Joey Ramone

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".

popular name: Patsy Cline

date_of_death: March 5, 1963

age: 30

cause_of_death: Plane crash

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Patsy Cline was an American singer and performer and is considered by many to be one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Patsy had several major hits during her short eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart. Struggling to make ends meet for the first half of her career, she scored a #2 hit on the charts with Willie Nelson's "Crazy" in 1961. In November 1961, she was invited to perform as part of the Grand Ole Opry's show at Carnegie Hall in New York City followed by an in-residence at the Mint in Las Vegas (a first for a female country music singer), as did appearances at the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall (a performance for which Cline did not get paid). But with the exposure and radio play of "Leavin' on Your Mind" and "Crazy," Cline was on her way to stardom. In a letter to a friend, she wrote: "It's wonderful — but what do I do for '63? It's getting so even Cline can't follow Cline." Among her many awards during her brief career, Patsy would be the first solo female artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October 1973.

popular name: Max Roach

date_of_death: August 16, 2007

age: 83

cause_of_death: Complications related to Alzheimer's and dementia

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Max Roach, was an American jazz drummer, composer, and one of most influential musicians in the development of bebop jazz. One of the most influential and widely recorded percussionists in modern history, Max played or recorded with such giants as Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, and Booker Little. During his lifetime he was awarded membership into the DownBeat Hall of Fame, the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame, National Institute of Arts and Letters and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1995. France named him a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, its highest cultural honor.