Pick a Day

Music History Events: Died Young

April 25, 1974 Pamela Courson, who was Jim Morrison's girlfriend and the one who found him dead in a bathtub, dies of a heroin overdose at age 27.

April 17, 1974 Vinnie Taylor (lead guitarist for Sha Na Na) dies of an accidental heroin overdose at age 24.

February 28, 1974 28-year-old Bobby Bloom accidentally shoots and kills himself while cleaning his gun.

November 26, 1973 John Rostill (bassist for The Shadows), age 31, dies when he is electrocuted by his improperly grounded guitar equipment.

November 13, 1973 Jerry Lee Lewis's 19-year-old son, Jerry Lee Jr., is killed in a highway accident near Hernando, Mississippi. The elder Lewis had already lost his only other son, Steven Allen, in a 1962 drowning.

August 17, 1973 Paul Williams (original lead singer for The Temptations) dies of an apparent suicide in Detroit, Michigan, at age 34.

July 22, 1973 Larry Finnegan dies of a brain tumor at age 34. Known for the 1962 hit "Dear One."

July 14, 1973 Bluegrass/country guitarist Clarence White (of The Byrds) dies at 29 after being hit by a drunk driver. He was loading equipment into his car after a gig in Palmdale, California, when he was struck.

November 18, 1972 Neil Young's guitarist Danny Whitten, struggling to overcome a heroin addiction, dies from a lethal combination of Valium and alcohol at age 29.

November 6, 1972 Original New York Dolls drummer Billy Murcia dies at the age of 21 in London, England, from asphyxiation following an accidental overdose.

August 2, 1972 Brian Cole (bass guitarist for The Association) dies of a heroin overdose at age 29.

July 24, 1972 Bobby Ramirez, the 24-year-old drummer with Edgar Winter's White Trash, is beaten to death in a Chicago barroom brawl after a patron complains about the length of Ramirez's hair.

June 13, 1972 39-year-old Clyde McPhatter, who performed with The Dominoes and founded The Drifters before starting a solo career, dies in his sleep after years of alcohol abuse left him with heart, liver, and kidney disease.

May 3, 1972 Scottish rock guitarist Les Harvey, age 27, dies onstage during a Stone The Crows concert when he's electrocuted by a ungrounded microphone standing in a pool of rainwater.

April 27, 1972 24-year-old Phil King, a former booking agent for Blue Oyster Cult, is murdered over a gambling debt, inspiring the band's song "Deadline."

November 18, 1971 Junior Parker dies during surgery for a brain tumor in Blue Island, Illinois, at age 39. Known for '50s R&B hits like "Feelin' Good," "Love My Baby," and "Mystery Train" (later covered by Elvis Presley).

October 29, 1971 Duane Allman (of The Allman Brothers Band) dies in a motorcycle crash in Macon, Georgia, at age 24.

October 12, 1971 Rock 'n roller Gene Vincent dies from a ruptured stomach ulcer in California, at age 36.

August 15, 1971 Singer Thomas Wayne dies in a car accident in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 31. Known for the 1959 Rockabilly hit "Tragedy."

August 13, 1971 Saxophonist King Curtis dies at age 37 after being stabbed outside of his apartment in New York City. Known for his distinctive playing on The Coasters' "Yakety Yak."

July 4, 1971 R&B singer Don McPherson (of The Main Ingredient) dies of leukemia at age 29.

March 7, 1971 Saxophonist/flautist Harold McNair (of Ginger Baker's Airforce) dies of lung cancer at age 39.

November 25, 1970 Jazz sax player Albert Ayler is found dead in New York City's East River after being missing for 20 days. It's assumed that the 34 year old committed suicide.

September 3, 1970 Canned Heat frontman Alan Wilson commits suicide at age 27 via barbiturate overdose. A litany of other rock artists soon die at the same age, including Jimi Hendrix two weeks later.

June 10, 1970 Earl Grant, a pop singer known for hits like "Ebb Tide" throughout the '50s and '60s, dies in a car accident in Lordsburg, New Mexico, at age 39.

April 24, 1970 Chicago blues pianist Otis Spann dies at age 40 of liver cancer. His grave will go unmarked for nearly 30 years until blues enthusiasts unite to raise money for a headstone. Unveiled in 1999, it reads: "Otis played the deepest blues we ever heard – He'll play forever in our hearts."

March 16, 1970 Mary Ann Ganser (of The Shangri-Las) dies of a barbiturates overdose at age 22.

March 16, 1970 Motown singer Tammi Terrell, known for a string of hit duets with Marvin Gaye, dies of a brain tumor at age 24.

January 24, 1970 Doo-wop singer James "Shep" Sheppard (of Shep & the Limelites, The Heartbeats), age 35, is found dead in his car along the Long Island Expressway, the victim of an apparent robbery.

January 17, 1970 R&B singer Billy Stewart dies in a car accident in North Carolina at age 32.