Music History Events: Deaths
February 15, 1968 Blues musician Little Walter dies at age 37 in his sleep, presumably from coronary thrombosis.
December 30, 1967 Songwriter Bert Berns - known for penning a string of '60s hits, including "Piece of My Heart," "Hang on Sloopy" and "Twist and Shout" - dies of a heart attack at age 38.
December 10, 1967 Bar-Kays saxophonist Phalon Jones, age 19, dies in a Wisconsin plane crash along with three of his bandmates and Otis Redding.
December 10, 1967 Along with three of his Bar-Kays bandmates, 18-year-old guitarist Jimmie King dies in a Wisconsin plane crash that also takes the life of Otis Redding.
October 3, 1967 Woody Guthrie dies at age 55 after a long battle with Huntington's disease.
September 28, 1967 English musician Rory Storm (of Rory Storm and The Hurricanes) dies of a chest infection at age 34.
August 27, 1967 The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein dies of an accidental overdose (Carbitral mixed with alcohol) in London, England, at age 32.
July 17, 1967 Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane dies of liver cancer at age 40.
May 20, 1967 After his wife dies in a car accident, 23-year-old Manuel Fernandez (electric organist of Los Bravos) commits suicide.
May 8, 1967 LaVerne Sophia Andrews (of The Andrews Sisters) dies of cancer at age 55.
March 11, 1967 Opera star Geraldine Farrar dies at age 85.
March 6, 1967 Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly dies at age 85.
February 3, 1967 Joe Meek, an experimental pop pioneer who wrote and produced the Tornados' "Telstar," fatally shoots his landlady before turning the gun on himself.
November 2, 1966 Country blues musician Mississippi John Hurt dies of a heart attack at age 74.
October 26, 1966 English pop singer Alma Cogan dies of ovarian cancer at age 34.
October 7, 1966 Johnny Kidd dies in a car accident near Lancashire, England, at age 30.
October 7, 1966 Smiley Lewis, New Orleans R&B musician, dies of stomach cancer at age 53. Originally recorded "One Night," which became a hit for Elvis Presley in 1958.
July 18, 1966 Bobby Fuller (of The Bobby Fuller Four) is found dead, soaked in gasoline, in his automobile outside of his apartment in Hollywood, California. The details of the 23-year-old singer's death are murky - it's unclear whether it was a murder, suicide, or accident - but the official cause of death is reported as asphyxia due to inhalation of gasoline.
April 30, 1966 Folk singer and novelist Richard Farina dies in a motorcycle accident in Carmel, California, at age 29.
March 7, 1966 Mike Millward (of The Fourmost) dies of leukemia at age 23.
October 21, 1965 Rock 'n roller Bill Black - leader of the Bill Black's Combo and early bassist for Elvis Presley - dies of a brain tumor at age 39.
October 21, 1965 Bill Black, a bandleader who played bass for Elvis Presley, dies of a brain tumor at age 39.
August 14, 1965 Doo-Wop tenor Charles Fizer (of The Olympics) is shot and killed during the Watts Riot in Watts, Los Angeles, at age 25.
May 1, 1965 Spike Jones, known for satirical takes on classics and popular songs, dies at age 53 of emphysema.
February 15, 1965 Nat King Cole dies of lung cancer at age 45.
January 20, 1965 Alan Freed, who brought black music to a white audience as a DJ and concert promoter in Cleveland and New York, dies at age 41 of cirrhosis. Caught up in the Payola scandal, Freed's brother says he "died of a broken heart because they took his microphone away."
September 28, 1964 Songwriter Nacio Herb Brown dies in San Francisco, California, at age 68. He wrote the music for "Singin' in the Rain," with lyrics by Arthur Freed.
August 14, 1964 Johnny Burnette (lead singer of The Rock and Roll Trio), age 30, drowns in a boating accident in Clear Lake, California.
July 31, 1964 Country singer Jim Reeves dies at age 40 when he crashes his private plane while flying over Brentwood, Tennessee, in the midst of a violent thunderstorm. He will continue to chart after his death, with "Distant Drums" fighting the Beatles' double-sided "Yellow Submarine" and "Eleanor Rigby" for the #1 spot in the UK.
May 20, 1964 The Drifters' lead singer Rudy Lewis is found dead on the morning the group is scheduled to record "Under The Boardwalk." He is replaced by Johnny Moore, who was with a previous incarnation of the group, who sings lead on the song the next day. Lewis' death is widely reported as a drug overdose, although this is never confirmed by a medical authority.
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