King Oliver

popular name: Big Bill Broonzy

date_of_death: August 15, 1958

age: 55

cause_of_death: Throat and lung cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Big Bill Broonzy was an American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist and was one of the few country blues musicians of the '20s and '30s to find success when the music evolved into an electric, urbanized form. From his initial sides with Paramount in 1928, he followed the music's development closely. Switching to electric guitar and adding drums to his music in the late 1930s, he helped pave the way for the Chicago bluesmen that followed him. In the 1950s a return to his traditional folk-blues roots made him one of the leading figures of the emerging American folk music revival and an international star. His long and varied career marks him as one of the key figures in the development of blues music in the 20th century. Broonzy copyrighted more than 300 songs during his lifetime, including both adaptations of traditional folk songs and original blues songs. As a blues composer, he was unique in writing songs that reflected his rural-to-urban experiences. In 1980, he was inducted into the first class of the Blues Hall of Fame, along with 20 other of the world's greatest blues legends. In 2007, he was inducted into the first class of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame, along with 11 other musical greats, including Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Gene Autry, and Lawrence Welk.

popular name: Lefty Frizzell

date_of_death: July 19, 1975

age: 47

cause_of_death: Stroke

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Widely considered one of the greatest country singers who ever lived, Lefty Frizzell's body of work gives little indication of the enormous stylistic impact he had on country music beginning in the 1950s. Had Lefty died the way Hank Williams died - hard, fast and young - he'd probably be remembered with the same respect Hank commands today. But as it was, Lefty fought through a twenty-five-year career to keep his personal life together and his soul intact, only to eventually succumb to his own worst habits at the young age of 47. In the end, his recording career lasted 25 years. He had six Billboard No.1 hits and charted a total of 39 songs. The big hits include: “I Love You a Thousand Ways,” “Always Late,” “Long Black Veil,” “That’s the Way Love Goes,” “I Never Go Around Mirrors,” “If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time,” “Mom and Dad’s Waltz” and “Saginaw, Michigan.” He later was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

popular name: Richard Berry

date_of_death: January 24, 1997

age: 61

cause_of_death: Aneurysm complications

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Richard Berry's contribution to the world of music does not include a discussion of tonality or form; he did not conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he didn't invent a new form of music and he never had a #1 hit record. Rather Richard Berry wrote and recorded a simple but indelible three-chord, famously slurred song that encouraged even the most tone deaf among us to sing along. Richard Berry wrote what has become the cornerstone of rock 'n' roll. Richard Berry wrote "Louie, Louie". Richard is buried at Inglewood Memorial Park in Inglewood, California.