Queen Candice Anderson

popular name: Elvin Shepherd

date_of_death: June 2, 1995

age: 72

cause_of_death: Undisclosed

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Elvin "Shep" Shepherd was a legendary saxophonist whose career spanned half a century. He traveled with such big name bands as Buck Clayton, Bill Doggett, Billy Ekstine, Erskin Hawkins, Lucky Milinder, and Nat Towles. During his storied career he also accompanied such artists as Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Ray Price, Della Reese, and Dakota Staton.

popular name: Jelly Roll Morton

date_of_death: July 10, 1941

age: 50

cause_of_death: Respiratory distress due to previous stab wounds

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Along with Sidney Bechet, Johnny Dodds, Kid Ory, and Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton was one of the most important musical figure to emerge from the early days of New Orleans. While most will dismiss his claim that he, Jelly Roll Morton, alone created jazz music, there can be no doubt to his technical brilliance as a pianist, composer and arranger. For it was Jelly Roll Morton who transformed the rigid confines of ragtime and ushered in the free form structures of jazz. His composition "Jelly Roll Blues", published in 1915, was one of the first published jazz compositions. Morton also wrote "King Porter Stomp", "Wolverine Blues", "Black Bottom Stomp", and "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say" which were covered by every major jazz and dance orchestra including Benny Goodman and Fletcher Henderson. Sadly he never received a penny in royalties for his original compositions and he was only recognized for his contributions decades after his passing when Morton was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, elected as a charter member of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

popular name: Waylon Jennings

date_of_death: February 13, 2002

age: 64

cause_of_death: Diabetic complications

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Waylon Jennings was the "outlaw" singer, songwriter and musician who was one of the founding pioneers of the Outlaw Movement in country music in the 1970s. A protégé of Buddy Holly and devotee of Hank Williams, he sold more than 40 million records, won 2 Grammy Awards, multiple Country Music Association awards including Male Vocalist of the Year, and was Ranked #7 in Rolling Stone's Top 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time in a career spanning six decades. Upon his passing from diabetes complications, the legendary Waylon Jennings grave can be found at Mesa Cemetery in Mesa, Arizona.