Elvin Shepherd

popular name: Willie Dixon

date_of_death: January 29, 1992

age: 76

cause_of_death: Heart failure

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Willie Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar. However he is best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post–World War II sound of the Chicago blues. Dixon's songs have been recorded by countless musicians in many genres as well as by various ensembles in which he participated. A short list of his most famous compositions includes "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "Little Red Rooster", "My Babe", "Spoonful", and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover". These songs were written during the peak years of Chess Records, from 1950 to 1965, and were performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Bo Diddley. Dixon was an important link between the blues and rock and roll, working with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley in the late 1950s. During the 1960s, his songs were adapted and/or stolen by numerous rock artists including Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck and, of course, Led Zeppelin. Dixon received a Grammy Award and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Upon his death, he was laid to rest at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

popular name: Bessie Smith

date_of_death: September 26, 1937

age: 43

cause_of_death: Severe internal injuries to the entire right side of her body due to car collision

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: The first major blues and jazz singer on record and one of the most powerful voices of all time, Bessie Smith rightly earned the title of "The Empress of the Blues." Bessie Smith was a rough, crude, violent womanl who was also the greatest of the classic Blues singers of the 1920s. The pioneering singer influenced blues, jazz, rock and beyond with her powerful voice and inventive delivery. During her career Bessie recorded 160 singles for Columbia Records and was often accompanied by the finest musicians of the day, notably Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, Joe Smith, and Charlie Green. A number of Smith's recordings—such as "Alexander's Ragtime Band" in 1927—quickly became among the best-selling records of their release years. Bessie Smith, the Empress of the Blues, who toured the country in her own 72-foot custom-built railroad car sold hundreds of thousands of records, and was the highest-paid black entertainer of the 1920s. Bessie's first contract with Columbia paid $125 per releasable recording. But in April 1923, her new 8-year contract gave her $1,500 up front plus increased the amount paid for each record to $150. Between 1923 and 1931, Bessie recorded 160 songs and became one of Columbia's best-selling artists. But if that sounds like a lot of money, Smith's version of "Downhearted Blues" sold a reported 780,000 copies in 1923.

popular name: Duke Ellington

date_of_death: May 24, 1974

age: 75

cause_of_death: Lung cancer and pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Considered by many as the greatest jazz composer and bandleader of his time, Duke Ellington led his band for more than half a century, composed thousands of scores, and created one of the most distinctive ensemble sounds in all of Western music. In addition to the over 1000 composition and phenomenal sideman that graced his various musical groups, Ellington was noted for his inventive use of the orchestra and for his eloquence and charisma. His reputation continued to rise after he died, and he was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music in 1999.