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: Richard Street

date_of_death: February 27, 2013

age: 70

cause_of_death: Pulmonary embolism

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Richard Street was an American soul and R&B singer, most notable as a member of Motown vocal group The Temptations from 1971 to 1993. Street was the lead singer of an early Temptations predecessor, Otis Williams & the Distants, and takes the spotlight on their local hit "Come On". The Distants also included future Temptations Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin and Elbridge "Al" Bryant. By the late-1960s, Street was being called upon to travel with The Temptations and sing Paul Williams' parts from off-stage, while Paul Williams, who suffered from both alcoholism and sickle-cell disease, danced and lip-synched onstage. Street officially replaced Paul Williams in mid-1971, after both he and Eddie Kendricks left the group. A number of the Temptations' best-selling hits feature Street's lead vocals, including "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)" (1971), "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" (1972), "Masterpiece" (1973), and was featured solo on "Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)" (1973) as well as the album cuts "The First Time I Saw Your Face" and "Firefly" from the All Directions (1972) and A Song for You albums (1975), respectively. Street and Damon Harris traded leads on "1990"'s tune "Heavenly". At the time of his death, Street was completing his autobiography, Ball of Confusion. Completed by his co-author, Gary Flanigan, Ball of Confusion: My Life as a Temptin' Temptation was published in 2014.

popular name: Jimmy Van Heusen

date_of_death: February 6, 1990

age: 77

cause_of_death: Complications after stroke

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: James Van Heusen was an American composer who wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. In 1940 Jimmy teamed up with the lyricist Johnny Burke and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Swinging on a Star" (1944). Van Heusen then teamed up with lyricist Sammy Cahn. Their three Academy Awards for Best Song were won for "All the Way" (1957) from The Joker Is Wild, "High Hopes" (1959) from A Hole in the Head, and "Call Me Irresponsible" (1963) from Papa's Delicate Condition. Cahn and Van Heusen also wrote "Love and Marriage" (1955), "To Love and Be Loved", "Come Fly with Me", "Only the Lonely", and "Come Dance with Me" with many of their compositions being the title songs for Frank Sinatra's albums of the late 1950s. Van Heusen wrote the music for five Broadway musicals: Swingin' the Dream (1939); Nellie Bly (1946), Carnival in Flanders (1953), Skyscraper (1965), and Walking Happy (1966). All in all Jimmy composed over 1000 songs of which 50 songs became classic American standards. Van Heusen songs are featured in over 600 films and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song 14 times in 12 different years (in both 1945 and 1964 he was nominated for two songs), and won four times: in 1944, 1957, 1959, and 1963.