Joey Ramone

popular name: Frank Frost

date_of_death: October 12, 1999

age: 63

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: One of the foremost Delta blues harmonica players of his generation. Frank Frost only picked up the harmonica after an accident damaged his hand that prevented him from continuing with guitar. Taught by Sonny Boy Williams II, Frank recorded with the likes of Jack Johnson, Robert Nighthawk and his son, Sam Carr and numerous other blues giants. Frost performed at the King Biscuit Blues Festival in his home town of Helena, Arkansas, on October 8th just four days before he died. He was a sick man, and playing with tears in his eyes, knowing the years of cigarettes and alcohol had taken their toll.

popular name: Big Bill Broonzy

date_of_death: August 15, 1958

age: 55

cause_of_death: Throat and lung cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Big Bill Broonzy was an American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist and was one of the few country blues musicians of the '20s and '30s to find success when the music evolved into an electric, urbanized form. From his initial sides with Paramount in 1928, he followed the music's development closely. Switching to electric guitar and adding drums to his music in the late 1930s, he helped pave the way for the Chicago bluesmen that followed him. In the 1950s a return to his traditional folk-blues roots made him one of the leading figures of the emerging American folk music revival and an international star. His long and varied career marks him as one of the key figures in the development of blues music in the 20th century. Broonzy copyrighted more than 300 songs during his lifetime, including both adaptations of traditional folk songs and original blues songs. As a blues composer, he was unique in writing songs that reflected his rural-to-urban experiences. In 1980, he was inducted into the first class of the Blues Hall of Fame, along with 20 other of the world's greatest blues legends. In 2007, he was inducted into the first class of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame, along with 11 other musical greats, including Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Gene Autry, and Lawrence Welk. Upon his death, he was laid to rest at Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island Illinois.

popular name: Claude François

date_of_death: March 11, 1978

age: 39

cause_of_death: Electrocuted in the bathtub

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Claude François was a popular French pop singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, drummer and dancer. François co-wrote the lyrics of "Comme d'habitude" (composed by Jacques Revaux), the original version of "My Way" (as made famous by Frank Sinatra) and composed the music of "Parce que je t'aime mon enfant", the original version of "My Boy". Among his other famous songs are "Le Téléphone Pleure", "Le lundi au soleil", "Magnolias for Ever" and "Alexandrie Alexandra". He also enjoyed considerable success with French-language versions of English-language songs, including "Belles! Belles! Belles!" (The Everly Brothers' "Made to Love"), "Cette année là" ("December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)") and "Je vais à Rio" ("I Go to Rio"). François has sold over 35 million records and was about to embark for the United States when he was accidentally electrocuted in March 1978 at age 39. Then French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing is quoted as saying Claude François was, to him, "the French equivalent of The Beatles".