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: Hugo Montenegro

date_of_death: February 6, 1981

age: 55

cause_of_death: Emphysema

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Hugo Montenegro was an American orchestra leader and composer of film soundtracks. His best-known work is derived from interpretations of the music from Spaghetti Westerns, especially his cover version of Ennio Morricone's main theme from the 1966 film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He composed the musical score for the 1969 Western Charro!, which starred Elvis Presley. Montenegro's electronic works were decisive and influential for the future generations of electronic musicians, giving a retro/futuristic edge by the use of the Moog synthesizer, and helped to push its popularity. His version of the main theme from Hang 'em High reached #59 in Canada. In 1968, his hit "Aces High" placed at #11 on the Billboard Year-End Chart of the Top Hits of 1968.

popular name: Gioachino Rossini

date_of_death: November 13, 1868

age: 76

cause_of_death: Colorectal cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Gioachino Antonio Rossini was the most significant Italian composer of the first half of the nineteenth century. Although he wrote many songs including chamber music and piano pieces, Rossini is most famous for his 39 operas, in particular his comic operas for which he set new standards of composition. Gioachino Rossini’s most famous works include The Barber of Seville (1816), Cinderella (La Cenerentola) (1817) and William Tell (1829). Influenced by the French, he broke traditional forms of opera using unusual rhythms and bring the orchestra to the fore, however his style was tempered by changing tastes and a move away from a more formal ‘classicist’ style to Romanticism. When the family moved to Lugo in 1802, Rossini began studying music with a local priest and was inspired by his collection of Mozart and Haydn. A quick learner, by the age of 12 Rossini had composed six sonatas and two years later he joined Bologna’s Philharmonic School and composed his first opera – Demetrio e Polibio (1806). In 1810 alone, Rossini staged his first opera in 1810 to great success and financial reward and this was quickly followed by three more operas in addition to directing Haydn’s The Seasons in Bologna. In 1812, his two-act comedy La pietra del paragone ran for 53 performances at La Scala in Milan bringing him more financial benefits. Gioachino Rossini announced his retirement from opera in 1829 at the age of 37. However, he continued to compose music after his retirement. Rossini's final opera was Guillaume Tell, which premiered in 1829. Afterwards he negotiated a contract with King Charles X of France for a lifetime annuity in exchange for his retirement. Unfortunately, the July Revolution of 1830 deposed King Charles X and deprived Rossini of his pension. Rossini returned to Paris in 1855 and wrote Petite messe solennelle in 1864. Four years later he  died in France in 1868 after an unsuccessful operation for colorectal cancer. He was buried at Santa Croce Basilica in Florence, Italy.