Joey Ramone

popular name: Elvis Presley

date_of_death: August 16, 1977

age: 42

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Elvis Presley was an American singer, musician and actor. He is regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century and is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll". He is the best-selling solo music artist of all time, and was commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, R&B, adult contemporary, and gospel. He won three Grammy Awards, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. Presley made his film debut in "Love Me Tender". After touring and starring in films, by 1973 Elvis's health was in major and serious decline. Twice during that year, he overdosed on barbiturates, spending three days in a coma in his hotel suite after the first incident. On the evening of Tuesday, August 16, 1977, Presley was scheduled to fly out of Memphis to begin another tour. That afternoon, Ginger Alden discovered him in an unresponsive state on a bathroom floor. According to her eyewitness account, "Elvis looked as if his entire body had completely frozen in a seated position while using the toilet and then had fallen forward, in that fixed position, directly in front of it. ... It was clear that, from the time whatever hit him to the moment he had landed on the floor, Elvis hadn't moved."

popular name: Frank Alamo

date_of_death: October 11, 2012

age: 70

cause_of_death: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Frank Alamo was a French singer who achieved his greatest success in the 1960s. With his boy-next-door image and plaintive voice, the yéyé singer Frank Alamo was an engaging "idole des jeunes" – teenage idol – and a constant presence in the French charts between 1963 and 1969. His hit records included "Biche ô ma Biche" ("Sweets for My Sweet"), "Je veux prendre ta main" ("I Want to Hold Your Hand"), and "Je me bats pour gagner" ("A Hard Day's Night"). In all, he released 30 singles over a five-year period in the early and mid-1960s, including some original songs. Alamo retired from the music business when he married in 1969, becoming a photographer and later a manager in the automobile industry. In 1983, he was chasing a beautiful blonde girl who was driving a funny car, she brought him to a factory and there Frank Alamo bought not a single car but the whole plant: the Dallas jeep company. He sold it in 1996 in order to give further singing performances however he never able to capture his original success. He died just one day before his 71st birthday.

popular name: Arthur Smith

date_of_death: April 3, 2014

age: 93

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith was a musician, composer, and record producer, as well as a radio and TV host. He produced the first nationally syndicated country music show on television: The Arthur Smith Show". A talented and respected country music instrumental composer, guitarist, fiddler, and banjo player his first big hit recording was the instrumental "Guitar Boogie", which he wrote and recorded in 1945. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. Renamed "Guitar Boogie Shuffle", it became a rock and roll hit by Frank Virtue and the Virtues. Virtue served in the Navy with Smith and counted him as a major influence. Other musicians who have been influenced by Smith include Nashville studio ace Hank "Sugarfoot" Garland, Roy Clark, and Glen Campbell. Smith was also noted for his "Feudin' Banjos" (1955), which was also recorded by Lester Flatt. It was revived as "Dueling Banjos" and used as a theme song in the popular film, Deliverance (1972). Released as a single, it became a hit, played on Top 40, AOR, and country stations alike. It reached the Top Ten and hit #1 in the US and Canada. Just a few of the dozens of awards and accolades he received during his lifetime include: BMI Song of the Year Award 1973, Grammy - Dueling Banjos (1973), Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) Special Citation of Achievement, The Broadcasters Hall of Fame – North Carolina Association of Broadcasters (1990), South Carolina Hall of Fame (1998), Legends Award – Western Film Festival (2003) and BMI Legendary Songwriter Award (2006). Charlie passed away in 2014 at the age of 93. He was laid to rest at Magnolia Memorial Gardens in Charlotte, North Carolina.