Joey Ramone

popular name: Bix Beiderbecke

date_of_death: August 6, 1931

age: 28

cause_of_death: Lobar pneumonia coupled with edema of the brain and the effects of long-term alcoholism

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Bix Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer who was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s. As a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical approach and purity of tone and with such clarity of sound that Eddie Condon described it like "Beiderbecke took out a silver cornet. He put it to his lips and blew a phrase. The sound came out like a girl saying yes." His solos on seminal recordings such as "Singin' the Blues" and "I'm Coming, Virginia" (both 1927) demonstrate his gift for extended improvisation that heralded the jazz ballad style. Sadly he died at the young age of 28 due primarily to his prodigious consumption of alcohol.

popular name: Dolores O'Riordan

date_of_death: January 15, 2018

age: 46

cause_of_death: Drowning due to alcohol intoxication

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Dolores O'Riordan was an Irish musician who achieved international fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band the Cranberries. O'Riordan was the principal songwriter of the band, and additionally performed acoustic and electric guitars. She became one of the most recognizable voices in alternative rock, and was known for her lilting mezzo-soprano voice, signature yodel, use of keening, and strong Limerick accent. She was only 21 when the Cranberries reached the US Top 10 with their second single, Linger, which established them as a headline act there. In the UK, the influential music press decreed them unexcitingly traditional, but the public disagred - enchanted by the group’s melodies, and especially by O’Riordan’s haunting voice; their debut album topped the British chart and the next three were Top 10 hits. It was a similar story in the rest of Europe and Australia. You can visit the grave of Dolores O'Riordan at Caherelly Graveyard in Limerick, Ireland.

popular name: Patsy Cline

date_of_death: March 5, 1963

age: 30

cause_of_death: Plane crash

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Patsy Cline was an American singer and performer and is considered by many to be one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Patsy had several major hits during her short eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart. Struggling to make ends meet for the first half of her career, she scored a #2 hit on the charts with Willie Nelson's "Crazy" in 1961. In November 1961, she was invited to perform as part of the Grand Ole Opry's show at Carnegie Hall in New York City followed by an in-residence at the Mint in Las Vegas (a first for a female country music singer), as did appearances at the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall (a performance for which Cline did not get paid). But with the exposure and radio play of "Leavin' on Your Mind" and "Crazy," Cline was on her way to stardom. In a letter to a friend, she wrote: "It's wonderful — but what do I do for '63? It's getting so even Cline can't follow Cline." Among her many awards during her brief career, Patsy would be the first solo female artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October 1973.