Joey Ramone

popular name: Sam Cooke

date_of_death: December 11, 1964

age: 33

cause_of_death: Homicide - gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Sam Cooke's intonation was exquisitely exact. His command of pitch and texture were flawless. His skills as a vocalist were - and remain over sixty years since his untimely death - unsurpassed by the vocal royalty of his day. Neither Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin or Ray Charles could reach his status as a stylist and vocalist of widespread, enduring influence. Yet Sam Cooke - producer, songwriter, performer, label owner and supreme architect of gospel-pop crossover - will forever be remembered with a tinge of sadness and mystery.

popular name: Randy Rhoads

date_of_death: March 19, 1982

age: 25

cause_of_death: Blunt force trauma (airplane crash)

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Randy Rhoads was an American guitarist and co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot. When Quiet Riot continued to struggle with marginal success, the young musician tried out for Ozzy and became the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo albums - Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of a Madman (1981). His life was cut short in a stupid and completely avoidable plane crash as the second tour of the group was just getting started. Rhoads was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. He also placed 36th on Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists. He placed fourth on Guitar World Magazine's 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists and 26th in Guitar World's 50 Fastest Guitarists list.

popular name: Gene Autry

date_of_death: October 2, 1998

age: 91

cause_of_death: Lymphoma

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Gene Autry, nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades beginning in the early 1930s. Autry was the owner of a television station, several radio stations in Southern California, and the Los Angeles/California Angels Major League Baseball team from 1961 to 1997. From 1934 to 1953, Autry appeared in 93 films, and between 1950 and 1956 hosted The Gene Autry Show television series. During the 1930s and 1940s, he personified the straight-shooting hero—honest, brave, and true. Autry was also one of the most important pioneering figures in the history of country music, considered the second major influential artist of the genre's development after Jimmie Rodgers. His singing cowboy films were the first vehicle to carry country music to a national audience. In addition to his signature song, "Back in the Saddle Again" and his hit "At Mail Call Today", Autry is still remembered for his Christmas songs, most especially his biggest hit "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" as well as "Frosty the Snowman", "Here Comes Santa Claus", and "Up on the House Top". Upon his death, he was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.