Pick a Day

Music History Events: Deaths

December 26, 1999 Curtis Mayfield, debilitated from a 1990 stage accident that left him paralyzed, dies of complications from diabetes at 57. Mayfield was a writer and producer as well as a singer. With his group The Impressions he crafted songs like "Gypsy Woman" and "People Get Ready." As a solo artist, he's best known for the 1972 Super Fly soundtrack with the ultra-funky title tune.

May 10, 1999 Shel Silverstein, the prolific author of beloved children's books who was also a top songwriter, dies of a massive heart attack at age 68. He wrote "A Boy Named Sue" for Johnny Cash.More

March 2, 1999 Dusty Springfield dies of breast cancer at age 59.

May 14, 1998 Frank Sinatra dies of a heart attack in West Hollywood, California, at age 82.

April 17, 1998 Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney's wife and Wings bandmate, dies at age 56 after a three-year battle with breast cancer.More

February 6, 1998 Beach Boys guitarist Carl Wilson dies of lung cancer at 51. Wilson sang lead on the group's hits "Good Vibrations," "God Only Knows," and "Kokomo."

January 19, 1998 Carl Perkins dies at age 65 after suffering three strokes over the last two months.

January 5, 1998 Sonny Bono (of Sonny & Cher) dies in a skiing accident in Nevada, near South Lake Tahoe, California, at age 62. An advanced skier, he goes off course to do some "tree skiing" when he crashes and dies. His wife and two children are with him on the slopes, but don't witness the accident.

November 22, 1997 Michael Hutchence of INXS dies in a Sydney hotel room in what the coroner rules a suicide. The famous frontman was just 37.More

October 12, 1997 John Denver, an avid amateur pilot who loves flying experimental aircraft, dies at 53 when the plane he is flying crashes into the Pacific Ocean.More

May 29, 1997 Jeff Buckley drowns while swimming in Wolf River in Tennessee. The singer/songwriter/guitarist known for his version of "Hallelujah" is 30 years old at the time of his death.More

March 9, 1997 Beloved New York rapper Biggie Smalls (The Notorious B.I.G.) is gunned down in Los Angeles streets just six months after his rival Tupac Shakur met the same fate.More

September 13, 1996 Tupac Shakur, age 25, dies six days after being shot while riding in a car driven by his label boss, Suge Knight. No arrests are made in the case.

July 11, 1996 The night before a show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Smashing Pumpkins touring keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin dies at age 34 after shooting heroin with drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who is fired from the band a few days later (he returns to the fold in 1999). The Sarah McLachlan song "Angel" is inspired by Melvoin's death.

May 25, 1996 Sublime frontman Brad Nowell dies of a heroin overdose at age 28, just one week after marrying Troy Dendekker, the mother of his 11-month-old son, Jakob.More

February 2, 1996 Gene Kelly, one of the most famous dancers of his time, dies at age 83. Kelly was also an accomplished singer, known for crooning the title track of Singin' In The Rain.

October 21, 1995 Blind Melon lead singer Shannon Hoon dies of a drug overdose at age 28.

August 9, 1995 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead dies from a heart attack at age 53. His voice fills the airwaves as millions of Deadheads mourn.More

March 31, 1995 23-year-old Tejano singer Selena dies after being shot by her former personal assistant and former fan club president, Yolanda Saldivar, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Jennifer Lopez stars in a movie about her life that is released in 1997.

March 26, 1995 Eazy-E (Eric Wright) dies of AIDS-related complications at age 31.More

April 8, 1994 Kurt Cobain's body is found in his Seattle home by an electrician sent to install a burglar alarm. He is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound three days earlier. The Nirvana song "Come As You Are" takes on new meaning with the line, "I swear that I don't have a gun."More

April 5, 1994 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana kills himself with a shotgun at age 27. His body isn't discovered until three days later when an electrician enters to install an alarm.

December 5, 1993 Onetime Gin Blossoms guitarist Doug Hopkins commits suicide at age 32. Hopkins was fired from the group before the release of their debut album, New Miserable Experience, but the biggest hits from that album, "Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You," were songs he wrote.

December 4, 1993 Frank Zappa dies of terminal prostate cancer at age 52 in Los Angeles, California.

January 6, 1993 Jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie dies of pancreatic cancer in Englewood, New Jersey, at age 75.

November 24, 1991 Freddie Mercury of Queen dies of AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia in Kensington, London, England, at age 45.

September 28, 1991 Jazz legend Miles Davis dies of pneumonia, respiratory failure and stroke at age 65.

March 20, 1991 Eric Clapton's 4-year-old son, Conor, dies after falling out of a window at his mother's apartment. Clapton later writes "Tears In Heaven" about Conor.

January 8, 1991 Steve Clark of Def Leppard dies of an accidental drug overdose at age 30.

August 27, 1990 35-year-old Stevie Ray Vaughan dies in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin, following a concert at the Alpine Valley Music Theater where earlier in the evening he appeared with Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, and his older brother, Jimmie Vaughan.