Joey Ramone

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.

popular name: Lionel Hampton

date_of_death: August 31, 2002

age: 94

cause_of_death: Congestive heart failure

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Considered one of the greatest musicians on the vibraphone, Lionel Hampton is one of the most extraordinary musicians of the 20th century and his artistic achievements symbolize the impact that jazz music has had on American culture. In addition to his duties as a bandleader of his own group, Hampton worked with the greats of jazz including Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, Buddy Rich, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus and Quincy Jones.

popular name: King Oliver

date_of_death: April 10, 1938

age: 52

cause_of_death: Arteriosclerosis

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: A pioneering jazz trumpet and cornet player, songwriter and bandleader Joseph “King” Oliver played an instrumental role in the popularization of jazz outside of New Orleans. Though born in Louisiana, Oliver spent much of his career in Chicago, where he established his legendary King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. Initially, the band included Louis Armstrong, formerly Oliver’s student in New Orleans. Ironically, Armstrong’s success ultimately overshadowed his mentor’s reputation as a jazz pioneer. As both a teacher and a musician, however, Oliver played an important role in the early history of jazz. Upon his death he was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City