Joey Ramone

popular name: Kristen Pfaff

date_of_death: June 16, 1994

age: 27

cause_of_death: Drug overdose - heroin

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Kristen Pfaff came from a family of musicians so it came as no surprise, while attending the University of Minnesota, Kristen played in a number of local groups. In 1991, she joined Janitor Joe as bassist and co-songwriter/vocalist. While on tour with Janitor Joe in 1993, she was recruited by Hole (led by Courtney Love) and moved to Seattle to help write and record the Live Through This album. At the time Seattle was ground zero for the nationwide heroin epidemic Kristen Pfaff wanted to escape Seattle's rock drug culture. Pfaff, 27, was found dead in the bathtub of her Seattle apartment. The moving van in the parking lot was packed and ready for her to move back home.

popular name: Connee Boswell

date_of_death: October 11, 1976

age: 68

cause_of_death: Stomach cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Connee Boswell was an American jazz female vocalists, and first starting performing with her sisters as the trio The Boswell Sisters in the 1920s and 1930s. They became a highly influential singing group due to their recordings and film and television appearances. Connee is widely considered one of the greatest jazz female vocalists and was a major influence on Ella Fitzgerald. In 1936, Connee's sisters retired and Connee continued on as a successful solo artist selling a total of 75 million records. Interesting to note that Connee sang from a wheelchair, or seated position, during her career as a result of contracting poliomyelitis (‘infantile paralysis’) in childhood. The general public was not aware of her condition although Boswell herself did not keep this secret. She was frequently active in philanthropic efforts to bring awareness and support to those affected by disabilities, including support of the March of Dimes.

popular name: Bobbe Van Heusen

date_of_death: May 2, 1999

age: 98

cause_of_death: Natural Causes

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Bobbe Van Heusen was married to the famous composer Jimmy Van Heusen. She was part of The Brox Sisters, which was an American trio of singing sisters, enjoying their greatest popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s. The trio performed in Irving Berlin's Music Box Revue from 1921 to 1924, at the New York Theatre. Berlin's hit song "Everybody Step" was written for and debuted by the sisters. They recorded a number of Berlin compositions, including "Bring on the Pepper," "How Many Times," "Lazy," "School House Blues," "Some Sunny Day," and "Tokio Blues." In 1925 and 1926, they performed on Broadway in the musical comedy The Cocoanuts, with the Marx Brothers. In 1927, they appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927 at the New Amsterdam Theatre with comedian Eddie Cantor. The Brox Sisters were among the earliest artists to appear on Warner Bros.' Vitaphone sound shorts in the late 1920s. They were featured in three productions: "Glorifying the American Song," "Down South" (both in 1928), and "Headin' South" (1929).