Mississippi Joe Callicott

popular name: Asie Payton

date_of_death: May 19, 1997

age: 60

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Asie Payton was a delta blues musician who made his living as a farmer his entire life. Relatively unknown outside of Mississippi, for two years before his passing Fat Possum records tried unsuccessfully to convince Asie that the world outside Mississippi needed to hear him. But despite living below the poverty level and desperately needing the easy money of a gig, he could not be lured away from Holly Ridge for more than a couple of hours.

popular name: Jimmie Lunceford

date_of_death: July 12, 1947

age: 45

cause_of_death: Coronary occlusion

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Jimmie Lunceford was one of the most underrated American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleaders in the golden years of the Swing Era. Any list of the greatest bands of the swing era usually starts with those of Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington. Except in select circles, Jimmie Lunceford's orchestra is apt to be farther down the list. Yet the Lunceford band, for a few brief years in the 1930's, was one of the most exciting big jazz bands that ever played. The Lunceford band managed to be both tightly rehearsed and loose enough to swing with a tangible swagger, and its arrangements constantly took listeners by surprise, both with its original compositions and in its unexpected treatment of pop songs. But the Lunceford Orchestra didn't last as long as Basie, Goodman or Ellington simply due to the fact that Jimmie Lunceford was tight with a dollar. For the rest of the 1930's the Lunceford band rolled along on a seeming stream of success. But toward the end of the decade the cozy family began to disintegrate. The band spent months on the road playing endless one-night stands because that brought in more money than longer engagements. The money came in, but it did not filter down. There were occasional days off (without pay) and even vacations were unpaid. ''When you're young, you can go a long way on ambition,'' Ed Wilcox said afterward. ''But when you get older you want some of the things older people have, and Jimmie didn't want to give enough money. Jimmie was used to treating us like little boys who left Memphis with him, but we had become grown men and we needed more.''

popular name: Heavy D

date_of_death: November 8, 2011

age: 44

cause_of_death: Pulmonary embolism

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Heavy D was a Jamaican-born American rapper, record producer, singer and actor who was among a handful of hip-hop stars from the 1980s who successfully established a lasting career. Having created a string of infectious, party-time hits with Heavy D & the Boyz including Now That We Found Love and Mr. Big Stuff, he was able to extend his reach into the commercial mainstream through collaborations with BB King and Michael Jackson, and subsequently exhibited bankable skills as both a businessman and actor. Although he was past his commercial peak as a musician, his last album, Love Opus showed that he had not entirely run out of creative juice.