Joey Ramone

popular name: Buddy Rich

date_of_death: April 2, 1987

age: 69

cause_of_death: Respiratory and cardiac failure related to a malignant brain tumor

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Beyond his flamboyant, sometimes volatile character, beyond his classic wardrobe and his status as the preferred guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson Buddy Rich was a magnificent drummer. His recording and performing resume - Bunny Berigan, Harry James, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum - is unparalleled by any other drummer living or dead.

popular name: Rory Gallagher

date_of_death: June 14, 1995

age: 47

cause_of_death: Staphylococcal infection (MRSA) following a liver transplant

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: One of Europe's great guitar players, Rory Gallagher's single-minded dedication to the blues and refusal to change his style for radio success forever relegated him to small clubs and the college tour circuit. Born in Ballyshannon, Ireland Gallagher formed his first band, Taste, in 1968. A blend of heavy metal power chords and American blues, Taste recorded several well-received on the ATCO record label. With so few Irish rock bands apart from Van Morrison and Them, Taste began to garner critical and popular acclaim touring with Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Yes, Cream and Blind Faith before disbanding under a cloud of financial mismanagement. Gallagher continued as a solo act, touring the U.S. no less than 25 times. Voted Musician of the Year by Melody Maker magazine in 1972, Gallagher's popularity dropped considerably over the next decade. In 1994, during a small tour of Europe clubs and college gigs, Gallagher fell seriously ill in very short order and underwent a liver transplant in 1995. He died of a massive infection while still recuperating in the hospital. Upon his death, he was laid to rest in St. Oliver's Cemetery, Cork Ireland.

popular name: Jim Reeves

date_of_death: July 31, 1964

age: 40

cause_of_death: Plane crash

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Jim Reeves was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter with records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s. He became well known as a practitioner of the traditional Nashville Sound. Reeves' last two recording sessions for RCA Victor were held July 2, 1964; they produced the songs "Make the World Go Away", "Missing You", and "Is It Really Over?" When the session ended with some time remaining on the schedule, Reeves suggested that he should record one more song. He taped "I Can't Stop Loving You", in what was to be his final RCA recording. Known as "Gentleman Jim", his songs continued to chart for years after his death in a plane crash. He is a member of both the Country Music and Texas Country Music Halls of Fame.