Joey Ramone

popular name: Clyde McPhatter

date_of_death: June 13, 1972

age: 39

cause_of_death: Heart, liver, and kidney disease brought on by alcohol abuse

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Clyde McPhatter was an American rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll singer. He was one of the most widely imitated R&B singers of the 1950s and early 1960s and was a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and rhythm and blues. Only 39 at the time of his death, he had struggled for years with alcoholism and depression, broke and despondent over a mismanaged career that made him a legend but hardly a success. McPhatter left a legacy of over 22 years of recording history. He was the first artist to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, first as a solo artist and later as a member of the Drifters. Upon his death, he was laid to rest at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.

popular name: Pete Drake

date_of_death: July 29, 1988

age: 55

cause_of_death: Emphysema

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Pete Drake was one of the greatest pedal-steel musicians who played on 118 Gold and Platinum albums with artists ranging from Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Marty Robbins, Elvis Presley, Ernst Tubb and George Jones. His session work alone on Bob Dylan's "John Wesley Harding" and "Nashville Skyline" made him the choice session player in Nashville from the 1960s through the late 1980s. Equally in demand in the studio and at the Grand Ole Opry, Drake was always an innovator. He has been credited with popularizing the "talking" guitar long before Peter Frampton and Jeff Beck made it to the airwaves. As Drake's career and reputation grew, he branched out into production, publishing and became the owner of a highly successful recording studio on Music Row in Nashville. His work with Ernst Tubb (with whom he produced 20 of Tubb's greatest hits) earns him a place as a leader of the Nashville Sound. Pete Drake was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2021, 33 years after his death.

popular name: Ray Manzarek

date_of_death: May 20, 2013

age: 74

cause_of_death: Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer)

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Ray Manzarek was an American singer, producer, film director, and author. He was best known as the co-founder of the rock band The Doors with singer and lyricist Jim Morrison. Manzarek was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Doors. USA Today defined him as "one of the best keyboardists ever".