Joey Ramone

popular name: Blind Willie McTell

date_of_death: August 19, 1959

age: 61

cause_of_death: Stroke

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: “Blind Willie” McTell was one of the great blues musicians of the 1920s and 1930s who continued to play through the 1950s. Displaying an extraordinary range on the twelve-string guitar, this Atlanta-based musician recorded more than 120 titles during fourteen recording sessions. His voice was soft and expressive, and his musical tastes were influenced by southern blues, ragtime, gospel, hillbilly, and popular music. At a time when most blues musicians were poorly educated and rarely traveled, McTell was an exception. He could read and write music in Braille. McTell's influence extended over a wide variety of artists, including the Allman Brothers Band, who covered his song "Statesboro Blues", and Bob Dylan, who paid tribute to him in his 1983 song "Blind Willie McTell" and covered a number of his songs throughout his career. Blind Willie was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1981.

popular name: Guitar Slim

date_of_death: February 7, 1959

age: 32

cause_of_death: Bronchial pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: In the 1950s, no blues guitarist even came close to equaling the flamboyant Guitar Slim on stage. A masterful guitarist who pioneered the use of the distorted guitar solo, Slim would appear on stage resplendent in a blue suit, blue shoes, blue hair and about 350 feet of microphone cord that allowed his valet to carry him on his shoulders and out into the street during a performance. His greatest hit came with the million-selling song "The Things That I Used to Do", produced by Johnny Vincent for Specialty Records. It is listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2007.

popular name: O'Kelly Isley

date_of_death: March 31, 1986

age: 48

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: The eldest of the Isley Brothers, Kelly started singing with his brothers at church when in 1944 he and his three younger brothers (Rudy, Ronnie and Vernon) formed The Isley Brothers and toured the gospel circuit. Following the death of Vernon (hit by car while riding his bike), the brothers decided to try their hand at doo-wop and moved to New York to find a recording deal. O'Kelly and his brothers co-wrote their first significant hit, "Shout" in 1959. While the original version only peaked at the top 50 of the Hot 100, subsequent versions helped the song sell over a million copies. Later moving on to other labels including Scepter and Motown, the brothers would have hits with "Twist & Shout" in 1962 and "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)". Kelly Isley during the Isleys' 1970s heyday was usually photographed wearing a cowboy hat and Western type of clothing. In 1985, the brothers released the Masterpiece album. It is Kelly who sings most of the lead of the Phil Collins ballad, "If Leaving Me Is Easy", on the album with Ron backing him up. Kelly's last appearance as member of the Isley Brothers was in 1986 on the song "Good Hands" from the Wildcats soundtrack. In 1985 Kelly contracted cancer and lost weight, which was shown on the group's album cover of Masterpiece. On March 31, 1986, O'Kelly suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 48 at his home and the grave of O'Kelly Isley can be found at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.