Music History Events: Died Young
February 7, 2000 Rapper Big Pun, real name Christopher Lee Rios, dies at age 28 of a heart attack and respiratory failure.
November 13, 1999 R.J. Vealey (drummer for Atlanta Rhythm Section) dies of a heart attack at age 37.
June 2, 1999 Junior Braithwaite (of Bob Marley's Wailers) is gunned down in front of a fellow musician's home in Kingston, Jamaica. Junior, age 47, is the third Wailer to be murdered, following Peter Tosh and Carlton Barrett's 1987 deaths.
May 18, 1999 Jamaican record producer Augustus Pablo, known for his influential 1976 album King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown, dies at age 44 of a collapsed lung.
April 30, 1999 Darrell Sweet (drummer for Nazareth) dies of a heart attack at age 51 while on tour promoting the band's Boogaloo album.
April 26, 1999 English post-punk rocker Adrian Borland (The Sound, The Outsiders) commits suicide at age 41 by throwing himself under a train at London's Wimbledon Station.
April 25, 1999 Funk percussionist Larry Troutman (of Zapp), age 54, fatally shoots his brother and bandmate Roger Troutman, age 47, outside a recording studio in Dayton, Ohio, before turning the gun on himself. With no known witnesses, the motive for the murder-suicide is unclear, but family members suggest conflict over finances.
March 28, 1999 Rapper Freaky Tah (of Lost Boyz) is fatally shot by Kelvin Jones, a member of the fledgling New York-based rap group The Hellraisers. Freaky Tah, real name Raymond Rogers, is just 27 years old.
December 11, 1998 Lynn Strait (lead singer for Snot) dies in a car accident in Santa Barbara, California, at age 30.
November 13, 1998 Pianist/keyboardist Kenny Kirkland, age 43, dies of congestive heart failure in Queens, New York City, New York.
May 9, 1998 Blues musician Lester Butler dies of a heroin and cocaine overdose at age 38.
May 2, 1998 Heavy metal guitarist Hideto "Hide" Matsumoto (of X-Japan) commits suicide at age 33 by hanging himself.
April 2, 1998 Robert Pilatus of Milli Vanilli dies at age 32 after overdosing on a combination of drugs and alcohol.
February 6, 1998 Austrian singer-songwriter Falco (Hans Hölzel) dies in a car crash while under the influence of cocaine and alcohol, just two weeks shy of his 41st birthday.
February 5, 1998 Tim Kelly (guitarist Slaughter) dies in a car accident in Arizona at age 35.
November 12, 1997 Taiwanese pop singer Chang Yu-Sheng dies 31 weeks after a car accident leaves him in a coma, at age 31.
November 6, 1997 Kevin Paul Godfrey, aka Epic Soundtracks of the British post-punk band Swell Maps, dies in his sleep at age 38. The circumstances surrounding his death are unknown.
October 8, 1997 Jonas "Jo" Bruce (keyboardist Afro Celt Sound System) dies suddenly of an asthma attack at age 27. He was the son of Cream bass player Jack Bruce.
September 19, 1997 Christian singer-songwriter Rich Mullins dies in an automobile accident in Illinois while en route to a benefit concert at Wichita State University in Kansas. Mullins, age 41, was thrown from the vehicle and hit by an oncoming semi-trailer truck.
April 19, 1997 Eldon "El Duce" Hoke (drummer, lead singer of The Mentors) dies at age 39 after being struck by a train in Riverside, California. The coroner's report calls the cause of death a "misadventure."
April 18, 1997 Rock guitarist Jay Hening (of Demolition 23) dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
January 22, 1997 Scottish singer Billy MacKenzie (of The Associates) commits suicide at age 39 by overdosing on prescription drugs.
July 28, 1996 Jason Thirsk (bass player for Pennywise) dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 28.
July 23, 1996 Rob Collins (keyboardist for The Charlatans UK) dies in a car crash at age 33.
June 14, 1996 Mathew Fletcher, drummer for Heavenly, commits suicide at age 26 just before the release of the band's fourth and final album, Operation Heavenly.
April 18, 1996 Bernard Edwards (bass guitarist for Chic) dies of pneumonia at age 43 after a Chic concert at the Budokan Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
March 31, 1996 After battling a number of health issues, Gun Club guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce dies at age 37.
November 21, 1995 Matthew Ashman (Bow Wow Wow guitarist) dies of complications from diabetes at age 35.
August 23, 1995 Industrial/techno musician Dwayne Goettel (of Skinny Puppy) dies of a heroin overdose in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, at age 31.
July 30, 1995 Biggie Tembo (guitarist/lead vocalist for Bhundu Boys) commits suicide at age 37 in Harare, Zimbabwe.
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