Pick a Day

Music History Events: Deaths

September 27, 1986 Cliff Burton (Metallica's second bassist) dies in a bus crash in Sweden during Metallica's Damage Inc. tour in support of the Master of Puppets album. Burton, age 24, is asleep in his bunk when the bus skids off the road. He is thrown from the window and crushed when the vehicle rolls over him.

June 13, 1986 Big band leader Benny Goodman dies at age 77.More

January 4, 1986 After a long battle with addiction, Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott dies at age 36.

April 1, 1984 Marvin Gaye is fatally shot by his own father and dies at age 44. An investigation reveals that Marvin had beaten his father, who ends up serving five years' probation for voluntary manslaughter.

December 28, 1983 Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys dies after diving into very cold water from a boat slip in Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles.

November 19, 1983 Tom Evans of Badfinger commits suicide. Eight years earlier, his bandmate Pete Ham died in similar fashion. The acclaimed band had extraordinary bad business dealings with their record labels, Apple and Warner Bros., which were a contributing factor in their deaths.

April 17, 1983 Felix Pappalardi (bassist, vocalist for Mountain), age 43, is shot and killed by his wife, Gail, in their East Side Manhattan apartment. Gail claims it was an accident and the charge of second-degree murder is lessened to criminally negligent homicide, which lands her a brief stint in prison.

February 4, 1983 Karen Carpenter of the Carpenters dies at age 32 of complications from anorexia.

September 14, 1982 Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, dies the day after suffering a stroke at the wheel and driving her car off a cliff. The 52-year-old former actress garnered acclaim in the 1956 musical comedy High Society alongside Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. She was also one of many stars name-checked in Madonna's "Vogue."

April 17, 1982 Denison University freshman Laura Carter is killed when a bullet from a gunfight a block away strikes her in the chest while she is riding in a car with her parents. Christopher Cross, who is dating her best friend, writes "Think Of Laura" in her honor.

March 19, 1982 Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist Randy Rhoads, just 25, dies when he takes a plane ride with a pilot who tries to buzz Ozzy's tour bus. When the wing hits the bus, the plane crashes into a nearby house, killing Rhoads, the pilot, and the tour costume designer/hairdresser.

July 16, 1981 Harry Chapin dies in a car crash at age 38.

May 11, 1981 Bob Marley dies at age 36 after a long battle with cancer.More

February 9, 1981 Bill Haley dies of an apparent heart attack at age 55. With "Rock Around The Clock," Haley had the first big hit of the rock era, but his fortunes faded quickly as the '50s came to an end, and the second half of his life was mired in financial problems and a struggle to regain musical relevance.

December 8, 1980 John Lennon, 40 years old, is shot and killed outside his apartment in New York City.More

September 25, 1980 Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham dies at age 32 of asphyxiation from vomiting after a night of heavy drinking. The band decides to break up instead of replacing him.

May 18, 1980 Battling epilepsy and depression, Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis hangs himself at his home in England.More

February 19, 1980 AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott dies after a night of heavy drinking. The coroner's report lists "acute alcohol poisoning" as the cause of death, classified under "death by misadventure."More

February 2, 1979 Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols, out on bail after being accused of killing his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, dies of a heroin overdose at age 21.

September 7, 1978 Keith Moon of The Who dies at age 32 after overdosing on medication that is supposed to help him overcome his alcoholism.

October 20, 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd members Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines die in a plane crash in Mississippi. Gaines' sister Cassie, a backup singer with the group, is also killed along with two pilots and the band's manager. Other members of the group are badly injured.More

August 16, 1977 The King is dead. Elvis Presley dies at his home in Graceland as a result of an overdose from prescription drugs.More

April 9, 1976 Folk singer-songwriter Phil Ochs commits suicide at age 35 in Far Rockaway, New York City, after a long battle with bipolar disorder and alcoholism.

February 12, 1976 Sal Mineo, an actor who starred alongside James Dean in the movies Giant and Rebel Without a Cause, is murdered by a deranged assailant. Mineo had several hits as a singer including "Start Movin' (In My Direction)," which reached #9 US in 1957.

January 5, 1976 Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot and killed by police in Los Angeles after he brandishes an unloaded rifle (some claim it was an air gun) after becoming despondent.

April 24, 1975 Pete Ham of Badfinger hangs himself in his London home. 27-year-old Ham, who was the group's lead singer and primary songwriter, was despondent over the business dealings that saw the band's album Wish You Were Here pulled from stores and his income cut off. He leaves behind a pregnant girlfriend who gives birth to a daughter the following month.

July 29, 1974 Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas dies at 32 of a heart attack while on tour as a solo artist in London. Her manager, believing her death to be drug-related and trying to protect her legacy, plants a story that she choked on a ham sandwich, a narrative that persists for decades.

December 20, 1973 Bobby Darin dies at age 37 after surgery to repair his ailing heart.More

September 20, 1973 Jim Croce is killed in a plane crash in Natchitoches, Louisiana, at age 30. More

September 19, 1973 Gram Parsons of The Byrds dies at age 26 after taking a shot of liquid morphine in his room at Joshua Tree Inn. Parsons had been recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, but relapsed during his trip to Joshua Tree National Park. "He was clean and took a strong shot," his friend Keith Richards says. "It's the one mistake you don't want to make."