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: Ludwig van Beethoven

date_of_death: March 26, 1827

age: 56

cause_of_death: Liver disease, viral hepatitis and alcohol consumption

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist who remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music. His works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire and span the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic era in classical music. His career has conventionally been divided into early, middle, and late periods. His early period, during which he forged his craft, is typically considered to have lasted until 1802. From 1802 to around 1812, his middle period showed an individual development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is sometimes characterized as heroic. During this time, he began to grow increasingly deaf. In his late period, from 1812 to 1827, he extended his innovations in musical form and expression. Nearly 200 years since his passing Beethoven's works remain mainstays of the classical music repertoire.

popular name: Big Mama Thornton

date_of_death: July 25, 1985

age: 57

cause_of_death: Heart and liver disorders due to longstanding alcohol abuse

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Janis Joplin called her one of her inspirations and Living Blues magazine described her as "two hundred pounds of boogaloo." Of course, fans and musicians alike just called her Big Mama Thornton. An aggressive blues shouter, who also played the drums and a biting country-style harmonica, Miss Thornton helped bring to rock-and-roll the legacy of such seminal blues singers as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie. A major influence on younger blues and soul singers, including Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin, her growling, visceral rendition of the Jerry Leiber- Mike Stoller song ''Hound Dog'' directly influenced Presley's version, which became a No. 1 pop hit in 1956. Miss Thornton's own song ''Ball and Chain'' became a signature for Janis Joplin in 1968. A rhythm-and-blues singer and songwriter from Alabama, Thornton was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog" in 1952, which became her biggest hit staying seven weeks at number one on the Billboard R&B chart and selling almost two million copies. Thornton's other recordings included the original version of "Ball and Chain", which she wrote. Stop me if you heard this story but this phenomenal blues artist died penniless in a small Los Angeles boarding house near the airport and now shares a grave with two other family members.