Van Zandt, Townes
Music
Age 52
March 7, 1944 - January 1, 1997
Dido Cemetery / Fort Worth / Texas / USA / North America
He was a reckless drunk and a hopeless idealist, but he is considered by many the greatest Texas songwriter of his generation. He wrote numerous songs...
Vaughan, Stevie Ray
Music
Age 35
October 3, 1954 - August 27, 1990
Laurel Land Cemetery / Dallas / Texas / USA / North America
With bristling chops and fiery phrasing, guitarist and bona fide Texas blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan did not so much reinvent the blues as add a ren...
Vealey, R.J.
Music
Age 37
September 29, 1962 - November 13, 1999
Crestlawn Cemetery / Atlanta / Georgia / USA / North America
R. J. Vealey was a respected studio drummer and former member of Roy Orbison's backing band who joined the Atlanta Rhythm Section in 1995. After the A...
Ventriglia, Franco
Music
Age 90
October 20, 1922 - November 28, 2012
Oak Lawn Cemetery / Fairfield / Connecticut / USA / North America
Franco Ventriglia was an opera singer who sang bass in every major European opera house during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Serving in the 1st Marine ...
Vincent, Gene
Music
Age 36
February 11, 1935 - October 12, 1971
Eternal Valley Memorial Park / Newhall / California / United States / North America
More threatening than Elvis, wilder than Jerry Lee Lewis and sexier than Buddy Holley, Gene Vincent was the real thing. A swaggering, unrepentant rock...
Wallis, Ruth
Music
Age 87
January 5, 1920 - December 22, 2007
Sharon Memorial Park / Sharon / Massachusetts / USA / North America
Ruth Wallis performed risqué cabaret numbers for listeners worldwide during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. She was known as the Queen of the Party Song, an...
Washington, Dinah
Music
Age 39
August 29, 1924 - December 14, 1963
Burr Oak Cemetery / Alsip / Illinois / USA / North America
Dinah Washington was an American singer and pianist who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s". Primarily a j...
Waters, Muddy
Music
Age 70
April 4, 1913 - April 30, 1983
Restvale Cemetery / Alsip / Illinois / USA / North America
If blues is an original American art form, then Muddy Waters should be considered an original American icon. An extraordinarily potent singer, songwri...
West, Sandy
Music
Age 47
July 10, 1959 - October 21, 2006
Forest Lawn Memorial Park / Cypress / California / USA / North America
Sandy West's ferocious drumming fueled the influential all-female ’70s rock band the Runaways which she co-founded with Joan Jett. Along with band m...
White, Bukka
Music
Age 70
November 12, 1906 - February 26, 1977
New Park Cemetery / Memphis / Tennessee / USA / North America
A master blues guitarist and vocalist, he was also B.B. King's uncle
Williams, Big Joe
Music
Age 79
December 17, 1982 - December 17, 1982
Crigler Cemetery / Crawford / Mississippi / USA / North America
As a first generation bluesman, Joseph Lee "Big Joe" Williams recorded more often, performed longer and lived longer than almost all of his contempora...
Williams, Cootie
Music
Age 74
July 10, 1911 - September 15, 1985
Woodlawn Cemetery / Bronx / New York / USA / North America
Cootie Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter who is best remembered for his tenure with the Duke Ellington Orchest...
Williams, Hank
Music
Age 29
November 17, 1923 - January 1, 1953
Oakwood Cemetery Annex / Montgomery / Alabama / USA / North America
American Country singer, songwriter, and musician. Hank Williams was one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of t...
Williamson II, Sonny Boy
Music
Age 52
December 5, 1912 - May 24, 1965
Whitfield Church Cemetery / Tutwiler / Mississippi / USA / North America
Sonny Boy Williamson II was one of the most influential harmonica players in blues history. Often compared to Little Walter and John Lee Williamson (a...
Willie, Boxcar
Music
Age 67
September 1, 1931 - April 12, 1999
Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery / Branson / Missouri / USA / North America
Perhaps the most successful invented character in the history of country music, Boxcar Willie was an American country music singer and songwriter who ...
Wills, Bob
Music
Age 70
March 6, 1905 - May 13, 1975
Memorial Park Cemetery / Tulsa / Oklahoma / USA / North America
Bob Wills was a bandleader, fiddler, singer, and songwriter who is the most famous exponent of the popular musical genre now known as western swing, w...
Wilson, Al
Music
Age 68
June 19, 1939 - April 21, 2008
Evergreen Memorial Park / Riverside / California / USA / North America
Al Wilson is best remembered for the #1 pop hit "Show and Tell". From the age of 12 Wilson was already singing professionally - his own spiritual quar...
Wilson, Carl
Music
Age 51
December 21, 1946 - February 6, 1998
Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Carl Wilson playing the guitar as a teenager when brothers Brian and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine formed a music group called the Be...