Joey Ramone

popular name: Lou Rawls

date_of_death: January 6, 2006

age: 72

cause_of_death: Lung cancer that spread to his brain

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Lou Rawls, the velvet-voiced singer who started as a church choir boy and went on to record the classic tune "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," was one of the great synthesisers of American popular music. He applied his velvet baritone voice with effortless elasticity to gospel, blues, jazz, soul and middle-of-the-road pop, ensuring his success across the decades. Lou Rawls's final performance was during a telethon honoring Stevie Wonder in September 2005, months before entering the hospital and after having been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year. He performed "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" and "It Was A Very Good Year" as a tribute to Frank Sinatra. All told, Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles. He worked as a film, television, and voice actor. He was also a three-time Grammy-winner, all for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

popular name: Michel Delpech

date_of_death: January 2, 2016

age: 69

cause_of_death: Throat cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Michel Delpech (1946–2016) was a celebrated French singer-songwriter whose smooth voice and melodic pop chansons made him one of France’s most beloved artists from the late 1960s onward. He rose to fame with early successes such as Chez Laurette, before achieving major popularity in the 1970s with iconic hits like Wight Is Wight, Pour un flirt, and Que Marianne était jolie, songs that blended gentle lyricism with themes of youth, love, and idealism. Though his career later experienced quiet periods, Delpech repeatedly returned to the spotlight, releasing reflective albums that revealed a more introspective and spiritual side. His personal life was marked by both reinvention and struggle, including battles with depression and, later, throat cancer. Even as illness advanced, he continued to write—publishing books and releasing music that explored resilience and hope. Fans today can visit him at his tomb at Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise in Paris, France.

popular name: Pete Drake

date_of_death: July 29, 1988

age: 55

cause_of_death: Emphysema

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Pete Drake was one of the greatest pedal-steel musicians who played on 118 Gold and Platinum albums with artists ranging from Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Marty Robbins, Elvis Presley, Ernst Tubb and George Jones. His session work alone on Bob Dylan's "John Wesley Harding" and "Nashville Skyline" made him the choice session player in Nashville from the 1960s through the late 1980s. Equally in demand in the studio and at the Grand Ole Opry, Drake was always an innovator. He has been credited with popularizing the "talking" guitar long before Peter Frampton and Jeff Beck made it to the airwaves. As Drake's career and reputation grew, he branched out into production, publishing and became the owner of a highly successful recording studio on Music Row in Nashville. His work with Ernst Tubb (with whom he produced 20 of Tubb's greatest hits) earns him a place as a leader of the Nashville Sound. Pete Drake was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2021, 33 years after his death.