Elvin Shepherd

popular name: Jimmy Dorsey

date_of_death: June 12, 1957

age: 53

cause_of_death: Cancer of the throat

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Jimmy Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and bandleader who played a key role in the big band and swing eras of the 1930s and 1940s. His father, a coal miner turned music teacher, taught Tommy and Jimmy to play and appreciate music. They both started by learning to play the cornet, but Jimmy would soon learn and excel at the clarinet and alto saxophone while Tommy would perfect playing the trumpet and trombone. The brothers would form their first band, Dorsey’s Novelty Six, while they were still teenagers. In 1927 they began recording on their own label, The Dorsey Brothers and Their Concert Orchestra, though it did not officially debut until 1934. During this period of time, the lead vocals for their orchestra was Bing Crosby. Their combined orchestra did not last long. Tension and rivalry ran high among the brothers and less than a year after their official debut, Tommy left to form his own band. On the night of May 30, 1935, the growing tension between the two brothers exploded. As the band started “I’ll Never Say ‘Never Again’ Again,” the two started to argue about the tempo and in the middle of the performance Tommy walked off the stage, abandoning his brother and the band. They both went on to successful solo careers when they reunited 1953 and co-led The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra again. They appeared on the television program “Stage Show”, which famously introduced Elvis Presley to national TV audiences. Before his sudden death at the age of 53, Jimmy Dorsey had eleven number one hits with his orchestra in the 1930s and the 1940s including "Green Eyes", "Blue Champagne", "Tangerine", "Bésame Mucho" and "Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby. Upon his death he was laid to rest at Annunciation Blessed Virgin Mary Cemetery.

popular name: Eddy Howard

date_of_death: September 12, 1914

age: 48

cause_of_death: Cerebral hemorrhage

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Eddy Howard was an American vocalist and bandleader who was popular during the 1940s and 1950s who scored his first No. 1 single for Eddy Howard and his Orchestra, "To Each His Own" which spent five non-consecutive weeks at the top of the U.S. pop chart in 1946. The song was a tie-in with the 1946 Paramount film, To Each His Own, which brought Academy Awards for Olivia de Havilland and screenwriter Charles Brackett. The recording first reached the Billboard chart on July 11, 1946 and spent a total of 19 weeks on the chart. The recording sold over two million copies by 1957, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. In 1949 Howard signed to Mercury Records. His popularity continued into the 1950s with tracks such as "Maybe It's Because", and "(It's No) Sin", which became Howard's second No. 1 tune, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It was also a million selling hit for The Four Aces. Howard's last hit was "The Teen-Ager's Waltz", which peaked at No. 90 on the Billboard Top 100 chart in 1955. Howard's star rose again during the 1960s as part of the revival of interest in Big Band music after which he semi-retired to Palm Springs, California

popular name: Ricky Wilson

date_of_death: October 12, 1985

age: 32

cause_of_death: AIDS related cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: With their bouffant coifs, thrift store fashion and dance-infected retrofitted sound, The B-52's rocked the house in the early 80s by capturing the attentions of the "so what?" generation. Founded by Ricky Wilson and his fellow killer B's, they appropriated everything that was tragically unhip and whipped up (via hook-laden pop songs) an ultra-cool, total fab pop confection. When they recorded their first album, they were picked up by Chris Blackwell of Island Records where they secured airplay and 500,000 in sales with the first two singles - Rock Lobster and Private Idaho. Unfortunately the party came to a halt when Ricky Wilson was diagnosed with AIDS during the recording of Whammy and died two years later. After four years on hiatus, the B-52’s staged a stunning comeback with their hit album Cosmic Thing. In a short time the album climbed to Number Five on the charts and selling 200,000 copies a week. The single “Love Shack” shot up to Number Three and sold over a million copies worldwide. With all that success from one album the band graduated from 1,300 seats in San Francisco’s to 14,000 seats arenas by the end of the tour,