Joey Ramone

popular name: Johnny Thunders

date_of_death: April 23, 1991

age: 38

cause_of_death: Drug overdose - cocaine and methadone

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: One cannot talk about the origins of punk rock without mentioning the New York Dolls and their lead guitarist - Johnny Thunders. This underrated American glam band played an important role in influencing bands as diverse as the Sex Pistols to Motley Crue. Unfortunately the Dolls were never able to translate the energy of their live shows into their records, thus fame and fortune were elusive.

popular name: Johnnie Ray

date_of_death: February 24, 1990

age: 63

cause_of_death: Hepatic encephalopathy resulting from liver failure

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: In the early 1950s, Johnnie Ray was arguably the biggest musical star in the world. His emotional singing and sexually suggestive performances earned him the titles "The Prince of Wails," "The Cry Guy," and "The Million Dollar Teardrop," and put him at the top of the music charts. From Sydney to Chicago to London, teenage riots erupted wherever Ray performed. Sadly his songs seemed hopelessly dated after "Rock Around The Clock" came out, let alone "Hound Dog" or "Maybelline." If that wasn't bad enough, an ear surgery in 1958 robbed him of even more of his hearing.

popular name: Ricky Wilson

date_of_death: October 12, 1985

age: 32

cause_of_death: AIDS related cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: With their bouffant coifs, thrift store fashion and dance-infected retrofitted sound, The B-52's rocked the house in the early 80s by capturing the attentions of the "so what?" generation. Founded by Ricky Wilson and his fellow killer B's, they appropriated everything that was tragically unhip and whipped up (via hook-laden pop songs) an ultra-cool, total fab pop confection. When they recorded their first album, they were picked up by Chris Blackwell of Island Records where they secured airplay and 500,000 in sales with the first two singles - Rock Lobster and Private Idaho. Unfortunately the party came to a halt when Ricky Wilson was diagnosed with AIDS during the recording of Whammy and died two years later. After four years on hiatus, the B-52’s staged a stunning comeback with their hit album Cosmic Thing. In a short time the album climbed to Number Five on the charts and selling 200,000 copies a week. The single “Love Shack” shot up to Number Three and sold over a million copies worldwide. With all that success from one album the band graduated from 1,300 seats in San Francisco’s to 14,000 seats arenas by the end of the tour,