Joey Ramone

popular name: Alan Freed

date_of_death: January 20, 1965

age: 43

cause_of_death: Kidney failure and cirrhosis of the liver

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Alan Freed was an American disc jockey and Rock and Roll’s first great evangelist and martyr. Freed became associated with the genre on July 11, 1951, when he started hosting a radio show with the purpose of exposing white teenagers to the music. Sponsored by record retailer Leo Mintz, the show was originally called “Freeditorium,” but its host soon adopted the goofy on-air nickname “Moondog” and the show was re-titled “Moondog House.” The playlist featured what was known as “race music” before Billboard magazine renamed it “rhythm and blues” in 1949. The tunes had a heavy beat conducive to dancing but were rarely enjoyed by white audiences prior to Freed. It was not just the music that Freed introduced to the wider world. Freed also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts including Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Bill Haley and the Burnette Brothers helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout North America. Sadly in the early 1960s, Freed's career was destroyed by the payola scandal that hit the broadcasting industry (even thought his fine was a mere $300). A downward spiral began with the legal fees from the scandal that forced him into bankruptcy, chain smoking, heavy drinking, unemployment, tax evasion charges and internal injuries from a car accident in 1953. Moving to Palm Springs, California Freed died alone at the young age of 43.

popular name: Big Walter Horton

date_of_death: December 8, 1981

age: 60

cause_of_death: Heart disease

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Big Walter “Shakey” Horton was legendary blues harmonica and vocalist and while much less known than Little Walter or Sonny Boy Williamson #2, was one of the greatest harp players in the history of the blues. While he recorded very little under his own name, his talent graced the records of Memphis Minnie, Muddy Waters, Big Joe Williams, Willie Dixon and Eddie Taylor. Horton (who is said to have been somewhat shy) was not a natural group leader and therefore produced few solo albums. His best work is as a sideman; his backup harmonica and virtuoso harp solos have graced many great Chicago blues recordings -- turning an otherwise good cut into a dynamite jam. Sadly his final years were marked by few opportunities, no recording contract and an excessive amount of alcohol. He died in extreme poverty at the age of 60 from heart disease. According to Willie Dixon, Big Walter "was the best blues harmonica player in the world."

popular name: Brian Jones

date_of_death: July 3, 1969

age: 27

cause_of_death: Homicide - drowning (disputed)

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Long-time Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman said of Brian Jones, "He formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs. ... he was very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it – highly intelligent – and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away. Best known as the founder and original leader of the Rolling Stones Brian Jones, initially a slide guitarist, went on to play a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones recordings and in concerts, including rhythm guitar, lead guitar, sitar, dulcimer, various keyboard instruments such as piano. After he was dismissed from his own band, he died tragically in the former A. A. Milne estate when he was murdered (disputed) in the swimming pool.