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: 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: Brent Mydland

date_of_death: July 26, 1990

age: 37

cause_of_death: Drug overdose - acute cocaine and morphine intoxication ("speedball")

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Brent Mydland was a talented keyboardist, vocalist, and songwriter best remembered as a member of The Grateful Dead from 1979 to 1990, a longer tenure than any other keyboardist (aka The Hot Seat) in the band. No previous keyboard player contributed any enduring original songs to the Dead’s repertoire. Brent immediately made his impact felt with the songs “Far From Me” and “Easy to Love You,” which appeared on the Grateful Dead’s 1980 album “Go to Heaven,” released almost exactly a year after he joined the band. On 1987’s “In the Dark,” Brent brought “Tons of Steel” to the table, and he co-wrote the house rocker that opened many an ‘80s show, “Hell in a Bucket,” with Bob Weir and frequent collaborator John Perry Barlow.