Joey Ramone

popular name: Frankie Lymon

date_of_death: February 27, 1968

age: 25

cause_of_death: Heroin overdose

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers were five kids from Washington Heights, just north of Harlem where they sang doo-wop under the streetlight on the corner of 165th and Amsterdam. After just a few months of rehearsal they cut their first record, “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” which made it to the top of the national charts. It was 1956 and overnight Frankie Lymon was the hottest singer in America, off on a world tour. At 13-years old he was the hottest singer on the charts, at 14 he quit to go solo, at 16 he was a has-been and at age 25 he was dead of a heroin overdose.

popular name: Lou Rawls

date_of_death: January 6, 2006

age: 72

cause_of_death: Lung cancer that spread to his brain

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Lou Rawls, the velvet-voiced singer who started as a church choir boy and went on to record the classic tune "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," was one of the great synthesisers of American popular music. He applied his velvet baritone voice with effortless elasticity to gospel, blues, jazz, soul and middle-of-the-road pop, ensuring his success across the decades. Lou Rawls's final performance was during a telethon honoring Stevie Wonder in September 2005, months before entering the hospital and after having been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year. He performed "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" and "It Was A Very Good Year" as a tribute to Frank Sinatra. All told, Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles. He worked as a film, television, and voice actor. He was also a three-time Grammy-winner, all for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

popular name: Buddy Rich

date_of_death: April 2, 1987

age: 69

cause_of_death: Respiratory and cardiac failure related to a malignant brain tumor

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Beyond his flamboyant, sometimes volatile character, beyond his classic wardrobe and his status as the preferred guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson Buddy Rich was a magnificent drummer. His recording and performing resume - Bunny Berigan, Harry James, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum - is unparalleled by any other drummer living or dead.