Pick a Day

Music History Events: Deaths

January 5, 2017 Babymetal guitarist Mikio Fujioka dies from injuries resulting from a December 30 fall from an observation deck.

December 28, 2016 Singin' in the Rain star Debbie Reynolds dies of a stroke at age 84, one day after losing her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher, to a fatal heart attack.

December 27, 2016 Actress Carrie Fisher, known for her iconic role as Princess Leia in Star Wars, dies of a heart attack at age 60. The daughter of Singin' in the Rain actress Debbie Reynolds and former wife of Paul Simon (see "Hearts And Bones"), she also inspired the Blink-182 song "A New Hope": "Princess Leia where are you tonight; and who's laying there by your side."

December 24, 2016 Rick Parfitt of Status Quo dies at age 68 after years of heart-related ailments.

December 19, 2016 Country songwriter Andrew Dorff, brother of actor Stephen Dorff, dies at age 40. Penned hits for artists such as Martina McBride ("Ride"), Kenny Chesney ("Save It for a Rainy Day"), Blake Shelton ("Neon Light") and Hunter Hayes ("Somebody's Heartbreak").

December 13, 2016 Canadian actor Alan Thicke, age 69, suffers a heart attack while playing hockey with one of his sons and dies shortly after. Aside from his popular role as dad Jason Seaver on the '80s sitcom Growing Pains, Thicke was a songwriter (Bill Champlin's "Sara") and TV theme song composer, penning themes for The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes. He was also dad to "Blurred Lines" singer Robin Thicke.

December 7, 2016 Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer dies at 69 after a battle with cancer.

December 7, 2016 One Direction's Louis Tomlinson loses his 43-year-old mother, Johannah Deakin, to leukemia. His songs "Just Hold On" and "Two of Us" are about her.

November 18, 2016 Sharon Jones of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings dies at age 60 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

November 15, 2016 Less than a year after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, country singer Holly Dunn, age 59, dies at a hospice facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

November 13, 2016 Leon Russell, 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, dies in his sleep at age 74.

October 29, 2016 John "Buck" Ormsby, bass player for the Wailers (sometimes the "Fabulous" Wailers) and founder of Etiquette Records, passes away from a fall in Mexico.

October 24, 2016 Bobby Vee dies at age 73 after a long battle with Alzheimer's. In 1961, he had a #1 hit with "Take Good Care Of My Baby."

October 24, 2016 Photographer, artist, and lyricist Jeremy Ayers passes away after having a seizure and falling into a short coma. He had been a pivotal part of the Athens, Georgia, art scene and penned the lyrics for "52 Girls" by the B-52s, and "Windout" and "Old Man Kensey" by R.E.M.

October 23, 2016 Dead Or Alive lead singer Pete Burns dies of a heart attack at age 57. Known for the 1985 hit "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)," Burns estimated that he had 300 plastic surgeries in his lifetime.

September 21, 2016 The songwriter John D. Loudermilk, who wrote the #1 hit "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)," dies at age 82.

September 8, 2016 Prince Buster, a Jamaican native who popularized ska music in England, dies at age 78.

August 24, 2016 Jeanne Martin, ex-wife of the late Dean Martin, dies of cancer at age 89. She married the singer in 1949, and gave birth to three children, including Dean Paul Martin, in addition to raising four more from Dean's first marriage. They divorced in 1972.

August 22, 2016 Legendary jazz harmonicist Toots Thielemans dies in Brussels, Belgium, at age 94.

August 20, 2016 Former 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts is found dead in a Wisconsin hotel room at age 38, presumably from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

August 20, 2016 Tom Searle of the band Architects dies of skin cancer at age 28.

August 19, 2016 Former music mogul Lou Pearlman, creator of 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys, dies at age 62 while serving a 25-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Texarkana, Texas. In 2008, he was convicted of conspiracy and money laundering related to a massive Ponzi scheme.

August 14, 2016 Former Nine Inch Nails keyboardist James Woolley, who played with the band from 1991-1994, falls from a ladder at his Illinois studio and dies from resulting neck injuries at age 49.

August 3, 2016 Ricci Martin, youngest son of Dean Martin, is found dead in his Utah home at age 62.

July 28, 2016 Marianne Ihlen, the subject of Leonard Cohen's song "So Long, Marianne," dies at 81. Before her death, Cohen sent her a letter that read, in part, "Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine." Cohen joins her in death on November 7.

July 24, 2016 Marni Nixon, a soprano singer who dubbed vocals for numerous stars of the silver screen, including Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and Natalie Wood in West Side Story, dies at age 86.

July 11, 2016 Country singer Craig Morgan mourns the death of his son Jerry Greer after the 19-year-old's body is discovered the day after he goes missing while tubing on the Tennessee River. Jerry is one of four sons born to Morgan and his wife, Karen.

June 17, 2016 Prince Be of P.M. Dawn dies of kidney disease at age 46.

June 3, 2016 After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali, the heavyweight boxing champion and civil rights activist who was the subject of the 1975 hit "Black Superman," dies of respiratory complications at age 74.

April 24, 2016 Philadelphia soul singer Billy Paul dies of cancer at age 81. His biggest hit, "Me And Mrs. Jones," was written by the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The pair release a statement upon Paul's death saying, "Billy's voice combined both jazz, R&B and soul vocals, making him one the great artists to come out of Philly and to be celebrated worldwide."