Pick a Day

Music History Events: Deaths

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.

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.

March 19, 1990 Andrew Wood, lead singer of Mother Love Bone, dies of a heroin overdose at age 24. Members of the band go on to form Pearl Jam.More

December 6, 1988 Roy Orbison, in the midst of a career resurgence thanks to his supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, dies of heart failure at age 52. His album Mystery Girl, completed at the time of his death, is released in January 1989.

March 10, 1988 Andy Gibb, whose three older brothers are the Bee Gees, dies of heart failure at age 30. Gibb had three #1 hits in the late '70s, including "I Just Want To Be Your Everything."

December 22, 1987 After a night of debauchery with Robbin Crosby of Ratt and Slash from Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe bass player Nikki Sixx suffers a drug overdose and his heart stops beating. He is declared clinically dead, but comes back to life.More

June 22, 1987 Fred Astaire dies of pneumonia at age 88. Shortly before his death, Astaire abdicated his throne as the king of song and dance and welcomed a new royal: Michael Jackson. He said: "I didn't want to leave this world without knowing who my descendant was, thank you Michael."