Al Jackson Jr.

popular name: Scrapper Blackwell

date_of_death: October 7, 1962

age: 59

cause_of_death: Murdered (solved but no arrest)

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Scrapper Blackwell, together with Leroy Carr are arguably the two most underrated blues musicians of the 1920s and 1930s. What is undeniable is the two together created some of the most recorded blues classics including How Long, How Long Blues, Mean Mistreater Mama and When the Sun Goes Down

popular name: Celia Cruz

date_of_death: July 16, 2003

age: 77

cause_of_death: Brain cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Originally Celia Cruz studied to be a teacher in her native Havana, but was lured into show business when a relative entered her in a radio talent contest, which she won. She later studied music at the Havana Conservatory and performed at the wold-famous Tropicana nightclub. In the 1950s, Cruz became famous with the legendary Afro-Cuban group La Sonora Matancera. She left Cuba after its 1959 revolution for the United States in 1960, and never returned. With her powerful voice and flamboyant stage shows, Cruz helped bring salsa music to a broad audience. Her alliance with fellow salsa star and "Mambo King" Tito Puente garnered some of the biggest success in her career. The two recorded albums and regularly performed together, and they were considered legends of the genre. All in all she recorded more than 70 albums and had more than a dozen Grammy nominations. She won best salsa album for "La Negra Tiene Tumbao" and again the following year. Among her other best-known recordings are "Yerberito Moreno" and "Que le Den Candela." Today fans visit the grave of Cuban Queen of Salsa at her private mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.

popular name: Michel Delpech

date_of_death: January 2, 2016

age: 69

cause_of_death: Throat cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Michel Delpech (1946–2016) was a celebrated French singer-songwriter whose smooth voice and melodic pop chansons made him one of France’s most beloved artists from the late 1960s onward. He rose to fame with early successes such as Chez Laurette, before achieving major popularity in the 1970s with iconic hits like Wight Is Wight, Pour un flirt, and Que Marianne était jolie, songs that blended gentle lyricism with themes of youth, love, and idealism. Though his career later experienced quiet periods, Delpech repeatedly returned to the spotlight, releasing reflective albums that revealed a more introspective and spiritual side. His personal life was marked by both reinvention and struggle, including battles with depression and, later, throat cancer. Even as illness advanced, he continued to write—publishing books and releasing music that explored resilience and hope. Fans today can visit him at his tomb at Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise in Paris, France.