Walter Hyatt
1949 - May 11, 1996
Walter Hyatt was a singer/songwriter who formed Uncle Walt's Band in 1972. Popular in the Austin, Texas music scene, the band had a cult following around the world and a fan in musician Lyle Lovett, who produced their album
King Tears, Lovett's first work as a producer.
Tragically, Walter Hyatt was one of the 110 killed when ValuJet Flight 592 caught fire after take-off from Miami and crashed into a remote and swampy area of the Florida Everglades.
Hyatt's Some Unfinished Business (Volume One)
was released in January 2008 to rave reviews. The album contains songs Hyatt was working on at the time of his death.
Terry Stafford
November 22, 1941 - March 17, 1996
One-hit wonder Terry Stafford was known for his 1964 Elvis sound-alike single "Suspicion."

Brownie McGhee
November 30, 1915 - February 16, 1996
Brownie McGhee was a folk-blues singer and guitarist best known for his collaboration with
Sonny Terry.
| 01/31/1996 | | Rick Curtis | Crazy Horse, vocalist | | Ventura, CA
|
Richard Curtis
Rick Curtis and his brothers and sisters formed the psych-folk band These Vizitors in 1965. They recorded with Phil Ramone in 1967.
In 1972, Rick was a guitarist and vocalist for Crazy Horse, appearing on their 1972 album
At Crooked Lake along with his brother Michael.
He co-wrote "Southern Cross" for Crosby, Stills & Nash and "Blue Letter" for Fleetwood Mac. Both songs were originally demos recorded with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
| 01/16/1996 | 49 | Richard Kermode | Janis Joplin's Kosmic Blues Band | | Denver, CO
|

Richard Kermode
October 5, 1946 - January 16, 1996
Richard Kermode was a respected jazz keyboardist in Buffalo, New York. In 1969, he moved to California and joined Janis Joplin's band. He joined her on the stage at Woodstock.
He later played with Carlos Santana, Patti LaBelle and Malo.
*** 1995 ***
Junior Walker
June 14, 1931 - November 23, 1995
Junior Walker (born Autry DeWalt Mixon, Jr. in Blytheville, Arkansas) was the leader of the Motown group Junior Walker and the All Stars.
His saxophone style was the anchor for the band's overall sound. Their first and signature hit was "Shotgun", written by Junior Walker and produced by Berry Gordy.
Walker contributed to Rock 'n' Roll by playing saxophone on Foreigner's smash radio hit "Urgent" in 1981.

Jerry Garcia
August 1, 1942 - August 9, 1995
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia gained fame as co-founder of the band the Grateful Dead, a band he lead from 1965 until death his death. Garcia also founded and participated in a variety of side projects, including the Saunders-Garcia Band with longtime friend
Merl Saunders, Jerry Garcia Band, the bluegrass combo Old and in the Way, the Jerry Garcia/David Grisman acoustic duo, and Legion of Mary.
Jerry Garcia was born August 1, 1942 in San Francisco, California; he was named after showtune composer Jerome Kern. Jerry's Father, Jose, a retired jazz musician turned tavern owner, drowned while fishing when Jerry was five.
At age four, much of Jerry's right middle finger had to be amputated after an accident when chopping wood.
Raised by his mother and grandparents, Jerry displayed an early interest in music, first learning piano in early childhood. His mother bought him an accordion for his 15th birthday, but Jerry didn't like
the instrument and persuaded her to exchange it for an electric guitar. Garcia became an avid student of folk, old-time country, and bluegrass music, playing both the acoustic guitar and banjo.
He dropped out of high school in 1960 and joined the army, but was dishonorably discharged a few months later. In February 1961, Garcia was a passenger in a car involved in a fatal accident that killed his friend Paul Speegle.
He was thrown from the car and escaped with a broken collarbone.
In 1962 Garcia met Phil Lesh, the eventual bassist of the Grateful Dead, during a party in Palo Alto's bohemian Perry Lane neighborhood (where Ken Kesey lived).
During 1964, he began playing in a jug band, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, that also featured guitarist/singer Bob Weir and singer/harmonica player/keyboardist
Ron McKernan (aka Pigpen). At the turn of 1965, the group took up electric instruments and became a rock & roll band, adding drummer Bill Kreutzmann and renaming themselves the
Warlocks. Phil Lesh, a friend of Garcia's since 1962, joined them on bass by June 1965, and in December the quintet first performed under its new name, the Grateful Dead.
Garcia was lead guitarist, a principal vocalist and a songwriter for the Grateful Dead for their entire career. The band toured relentlessly.
On July 10, 1986, following a strenuous Grateful Dead tour, Garcia fell into a diabetic coma lasting three days and nearly died.
Garcia's coma had a profound effect on him: it forced him to have to relearn how to play the guitar, as well as other, more basic skills.
Garcia was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead in 1994.
Early on the morning of August 9, 1995, Garcia's unconscious body was discovered on the floor of his room at the Serenity Knolls treatment center in Forest Knolls, California. The cause of death was a heart attack.

Charlie Rich
December 14, 1932 - July 25, 1995
Charlie Rich (nicknamed "The Silver Fox" in the latter part of his life) was a Grammy-award winning country and popular music singer.
He is perhaps best remembered for a pair of 1973 hits, "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl". "The Most Beautiful Girl" topped the U.S. country singles charts, as well as the pop singles charts.
Charlie Rich was traveling with his wife to Florida from Natchez, Mississippi, where he watched his son perform with Freddy Fender at a local casino, when he experienced a bout of severe coughing. After visiting a doctor in St. Francisville, Louisiana, and receiving antibiotics, he continued traveling until he stopped to rest for the night. Charlie Rich died in his sleep on July 25, 1995, in a Hammond, Louisiana, motel. He was 62 years old. The cause of death was a blood clot in his lung. He was buried in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.
Frank O'Keefe
March 18, 1950 - February 26, 1995
Frank O'Keefe was the original bassist for southern rock band, the Outlaws. Although the band was riding high on a string of what would eventually become classic rock staples, O'Keefe decided to leave the band after suffering a broken neck from a fall in July, 1976. The trials of a hectic life on the road also helped in that decision. That neck injury lead to his reliance on pain medication for the rest of his life. On February 26, 1995, O'Keefe's lifeless body was found by his roommate in his Clearwater, Florida home. He apparently died as a result of drug and alcohol abuse.
Philip Taylor Kramer
July 12, 1952 - February 12, 1995
Philip Taylor Kramer was the bass guitar player for the rock group Iron Butterfly during the 1970s. He joined the band in 1974. He later obtained a degree in aerospace engineering and worked on missile guidance systems for a contractor of the US Department of Defense. With his father, Kramer had also been working on a data compression and transmission project which he believed could result in faster-than-light speed communications (their work also involved a long-running family effort to discredit Albert Einstein's theories).
On February 12, 1995 he drove to Los Angeles International Airport to pick up an investor. After waiting an hour for the business contact who never arrived, Kramer called both his wife and Iron Butterfly drummer and co-founder Ron Bushy from the cell phone in his car, leaving Bushy a cryptic message about seeing him "...on the other side." Kramer also called the police and said, "I’m going to kill myself. And I want everyone to know O.J. Simpson is innocent.
They did it."
Kramer was never heard from again. This led to a massive search and many news reports, talk show segments (including an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show) and even an episode on Unsolved Mysteries some years later.
There was wild speculation, fueled by his longtime friend Ron Bushy, that agents from the United States government had abducted Kramer. Bushy, who had been talking with Kramer about a reunion tour for the band, said "I honestly believe that he has been abducted by our government or an agency that is part of it or maybe a foreign government or a company." Ohio Democrat Rep. James Traficant is reported to have said, "Someone may have grabbed him," suggesting he might have been brainwashed by terrorists for "nefarious purposes."
On Saturday, May 29, 1999, Kramer's 1993 green Ford Aerostar minivan, driver's license and skeletal remains were found by photographers looking for old car wrecks to shoot at the bottom of Decker Canyon near Malibu, California. Based on forensic evidence and Kramer's emergency call to the police, his death was ruled as a probable suicide committed on the day on which he was last heard.
*** 1994 ***
Mick Wayne
Mick Wayne was a talented guitarist who played on Bowie's
Space Oddity. He was in Bowie's live band and recorded some sessions for the BBC in 1969 under the name David Bowie & Junior's Eyes.
Mick died in a tragic house fire.

Kurt Cobain
February 20, 1967 - April 5, 1994
On April 5, 1994, Kurt Cobain wrote a suicide note in which he said he couldn't stand to think of his daughter becoming "the miserable self-destructive, death rocker that I've become."
He went into the greenhouse of his Seattle mansion and injected himself with a massive dose of heroin (an estimated 225mg). He put a 20-gauge shotgun against the roof of his mouth, and fired.
There are some strange circumstances and many unanswered questions surrounding the death of Kurt Cobain. Was Cobain murdered?
This has been the subject of books, television shows, radio shows, quite a few magazine and newspaper stories, and the film "Kurt and Courtney"
Read more about the controversy:
Cobain Was Killed
Private Detective Tom Grant's web site
Kurt Cobain is also a member of the "Forever 27" Club of musicians that have all mysteriously passed
away at age 27. Other members include Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones.

Harry Nilsson
June 15, 1941 - January 15, 1994
Harry Edward Nilsson III, credited on most of his recordings simply as Nilsson, was known for being a witty and idiosyncratic songwriter.
After having some of his songs recorded by Glen Campbell, Fred Astaire, the Shangri-Las, and the Yardbirds, Nilsson signed with RCA in 1966 and the following year released
Pandemonium Shadow Show.
Nilsson's second RCA album,
Aerial Ballet, included his recording of Fred Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'". Director John Schlesinger used this recording in the movie
Midnight Cowboy and the song became a hit - reaching number 6 on Billboard's Hot 100 and earning Nilsson a Grammy.
Nilsson's success continued as Three Dog Night's recording of his song "One" reached number 5 on the charts and went on to sell more than a million copies.
Nilsson's 1969 album
Harry included a song written by Randy Newman. In 1970, Nilsson recorded an entire album of songs by Newman,
Nilsson Sings Newman.
In early 1971, The Point!, the first 90-minute, "made-for-television," animated film debuted on ABC. Based on a story by Nilsson, The Point! featured several songs by Nilsson including "Me And My Arrow".
Nilsson's 1971 album,
Nilsson Schmilsson, became his best-selling album and "Without You", the album's first single, became a world-wide hit in 1972.
In 1974, Nilsson and John Lennon generated newspaper headlines by being thrown out of the Troubadour for heckling a Smothers Brothers performance. The same year, Lennon produced Nilsson's
Pussy Cats album.
*** 1993 ***
River Phoenix
August 23, 1970 - October 31, 1993
Although River Phoenix is best remembered as an actor, his true passion may have been music. Phoenix was a singer, songwriter and an accomplished guitarist.
On Halloween morning, 1993, Phoenix died of a drug overdose on the sidewalk outside the West Hollywood nightclub the Viper Room.
Dave Insurgent
September 5, 1964 - July 1, 1993
David Rubinstein founded New York punk-rock Band Reagan Youth with guitarist Paul Bakija while both were in high school. Changing their names to Dave Insurgent and Paul Cripple, they played in the Manhattan scene in clubs like CBGB's. The band often used Nazi and Ku Klux Klan imagery to express their left-wing politics and to point
out the perceived parallels between the policies of Ronald Reagan and the Christian Right and the beliefs of the hate groups. Their songs included "Jesus Was a Communist," a stab at the Christian fundamentalists in the United States, and "New Aryans," an anti-conservative/yuppie and also anti-racist anthem. It should be noted that
both of Dave Rubinstein's parents were Holocaust survivors.
The group disbanded at the end of President Reagan's term of office. Dave became addicted to Heroin, and his girlfriend, Tiffany Bresciani became a prostitute to fund her own addiction.
The Evening of June 24, 1993, David and Tiffany were waiting on the street when a familiar customer pulled up in a Mazda pick-up truck. Tiffany got in, telling David that she would return in twenty minutes. She never came back. David called the police with a description of the truck
and went to all the hospital emergency rooms in the city searching for Tiffany. Four days later, New York state troopers spotted the truck and gave chase. After the truck hit a utility pole, police found Tiffany's
body in the back, covered with a sheet. They arrested the driver, Joel Rifkin, one of Long Island's most famous serial killers, who was later linked to killing 17 prostitutes.
Distraught over Tiffany's death and that of his mother a month earlier in a car accident, David intentionally overdosed himself on Heroin.
| 06/28/1993 | 36 | GG Allin | punk rock singer | Heroin Overdose | New York City
|
| 06/18/1993 | 57 | Luther Tucker | blues guitarist | Heart Attack | Greenbrae, CA
|
| 06/05/1993 | 59 | Conway Twitty | country music singer | Abdominal Aneurysm | Springfield, MO
|
| 05/12/1993 | | Randy Delay | The Georgia Satellites | |
|
| 04/29/1993 | 46 | Mick Ronson | David Bowie | Liver Cancer | London
|
| 03/19/1993 | 30 | Jeff Ward | Nine Inch Nails / Ministry | Suicide (carbon monoxide poisoning) |
|
| 02/25/1993 | 45 | Toy Caldwell | Marshall Tucker Band | Heart Disease | Spartanburg, SC
|
| 01/06/1993 | 75 | Dizzy Gillespie | jazz trumpeter | Pancreatic Cancer | Englewood, NJ
|

Dizzy Gillespie
October 21, 1917 - January 6, 1993
Considered one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time, John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz.
Born in Cheraw, South Carolina, the youngest of nine children. His father, James, was a bricklayer, pianist and band leader. His mother’s name was Lottie. Dizzy’s father stored the band’s instruments at the family home and the young maestro was never far from a trumpet, saxophone, guitar or his father’s upright piano.
Dizzy's wife, Lorraine, was a chorus dancer at the famed Apollo Theatre. They married in 1940 and remained together until his death.
Gillespie was known for his trademark "bent" trumpet, in which the horn was bent upwards in a 45 degree angle. According to Gillespie's autobiography, the bent trumpet was originally the result of accidental
damage caused by someone sitting on his instrument. Gillespie liked the altered the tone of the damaged instrument and commissioned a professionally made trumpet of the bent design.
*** 1992 ***
| 12/24/1992 | 47 | Bobby LaKind | The Doobie Brothers, drummer | Colon Cancer |
|
| 12/23/1992 | 42 | Eddie Hazel | Parliment / Funkadelic | Liver Failure | Plainfield, NJ
|
| 12/21/1992 | 69 | Albert King | blues artist | Heart Failure | Memphis, TN
|

Albert King
April 25, 1923 - December 21, 1992
Albert King was born Albert Nelson, on April 25, 1923, in Indianola, Mississippi (also the birthplace of B.B. King, no relation).
King was a large man, standing over 6-foot-4-inches and weighing about 250 pounds. He was left-handed and taught himself to play the guitar upside-down while keeping the strings strung for a right-handed player.
He made several recordings for small labels, but didn't experience real success until moving to Memphis and recording for the Stax label.
Backed by the label's house band, Booker T and The MGs, he recorded a number of songs such as "Laundromat Blues", "Crosscut Saw",
and "Born under a Bad Sign". These were released on the landmark 1967 album
Born under a Bad Sign.
On February 1, 1968, Albert King, John Mayall and Jimi Hendrix headlined a show for the opening night of the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco.
Later in 1968, King released a live album
Live Wire / Blues Power
In 2010, a two-disc CD/DVD set entitled
In Session
was released. It contains a December 6, 1983 concert of Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan, recorded for Canadian television.
| 11/21/1992 | | Ricky Williams | Flipper, vocalist | Respiratory Failure |
|
| 11/14/1992 | 45 | John Cascella | John Mellencamp, keyboardist | Car Accident |
|
| 11/13/1992 | 49 | Ronnie Bond | The Troggs, drummer | |
|
| 10/25/1992 | 56 | Roger Miller | King of the Road | Throat Cancer | Los Angeles
|
| 10/05/1992 | 52 | Eddie Kendricks | Temptations | Lung Cancer | Birmingham, AL
|
| 09/29/1992 | | Bud Cowsill | The Cowsills, manager | Leukemia | Mexico
|
| 09/18/1992 | 62 | Earl Van Dyke | The Funk Brothers, keyboardist | Prostate Caner | Detroit
|
| 08/14/1992 | 64 | Tony Williams | The Platters | Emphysema | New York
|
| 08/05/1992 | 38 | Jeff Porcaro | Toto / Steely Dan | Heart Attack | Los Angeles
|
| 07/26/1992 | 49 | Mary Wells | soul singer | Cancer | Los Angeles
|
| 06/27/1992 | 24 | Stefanie Sargent | 7 Year Bitch | Heroin Overdose | Seattle
|
| 05/15/1992 | 44 | Barbara Lee | The Chiffons | Heart Attack |
|
| 04/25/1992 | | Brian "Too Loud" MacLeod | Chilliwack / The Headpins | Cancer |
|
| 01/29/1992 | 76 | Willie Dixon | blues pioneer | Heart Failure | Burbank, CA
|

Willie Dixon
July 1, 1915 - January 29, 1992
William James "Willie" Dixon was a American blues double-bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He is credited with
writing more than 500 songs including blues classic "Little Red Rooster", "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Evil", "Spoonful", "Back Door Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "I Ain't Superstitious", "My Babe", "Wang Dang Doodle", and "Bring It On Home".
Dixon died of heart failure in Burbank, California on January 29, 1992, and is buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
Actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer portrayed Dixon in
Cadillac Records, a 2008 film based on the early history of Chess Records.
Willie Dixon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Dee Murray
April 3, 1946 - January 15, 1992
Dee Murray (born David Murray Oates) was a rock bassist most famous for his tenure with Elton John. He was a member of the Spencer Davis Group from 1969-1970 and also worked with Procol Harum, Alice Cooper,
Yvonne Elliman, England Dan & John Ford Coley, John Prine, Rick Springfield and even Barry Manilow.
He died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville of a stroke after a long bout with skin cancer.
| 01/14/1992 | 45 | Jerry Nolan | New York Dolls | Stroke | New York City
|
*** 1991 ***

Steve Marriott
January 30, 1947 - April 20, 1991
Steve Marriott was an English rock musician and member of the bands the Small Faces and Humble Pie.
Born Stephen Peter Marriott at East Ham Hospital, Manor Park, London, England, he showed an early interest in singing and performing and became a huge fan of singer
Buddy Holly. He formed his first band at age 12.
At the age of thirteen, Marriott landed a role in the popular musical Oliver!, based on the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Marriott stayed with the show for a total of twelve months.
The next year he was accepted as a student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London. Soon, however, he lost interest in acting and returned to his first love, music.
In 1963, Marriott wrote "Imaginary Love" and used the song to secure a record deal with Decca Records. The single was released in July 1963 and promptly vanished. Other early projects
did not fare much better. On July 28, 1964, Marriott first met Ronnie Lane and 16-year-old drummer Kenney Jones. With their shared love of R&B the trio were soon firm friends and their musical endeavors
evolved into the Small Faces. They were signed by Don Arden and quickly became a successful mod band in the London scene. Marriott wrote or co-wrote most of Small Faces' hit singles.
After the success of the group's number one hit concept album
Ogdens Nut Gone Flake Marriott was keen for the group to evolve and wanted to bring in ex-Herd frontman Peter Frampton,
but the other members refused. Marriott quit the group, storming off stage during a disastrous live performance on New Year's Eve, 1968.
Shortly after leaving Small Faces, Marriott joined the newly formed rock band Humble Pie with Frampton, drummer Jerry Shirley and bassist Greg Ridley. Their debut album
As Safe As Yesterday Is
was released on Immediate Records. Humble Pie toured constantly over the next three years. The band's next album releases, on A&M Records, were
Humble Pie and
Rock On. Their live album
Rockin' the Fillmore (1971) became the band's most successful release to date.
Humble Pie disbanded in 1975. Marriott released his first solo album,
Marriott, in 1976.
In 1991 Marriott flew to Los Angeles to record some tracks in Peter Frampton's studio for a reformed Humble Pie. The project was never completed, as Marriott had a change of heart and returned home.
Marriott died on the morning of Saturday, April 20, 1991 when a fire, thought to have been caused by a cigarette, swept through his home in Arkesden, Essex.
The 16th-century cottage was also used for location shots for the home of the title character in the BBC's long-running television series Lovejoy, starring Ian McShane
| 03/22/1991 | 56 | Dave Guard | The Kingston Trio | Lymphoma | Concord, NH
|
| 03/21/1991 | 81 | Leo Fender | guitar designer |
|
| 03/17/1991 | 53 | Max Lipscomb | Gene Vincent & the Bluecaps, pianist | Heart Attack
|
| 03/16/1991 | 65 | Bill Gazzarri | nightclub owner |
|
| 03/16/1991 | 27 | Chris Austin | Reba McEntire, guitarist | Plane Crash | San Diego, CA
|
| 03/16/1991 | 28 | Kirk Capello | Reba McEntire, keyboardist | Plane Crash | San Diego, CA
|
| 03/16/1991 | 27 | Joey Cigainero | Reba McEntire, synthesizer player | Plane Crash | San Diego, CA
|
| 03/16/1991 | 33 | Paula Kaye Evans | Reba McEntire, backup vocalist | Plane Crash | San Diego, CA
|
| 03/16/1991 | 40 | Jim Hammon | Reba McEntire, road manager | Plane Crash | San Diego, CA
|
| 03/16/1991 | 28 | Terry Jackson | Reba McEntire, bass guitarist | Plane Crash | San Diego, CA
|
| 03/16/1991 | 34 | Tony Saputo | Reba McEntire, drummer | Plane Crash | San Diego, CA
|
| 03/16/1991 | 34 | Michael Thomas | Reba McEntire, guitarist | Plane Crash | San Diego, CA
|
Reba McEntire's Band
March 16, 1991
After completing a Friday evening corporate gig for IBM'S "top performers" at San Diego's Sheraton Harbor Island Hotel, members of Reba McEntire's band boarded a twin-engine Hawker Siddeley jet bound for their next gig in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
On board where seven members of Reba's band, her tour manager, and a pilot and copilot. The flight took off from Brown Field, south of San Diego, at 1:40 AM on Saturday, March 16.
Northeast of the airfield the jet's wing clipped an outcropping of rock near the 3,572-foot peak of Otay Mountain. All on boards were killed. McEntire was devastated.
McEntire had skipped the flight to stay at hotel and rest, planning to take a later commercial flight. Also spared were band members Joe McGlohon and Pete Finney, who had left from Brown Field in a different plane, minutes behind the doomed jet.
McEntire dedicated her 1991 album
For My Broken Heart
to her lost bandmates.
*** 1990 ***
| 10/08/1990 | 43 | B. J. Wilson | Procol Harem, drummer | | Eugene, OR
|
| 09/06/1990 | 48 | Tom Fogerty | CCR | Tuberculosis | Scottsdale, AZ
|
| 09/05/1990 | 45 | Charlie Charles | Ian Dury and the Blockheads | Cancer | London
|
| 08/27/1990 | 35 | Stevie Ray Vaughan | guitarist | Helicopter Crash | East Troy, WI
|

Stevie Ray Vaughan
October 3, 1954 - August 27, 1990
| 08/17/1990 | 72 | Pearl Bailey | singer/actress | Heart Disease | Philadelphia, PA
|
| 08/08/1990 | 45 | Joel Rundell | Better Than Ezra, guitarist | Suicide |
|
| 07/27/1990 | 62 | Bobby Day | Hollywood Flames | Cancer
|
| 07/26/1990 | 37 | Brent Mydland | Grateful Dead | Drug Overdose | Lafayette, CA
|
| 07/23/1990 | 41 | Bert Sommer | folksinger | Respiratory Illness | Troy, NY
|
| 06/05/1990 | 45 | Isaac Payton Sweat | Johnny Winter, bassist | Suicide |
|
| 06/05/1990 | 42 | Richard Sohl | Patti Smith, keyboardist | Heart Attack |
|
| 06/05/1990 | 42 | Jim Hodder | Steely Dan, drummer | Drowned |
|
| 06/02/1990 | 40 | Stiv Bators | Dead Boys | Car Accident | Paris
|
| 05/16/1990 | 64 | Sammy Davis Jr. | pop singer/dancer/comedian | Throat Cancer | Beverly Hills, CA
|
| 03/19/1990 | 24 | Andrew Wood | Mother Love Bone | Heroin Overdose | Seattle
|
| 03/17/1990 | 43 | Rick Grech | Traffic | Brain Hemorrhage
|
| 02/27/1990 | | Dave Pritchard | Armored Saint | Leukemia |
|
| 02/26/1990 | 53 | Cornell Gunter | The Coasters | Murdered | La Vegas, NV
|
| 02/08/1990 | 55 | Charles Westover | Del Shannon | Suicide (gunshot) | Santa Clarita, CA
|
| 01/23/1990 | 37 | Allen Collins | Lynyrd Skynyrd | Pneumonia | Jacksonville, Florida
|
Allen Collins

July 19, 1952 - January 23, 1990
Allen Collins (Born Larkin Allen Collins Jr.) was a founding member and guitarist for the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He co-wrote many of the bands most famous songs.
Allen survived the October 20, 1977 plane crash that killed several of his fellow band members. He was seriously injured in the crash; suffering two broken vertebrae in his neck and a mangled right arm.
After Skynyrd, Allen's next major project was Rossington-Collins Band's 1980 debut album
Anytime Anyplace Anywhere, an under-rated Southern rock classic.
Allen began a downward spiral, using drugs and alcohol after his wife Kathy suddenly died of a hemorrhage following a miscarriage in 1980. Missed concerts and conflicts within the band resulted in the disbanding of Rossington-Collins in 1982
shortly after the release of their second album,
This is the Way. Next, Allen teamed with Skynyrd keyboardist
Billy Powell and bassist
Leon Wilkeson, along with lead singer Jimmy Dougherty, drummer Derek Hess, and guitarists Barry Lee Harwood and Randall Hall forming a new band, the Allen Collins Band. They issued a single album
Here There in Back
in 1983. This album is now very difficult to find.
In 1986 a car accident killed Collins' girlfriend and left the guitarist paralyzed from the waist down, with limited use of his arms and hands. Collins plead no contest to vehicular manslaughter as well as driving under the influence of alcohol.
All remaining members of Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited to perform in 1987, but due to his injury Collins was only able to participate as musical director. As part of his plea bargain for the 1986 accident, Collins addressed fans at every Skynyrd concert with an explanation of why he could not perform, citing the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as drugs and alcohol.
Allen Collins died January 23, 1990 from chronic pneumonia, a complication of the paralysis. He is buried beside his wife in Riverside Memorial Park Cemetery, Jacksonville, Florida.
© Steve Covault, all rights reserved.