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: Dean Manuel

date_of_death: July 31, 1964

age: 30

cause_of_death: Plane crash

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: "Dockie" Dean Manuel played piano for several noteworthy bands of the mid-twentieth century both on the West Coast and in Nashville, Tennessee. While attempting to re-establish himself in the West Coast country music scene after returning from the armed services, Dean received a phone call from Jim Reeves in Nashville, who was reorganizing the Blue Boys, named for Jim’s big hit of 1958, “Blue Boy.” Manuel and his family moved to Nashville. Manuel became part of the Jim Reeves Blue Boys band in 1959. He he was joined by drummer Mel Rogers and bass player James Kirkland to be in the band. Manuel, Rogers, and Kirkland, along with Leo Jackson (who was returning from the military), formed the nucleus of Jim Reeves and the Blue Boys. Sadly in 1965 Manuel died in a plane crash with Jim Reeves after leaving Independence County, where he had been helping Reeves with a land purchase.

popular name: Keith Emerson

date_of_death: March 11, 2016

age: 71

cause_of_death: Self-Inflicted gunshot wound to the head

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Keith Emerson was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer who was perhaps best known as one-third of Emerson, Lake and Palmer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. After leaving the Nice in 1970, he was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early progressive rock supergroups. Emerson, Lake & Palmer were commercially successful through much of the 1970s, becoming one of the best-known progressive rock groups of the era. He proved, without a shadow of doubt, that through his work with the Nice and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, who were both able to demonstrate that pop, classical music and jazz could not only co-exist but feed fruitfully off each other. Emerson reached a summit of success with ELP in the early 70s, when the group achieved a string of hit albums including Tarkus and Brain Salad Surgery, exploiting cutting-edge musical technology alongside outrageous showmanship. Emerson was a pioneer in the use of the Moog synthesiser and was the first musician to take the instrument on tour. Emerson remained active with ELP reunions and his own solo material. Suffering from depression, health and marital problems he took his own life at his home in Santa Monica, California.