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: Jimmie Rodgers

date_of_death: May 26, 1933

age: 35

cause_of_death: Tuberculosis

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Jimmie Rodgers was an American singer, songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmic yodeling. During his all-to brief career, Rodgers was known as "The Singing Brakeman" and "America's Blue Yodeler". Born in 1897 in Meridian, Mississippi, Jimmie learned to play guitar while working on the railroad as a water boy and brakeman. He was influenced by the music played and the songs sung by the African American railway workers he met at the railway yard and around town – their call-and-response singing style during work and the blues songs they sang made a distinctive mark on Rodgers’ sound. He also spent time in Meridian’s opera house, vaudeville theaters, and hotels where he heard jazz, parlor music, and popular tunes, all of which also provided inspiration. During what later became known as the Bristol sessions, Rodgers recorded solo as he was deserted by his band after a disagreement. A second session with Rodgers was later arranged in Camden, New Jersey, that produced "Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas)". The song became a success and it propelled Rodgers to national fame, while it assured him a recording career that produced over 100 songs for the label. As the Father of Country Music, Jimmie Rodgers has been inducted into The Country Music Hall of Fame, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Blues Hall of Fame, The Songwriters Hall of Fame, The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone magazine placed Rodgers at number 11 on the 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time list.

popular name: Jack Teagarden

date_of_death: January 15, 1964

age: 58

cause_of_death: Heart failure

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Until Jack Teagarden, jazz trombone sounded like "a dying cow in a thunderstorm" according to jazz trombonist Vic Dickerson. Like musical innovators Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker before him Teagarden developed new ideas and a close-to-the-chest slide technique that revolutionized jazz trombone. He parlayed his talents and collaborated with such giants as Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Hoagy Carmichael as well as fronting his all-star jazz band. But 50 years on the road, 5 marriages and excessive alcohol consumption all took their toll when he died in his sleep after a gig at the Dream Room in New Orleans.