Pick a Day

Music History Events: Deaths

September 5, 1971 While Wishbone Ash are on stage at an outdoor concert in Austin, Texas, hot dog vender Francisco Carrasco is shot dead. The tragedy inspires the song "Rock 'N' Roll Widow."

June 16, 1970 Blues guitar pioneer Lonnie Johnson dies of a stroke at 76.

August 10, 1969 Maurine Dallas Watkins - author of the book Chicago - dies from lung cancer at age 72.

June 22, 1969 After a long battle with drug and alcohol abuse, Judy Garland dies of an overdose at age 47.

June 2, 1969 Jazz bassist Albert Stinson dies from a drug overdose at 24.

September 16, 1968 The composer Michael Carr, co-writer of "South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)," dies in London at age 67.

December 10, 1967 Keyboardist Ronnie Caldwell dies in a Wisconsin plane crash along with three of his Bar-Kays bandmates and Otis Redding, one week before his 19th birthday.

December 10, 1967 Drummer Carl Cunningham dies in a Wisconsin plane crash along with three of his Bar-Kays bandmates and Otis Redding. He was 18 years old.

February 5, 1967 Chilean composer Violeta Parra commits suicide at age 49.

October 26, 1966 Songwriter J.M. Robinson (Jessie Mae Robinson) dies at her Los Angeles home aged just 48.

February 9, 1966 Sophie Tucker dies of lung cancer and kidney failure at age 79.

January 18, 1966 Lyricist Fred Wise dies aged 50 in New York, the city of his birth.

May 24, 1965 Sonny Boy Williamson dies. His age is uncertain, possibly 52.

May 19, 1964 Lawrence Wright dies in London. His death goes unreported by Melody Maker, the newspaper he founded in 1926.

February 9, 1963 Hattie Carroll, a 51-year-old bartender in Baltimore, is killed after a disgruntled patron hits her with a cane. Bob Dylan writes a song about it called "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll," which appears on his The Times They Are A-Changin' album.

October 8, 1962 The South African musician Solomon Linda, who wrote and recorded the original version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," dies at age 53.

December 24, 1960 Beryl Ingham Formby, wife and manager of George Formby, dies of leukemia at age 59.

January 8, 1960 Harry Gifford dies at his London home, aged 82. He co-wrote "When I'm Cleaning Windows" with Fred Cliffe & George Formby.

February 12, 1959 Composer George Antheil dies of a heart attack at 58.

February 19, 1951 Alan Merrill is born in New York City. Moving to England, he forms The Arrows, who do the original version of "I Love Rock And Roll."

July 11, 1950 Film producer/record executive B.G. "Buddy" DeSylva dies in Los Angeles at age 55. He also co-wrote the Al Jolson hit "April Showers," among many others.

December 27, 1947 Albert Hodges, the father of English singer-songwriter Chas Hodges (of Chas & Dave), commits suicide the day before his son's fourth birthday.

September 18, 1945 Blind Willie Johnson, singer of "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground," dies at 48 years old from malarial fever.

November 17, 1943 After celebrating opening night of the Broadway revival A Connecticut Yankee with his songwriting partner Richard Rodgers, lyricist Lorenz Hart disappears for two days. A struggling alcoholic, he's discovered incapacitated in a hotel room where he's been drinking heavily. He dies shortly after from pneumonia.

June 19, 1940 The composer Maurice Jaubert dies in Baccarat Hospital, France at age 40 after being wounded in action.

December 28, 1937 French composer Maurice Ravel dies in Paris aged 62.

December 26, 1937 English poet and composer Ivor Gurney dies of tuberculosis at age 47.

September 2, 1934 Russ Columbo dies when his friend's antique gun accidentally fires and strikes him in the eye. The 26-year-old singer's friends and family hide the news from his ailing mother, fearing the shock will kill her. Through an elaborate scheme of writing fake letters and using old recordings to simulate live broadcasts, it appears that Columbo is alive and well, but busy. The subterfuge lasts until her death a decade later.

May 13, 1934 Hymn composer William Golden dies in a traffic accident near Eupora, Mississippi.

March 10, 1934 Mary Bregovy, known for her rendition of "I Guess It Doesn't Matter Anymore," is killed in a car crash at age 21.