Joey Ramone

popular name: Ric Ocasek

date_of_death: September 15, 2019

age: 75

cause_of_death: Hypertensive heart and coronary artery disease

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Musician, primary vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, record producer, and frontman for the American new wave band The Cars, Ric Ocasek led the Cars to huge international success from 1978 until 1988. The Cars reached their highest UK chart position, No 3, with My Best Friend’s Girl in November 1978 and enjoyed hits with Just What I Needed, Let the Good Times Roll, You Might Think, Let’s Go and, best and biggest of all, the aching ballad Drive (sung by the late Benjamin Orr). In addition to his work with The Cars, Ocasek recorded seven solo albums, and his song "Emotion in Motion" was a top 20 hit in the United States in 1986. Ocasek also worked as a record producer for artists such as Motion City Soundtrack, Suicide, Bad Brains, Weezer, Nada Surf, Guided by Voices, and No Doubt. In 2018, Ocasek was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Cars.

popular name: Mark Sandman

date_of_death: July 3, 1999

age: 46

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Mark Sandman was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record label founder best remembered as the bass player and lead singer for the alt indie rock band Morphine. Sandman possessed a distinctive, deep bass-baritone voice and a mysterious demeanor as he fronted a band lacking guitars or keyboards, yet still created a unique yet accessible smoky, addictive grooves achieved with Mark's two-string bass and Dana Colley's baritone saxophone - and tales of low-register living. He was an indie rock icon and longtime fixture in the Boston/Cambridge music scene and was also a member of the blues-rock band Treat Her Right and founder of Hi-n-Dry, a recording studio and independent record label. He was highly regarded by many other bass players for his unique "slow and murky" style, with Les Claypool, Mike Watt, and Josh Homme all citing Sandman as an influence.

popular name: Artie Shaw

date_of_death: December 30, 2004

age: 94

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Artie Shaw led one of the United States' most popular big bands in the late 1930s through the early 1940s. Though he had numerous hit records, he was perhaps best known for his 1938 recording of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine." Before the release of "Beguine," Shaw and his fledgling band had languished in relative obscurity for over two years and, after its release, he became a major pop artist within short order. The record eventually became one of the era's defining recordings. Musically restless, Shaw was also an early proponent of what became known much later as Third Stream music, which blended elements of classical and jazz forms and traditions. At the height of his popularity, he remained a force in popular music and jazz before retiring from music completely in 1954.