Pick a Day

Music History Events: Died Young

December 1, 1969 Chicago bluesman Magic Sam, born Samuel Gene Maghett, dies suddenly of a heart attack at age 32. Known for "All Your Love," "Easy Baby" and "Feelin' Good (We're Gonna Boogie)."

June 29, 1969 Soul singer Shorty Long, known for the 1968 hit "Here Comes The Judge," age 29, drowns along with his friend when their boat capsizes on the Detroit River in Michigan.

May 12, 1969 Martin Lamble, drummer for Fairport Convention, dies at age 19 when the band's van crashes on the way home from a gig in Birmingham, England. Bandmate Richard Thompson's girlfriend, Jeannie Franklyn, is also killed.

May 6, 1969 Jamaican ska trombonist Don Drummond (The Skatalites) dies at age 37 at Bellevue Asylum in Kingston, Jamaica, where he was institutionalized after murdering his girlfriend in 1965. The official cause of death is "natural causes," but plenty of theories arise suggesting he was murdered either by gangsters or a music-hating government.

October 30, 1968 Malcolm Hale (lead guitarist for Spanky & Our Gang) dies of pneumonia at age 27.

September 28, 1968 Dewey Phillips, the Memphis DJ who was the first to play an Elvis Presley record on the radio, dies of heart failure at age 42.

August 13, 1968 Soul singer Joe Hinton dies of skin cancer at age 38 in Boston, Massachusetts. Known for the popular cover "Funny How Time Flies Slips Away," written by Willie Nelson.

August 5, 1968 Guitarist Luther Perkins, a member of Johnny Cash's backing band, dies two days after being trapped in a house fire in Hendersonville, Tennessee, at age 40.

May 26, 1968 Little Willie John, known for '50s and '60s R&B hits like "Need Your Love So Bad" and "Fever," dies of a heart attack at age 30 while serving a sentence for manslaughter at Washington State Penitentiary. He was imprisoned in 1966 as a result of a fatal knifing incident after a performance in Seattle.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

January 7, 1964 Blues musician Cyril Davies (of Blues Incorporated) dies of endocarditis, an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, at age 31, a year after contracting pleurisy, an inflammation of the lining of the lungs.

December 14, 1963 Dinah Washington dies of an accidental barbiturate overdose at age 39.