Joey Ramone

popular name: Charles Aznavour

date_of_death: October 1, 2018

age: 94

cause_of_death: Cardiorespiratory arrest complicated by an acute pulmonary edema

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Charles Aznavour was a French singer of Armenian ancestry, as well as a songwriter, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringing in its upper reaches, with gravelly and profound low notes. In a career as a composer, singer and songwriter spanning over 70 years, he recorded more than 1,200 songs interpreted in 9 languages. Moreover, he wrote or co-wrote more than 1,000 songs for himself and others. Aznavour is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and an icon of 20th-century pop culture. Between 1974 and 2016, Charles Aznavour received over sixty gold and platinum records around the world. According to his record company, the total sales of the artist's recordings were over 180 million units.

popular name: Willie Dixon

date_of_death: January 29, 1992

age: 76

cause_of_death: Heart failure

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Willie Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar. However he is best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post–World War II sound of the Chicago blues. Dixon's songs have been recorded by countless musicians in many genres as well as by various ensembles in which he participated. A short list of his most famous compositions includes "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "Little Red Rooster", "My Babe", "Spoonful", and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover". These songs were written during the peak years of Chess Records, from 1950 to 1965, and were performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Bo Diddley. Dixon was an important link between the blues and rock and roll, working with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley in the late 1950s. During the 1960s, his songs were adapted and/or stolen by numerous rock artists including Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck and, of course, Led Zeppelin. Dixon received a Grammy Award and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Upon his death, he was laid to rest at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

popular name: Clifford Brown

date_of_death: June 26, 1956

age: 25

cause_of_death: Automobile accident

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Clifford Brown was only 25 when he died in a car accident in 1956, yet the rich body of work he left behind sealed his reputation as one of the greatest trumpet players who ever lived. Quincy Jones even described Brown as one of the most important musicians of all time. “I believe that a hundred years from now, when people look back at the 20th century, they will look at Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gillespie as our Mozarts, our Chopins, our Bachs, and Beethovens.” Clifford Brown was gifted with a fat warm tone, a bop-ish style quite reminiscent of the equally ill-fated Fats Navarro, and a mature improvising approach; he was as inventive on melodic ballads as he was on rapid jams. In June 1956, Brown and Richie Powell embarked on a drive to Chicago for their next appearance. Powell's wife Nancy was at the wheel so that Clifford and Richie could sleep. While driving at night in the rain on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, west of Bedford, she is presumed to have lost control of the car, which went off the road, killing all three in the resulting crash. After his death his compositions "Sandu", "Joy Spring", and "Daahoud" have become jazz standards. Brown won the DownBeat magazine Critics' Poll for New Star of the Year in 1954; he was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 1972. He was laid to rest at Mount Zion Cemetery in Wilmington, Delaware.