FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 11, 2014
DEAR JERRY: You have created many lists requested by readers who could not get the information on their own. Now it's my turn.
Nowhere have I seen a chronological listing of prominent vinyl era musicians who died young, meaning under age 60.
Their style of music doesn't matter, but please limit the coverage to 50 years — 1950 through 1999.
I don't require obituaries, or details on how and why they died, just their name and age at time of passing.
—Bernie Foster, Denver
DEAR BERNIE: Last week we listed musicians who died under the age of 60, from 1950 through 1979. Now we continue with those who passed away during the next 20 years:
1980
January 2: Larry Williams (44)
January 3: Amos Milburn (52)
January 30: Warren Smith (47)
February 19: Bon Scott (33) (of AC/DC)
March 23: Jacob Miller (27) (of Inner Circle)
April 5: Bob Hite (38) (of Canned Heat)
May 18: Ian Curtis (23) (of Joy Division)
September 25: John Bonham (33) (of Led Zeppelin)
November 16: O.V. Wright (41)
December 7: Darby Crash (22) (of the Germs)
December 8: John Lennon (40)
December 29: Tim Hardin (39)
1981
February 15: Mike Bloomfield (37)
May 11: Bob Marley (36)
May 25: Roy Brown (55)
July 16: Harry Chapin (38)
October 15: Jud Strunk (45)
December 9: Sonny Til (56) (of the Orioles)
1982
January 19: Elis Regina (36)
February 4: Alex Harvey (46) (of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band)
February 26: Gabor Szabo (45)
June 16: James Honeyman-Scott (25) (of the Pretenders)
March 5: John Belushi (33) (of the Blues Brothers)
August 13: Joe Tex (49)
December 8: Marty Robbins (57)
1983
January 28: Billy Fury (42)
February 4: Karen Carpenter (32) (of the Carpenters)
April 5: Danny Rapp (41) (of Danny and the Juniors)
April 14: Pete Farndon (30) (of the Pretenders)
June 20: Walter Jackson (45)
December 28: Dennis Wilson (39) (of the Beach Boys)
1984
January 21: Jackie Wilson (49)
April 1: Marvin Gaye (44)
April 27: Z.Z. Hill (48)
August 7: Esther Phillips (48)
1985
February 28: David Byron (38) (of Uriah Heep)
July 17: Wynn Stewart (51)
August 12: Kyu Sakamoto (43)
December 22: "D" Boon (27) (of the Minutemen)
December 31: Rick Nelson (45)
1986
January 4: Phil Lynott (36) (of Thin Lizzy)
March 4: Richard Manuel (43) (of The Band)
March 31: O'Kelly Isley (48) (of the Isley Brothers)
September 27: Cliff Burton (24) (of Metallica)
1987
May 4: Paul Butterfield (44) (of Paul Butterfield Blues Band)
August 4: Kenny Price (56)
September 11: Peter Tosh (42)
September 21: John "Jaco" Pastorius (35) (of Weather Report)
1988
March 10: Andy Gibb (30)
April 9: Brook Benton (56)
May 9: Sam Prater (50) (of Sam and Dave)
May 13: Chet Baker (58)
June 25: Hillel Slovak (26) (of Red Hot Chili Peppers)
July 18: Nico (49) (of the Velvet Underground and Nico)
August 14: Roy Buchanan (48)
August 24: Nat Stuckey (54)
December 6: Roy Orbison (52)
December 16: Sylvester (41)
1989
January 26: Donnie Elbert (52)
February 14: Vincent Crane (45) (of Atomic Rooster)
May 9: Keith Whitley (34)
June 14: Pete de Freitas (27) (of Echo and the Bunnymen)
November 6: Dickie Goodman (55)
1990
January 19: Mel Appleby (23) (of Mel and Kim)
February 8: Del Shannon (56)
February 26: Cornelius Gunter (51) (of the Coasters)
March 19: Andrew Wood (24) (of Mother Love Bone)
May 25: Gary Usher (51) (of the Hondells)
June 22: Kripp Johnson (57) (of the Del-Vikings)
August 27: Stevie Ray Vaughan (35)
September 6: Tom Fogerty (48) (of Creedence Clearwater Revival)
November 10: Ronnie Dyson (40)
December 7: Dee Clark (52)
1991
January 8: Steve Clark (30) (of Def Leppard)
March 13: Dee Mullins (53)
March 22: Dave Guard (56) (of the Kingston Trio)
April 9: Per "Dead" Ohlin (22) of Mayhem)
April 20: Steve Marriott (44) (of Small Faces)
April 23: Johnny Thunders (38) (of the New York Dolls)
May 24: Gene Clark (46) (of the Byrds)
June 1: David Ruffin (50)
September 4: Dottie West (58)
November 24: Freddie Mercury (45) (of Queen); Eric Carr (41) (Of KISS)
1992
January 14: Jerry Nolan (45) (of the New York Dolls)
June 14: Brenda Payton (46)
July 26: Mary Wells (49)
October 5: Eddie Kendricks (52)
October 25: Roger Miller (56)
1993
March 19: Jeff Ward (30) (of Ministry)
June 5: Conway Twitty (59)
June 29: Hector Lavoe (46)
July 7: Mia Zapata (27) (of the Gits)
August 10: Oystein "Euronymous" Aarseth (25) (of Mayhem); David Rogers (57)
September 24: Ian Stuart (36) (of Skrewdriver)
November 30: David Houston (54)
December 4: Frank Zappa (52)
December 5: Doug Hopkins (32) (of Gin Blossoms)
1994
January 15: Harry Nilsson (52)
March 22: Dan Hartman (43)
April 5: Kurt Cobain (27) (of Nirvana)
May 25: Eric Gale (55)
June 16: Kristen Pfaff (27)
September 3: Major Lance (52)
November 4: Fred "Sonic" Smith (45) (of MC5)
1995
February 12: Philip Taylor Kramer (42) (of Iron Butterfly)
February 23: Melvin Franklin (52) (of the Temptations)
March 8: Ingo Schwichtenberg (29) (of Helloween)
March 31: Selena (23)
March 25: Eazy-E (31)
June 14: Rory Gallagher (46)
June 30: Phyllis Hyman (44)
August 9: Jerry Garcia (53) (of the Grateful Dead)
August 16: Bobby DeBarge (36) (of Switch)
August 23: Dwayne Goettel (31) (of Skinny Puppy)
October 19: Don Cherry (28) (jazz trumpeter, not the pop singer)
October 21: Shannon Hoon (28) (of Blind Melon)
1996
March 19: Terry Stafford (54)
May 25: Bradley Nowell (28) (of Sublime)
July 12: Jonathan Melvoin (34) (of Smashing Pumpkins)
July 29: Jason Thirsk (28) (of Pennywise)
September 13: Tupac Shakur (25)
October 17: Chris Acland (30) (of Lush)
November 2: Eva Cassidy (33)
1997
January 2: Randy California (45)
January 22: Billy Mackenzie (39) (of the Associates)
March 9: The Notorious B.I.G. (24)
March 17: Jermaine Stewart (39)
March 24: Harold Melvin (57)
April 8: Laura Nyro (49)
May 29: Jeff Buckley (30)
October 12: John Denver (53)
November 22: Michael Hutchence (37) (of INXS)
1998
February 6: Falco (40)
February 6: Carl Wilson (51) (of the Beach Boys)
February 13: Thomas Chapin (40)
April 1: Rozz Williams (34) (of Christian Death)
April 5: Cozy Powell (50)
April 6: Tammy Wynette (55); Wendy O. Williams (48) (of the Plasmatics)
April 26: Adrian Borland (41) (of the Sound)
May 7: Eddie Rabbitt (56)
November 27: Barbara Acklin (55)
1999
January 15: John Baker Saunders (44) (of Mad Season)
March 2: Dusty Springfield (59)
March 29: Freaky Tah (27) (of Lost Boyz)
April 25: Roger Troutman (47)
July 17: Kevin Wilkinson (41) (of the Waterboys)
August 20: Bobby Sheehan (31) (of Blues Traveler)
December 17: Grover Washington Jr. (56)
December 26: Curtis Mayfield (57)
IZ ZAT SO? Ritchie Valens is the youngest to die (Feb. 2, 1959). At just 17, Ritchie is also the only teenager overall.
The youngest female is 23-year-old Mary Ann Ganser, a member of the Shangri-las. The exact cause of her death (March 14, 1970) remains undetermined.
The oldest male under 60 is Conway Twitty who died at 59, and the female is Dusty Springfield, who was also 59, but not quite as old as Conway.
From just the 277 musicians we've documented, whose lives ended during the second half of the 20th century, 36 deaths were categorized as suicides, and 43 as overdoses of drugs and/or alcohol.
At times the line between a suicide and an overdose is hazy, but either way 79 young (in most cases) entertainers died by their own hands.
SUICIDES:
Chris Acland
Albert Ayler
Bobby Bloom
Graham Bond
Adrian Borland
Roy Buchanan
Kurt Cobain
Vincent Crane
Darby Crash
Ian Curtis
Nick Drake
Tom Evans
Peter Ham
Donny Hathaway
Doug Hopkins
Michael Hutchence
Phyllis Hyman
Terry Kath
Philip Taylor Kramer
Hector Lavoe
Billy Mackenzie
Richard Manuel
Marilyn Monroe
Phil Ochs
Per "Dead" Ohlin
Kristen Pfaff
Ingo Schwichtenberg
Rory Storm
Jason Thirsk
Sid Vicious
Jeff Ward
Kevin Wilkinson
Larry Williams
Paul Williams
Wendy O. Williams
Al Wilson
SUBSTANCE OVERDOSES:
Baby Huey
Mike Bloomfield
Tommy Bolin
John Bonham
Tim Buckley
Paul Butterfield
Steve Clark
Nick Drake
Pete Farndon
Judy Garland
Lowell George
Dwayne Goettel
Tim Hardin
Jimi Hendrix
James Honeyman-Scott
Shanon Hoon
Janis Joplin
Rudy Lewis
Frankie Lymon
Jimmy McCulloch
Robbie McIntosh
Jonathan Melvoin
Keith Moon
Jim Morrison
Fats Navarro
Bradley Nowell
Johnny O'Keefe
Gram Parsons
Kristen Pfaff
Rob Pilatus
Elis Regina
David Ruffin
John Baker Saunders
Bon Scott
Bobby Sheehan
Hillel Slovak
Gary Thain
Johnny Thunders
Dinah Washington
Danny Whitten
Hank Williams
Alan Wilson
Andrew Wood
DEAR JERRY: You have created many lists requested by readers who could not get the information on their own. Now it's my turn.
Nowhere have I seen a chronological listing of prominent vinyl era musicians who died young, meaning under age 60.
Their style of music doesn't matter, but please limit the coverage to 50 years — 1950 through 1999.
I don't require obituaries, or details on how and why they died, just their name and age at time of passing.
—Bernie Foster, Denver
DEAR BERNIE: Last week we listed musicians who died under the age of 60, from 1950 through 1979. Now we continue with those who passed away during the next 20 years:
1980
January 2: Larry Williams (44)
January 3: Amos Milburn (52)
January 30: Warren Smith (47)
February 19: Bon Scott (33) (of AC/DC)
March 23: Jacob Miller (27) (of Inner Circle)
April 5: Bob Hite (38) (of Canned Heat)
May 18: Ian Curtis (23) (of Joy Division)
September 25: John Bonham (33) (of Led Zeppelin)
November 16: O.V. Wright (41)
December 7: Darby Crash (22) (of the Germs)
December 8: John Lennon (40)
December 29: Tim Hardin (39)
February 15: Mike Bloomfield (37)
May 11: Bob Marley (36)
May 25: Roy Brown (55)
July 16: Harry Chapin (38)
October 15: Jud Strunk (45)
December 9: Sonny Til (56) (of the Orioles)
1982
January 19: Elis Regina (36)
February 4: Alex Harvey (46) (of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band)
February 26: Gabor Szabo (45)
June 16: James Honeyman-Scott (25) (of the Pretenders)
March 5: John Belushi (33) (of the Blues Brothers)
August 13: Joe Tex (49)
December 8: Marty Robbins (57)
1983
January 28: Billy Fury (42)
February 4: Karen Carpenter (32) (of the Carpenters)
April 5: Danny Rapp (41) (of Danny and the Juniors)
April 14: Pete Farndon (30) (of the Pretenders)
June 20: Walter Jackson (45)
December 28: Dennis Wilson (39) (of the Beach Boys)
1984
January 21: Jackie Wilson (49)
April 1: Marvin Gaye (44)
April 27: Z.Z. Hill (48)
August 7: Esther Phillips (48)
1985
February 28: David Byron (38) (of Uriah Heep)
July 17: Wynn Stewart (51)
August 12: Kyu Sakamoto (43)
December 22: "D" Boon (27) (of the Minutemen)
December 31: Rick Nelson (45)
1986
January 4: Phil Lynott (36) (of Thin Lizzy)
March 4: Richard Manuel (43) (of The Band)
March 31: O'Kelly Isley (48) (of the Isley Brothers)
September 27: Cliff Burton (24) (of Metallica)
1987
May 4: Paul Butterfield (44) (of Paul Butterfield Blues Band)
August 4: Kenny Price (56)
September 11: Peter Tosh (42)
September 21: John "Jaco" Pastorius (35) (of Weather Report)
1988
March 10: Andy Gibb (30)
April 9: Brook Benton (56)
May 9: Sam Prater (50) (of Sam and Dave)
May 13: Chet Baker (58)
June 25: Hillel Slovak (26) (of Red Hot Chili Peppers)
July 18: Nico (49) (of the Velvet Underground and Nico)
August 14: Roy Buchanan (48)
August 24: Nat Stuckey (54)
December 6: Roy Orbison (52)
December 16: Sylvester (41)
1989
January 26: Donnie Elbert (52)
February 14: Vincent Crane (45) (of Atomic Rooster)
May 9: Keith Whitley (34)
June 14: Pete de Freitas (27) (of Echo and the Bunnymen)
November 6: Dickie Goodman (55)
January 19: Mel Appleby (23) (of Mel and Kim)
February 8: Del Shannon (56)
February 26: Cornelius Gunter (51) (of the Coasters)
March 19: Andrew Wood (24) (of Mother Love Bone)
May 25: Gary Usher (51) (of the Hondells)
June 22: Kripp Johnson (57) (of the Del-Vikings)
August 27: Stevie Ray Vaughan (35)
September 6: Tom Fogerty (48) (of Creedence Clearwater Revival)
November 10: Ronnie Dyson (40)
December 7: Dee Clark (52)
1991
January 8: Steve Clark (30) (of Def Leppard)
March 13: Dee Mullins (53)
March 22: Dave Guard (56) (of the Kingston Trio)
April 9: Per "Dead" Ohlin (22) of Mayhem)
April 20: Steve Marriott (44) (of Small Faces)
April 23: Johnny Thunders (38) (of the New York Dolls)
May 24: Gene Clark (46) (of the Byrds)
June 1: David Ruffin (50)
September 4: Dottie West (58)
November 24: Freddie Mercury (45) (of Queen); Eric Carr (41) (Of KISS)
1992
January 14: Jerry Nolan (45) (of the New York Dolls)
June 14: Brenda Payton (46)
July 26: Mary Wells (49)
October 5: Eddie Kendricks (52)
October 25: Roger Miller (56)
1993
March 19: Jeff Ward (30) (of Ministry)
June 5: Conway Twitty (59)
June 29: Hector Lavoe (46)
July 7: Mia Zapata (27) (of the Gits)
August 10: Oystein "Euronymous" Aarseth (25) (of Mayhem); David Rogers (57)
September 24: Ian Stuart (36) (of Skrewdriver)
November 30: David Houston (54)
December 4: Frank Zappa (52)
December 5: Doug Hopkins (32) (of Gin Blossoms)
1994
January 15: Harry Nilsson (52)
March 22: Dan Hartman (43)
April 5: Kurt Cobain (27) (of Nirvana)
May 25: Eric Gale (55)
June 16: Kristen Pfaff (27)
September 3: Major Lance (52)
November 4: Fred "Sonic" Smith (45) (of MC5)
February 12: Philip Taylor Kramer (42) (of Iron Butterfly)
February 23: Melvin Franklin (52) (of the Temptations)
March 8: Ingo Schwichtenberg (29) (of Helloween)
March 31: Selena (23)
March 25: Eazy-E (31)
June 14: Rory Gallagher (46)
June 30: Phyllis Hyman (44)
August 9: Jerry Garcia (53) (of the Grateful Dead)
August 16: Bobby DeBarge (36) (of Switch)
August 23: Dwayne Goettel (31) (of Skinny Puppy)
October 19: Don Cherry (28) (jazz trumpeter, not the pop singer)
October 21: Shannon Hoon (28) (of Blind Melon)
1996
March 19: Terry Stafford (54)
May 25: Bradley Nowell (28) (of Sublime)
July 12: Jonathan Melvoin (34) (of Smashing Pumpkins)
July 29: Jason Thirsk (28) (of Pennywise)
September 13: Tupac Shakur (25)
October 17: Chris Acland (30) (of Lush)
November 2: Eva Cassidy (33)
1997
January 2: Randy California (45)
January 22: Billy Mackenzie (39) (of the Associates)
March 9: The Notorious B.I.G. (24)
March 17: Jermaine Stewart (39)
March 24: Harold Melvin (57)
April 8: Laura Nyro (49)
May 29: Jeff Buckley (30)
October 12: John Denver (53)
November 22: Michael Hutchence (37) (of INXS)
1998
February 6: Falco (40)
February 6: Carl Wilson (51) (of the Beach Boys)
February 13: Thomas Chapin (40)
April 1: Rozz Williams (34) (of Christian Death)
April 5: Cozy Powell (50)
April 6: Tammy Wynette (55); Wendy O. Williams (48) (of the Plasmatics)
April 26: Adrian Borland (41) (of the Sound)
May 7: Eddie Rabbitt (56)
November 27: Barbara Acklin (55)
1999
January 15: John Baker Saunders (44) (of Mad Season)
March 2: Dusty Springfield (59)
March 29: Freaky Tah (27) (of Lost Boyz)
April 25: Roger Troutman (47)
July 17: Kevin Wilkinson (41) (of the Waterboys)
August 20: Bobby Sheehan (31) (of Blues Traveler)
December 17: Grover Washington Jr. (56)
December 26: Curtis Mayfield (57)
IZ ZAT SO? Ritchie Valens is the youngest to die (Feb. 2, 1959). At just 17, Ritchie is also the only teenager overall.
The youngest female is 23-year-old Mary Ann Ganser, a member of the Shangri-las. The exact cause of her death (March 14, 1970) remains undetermined.
The oldest male under 60 is Conway Twitty who died at 59, and the female is Dusty Springfield, who was also 59, but not quite as old as Conway.
From just the 277 musicians we've documented, whose lives ended during the second half of the 20th century, 36 deaths were categorized as suicides, and 43 as overdoses of drugs and/or alcohol.
At times the line between a suicide and an overdose is hazy, but either way 79 young (in most cases) entertainers died by their own hands.
SUICIDES:
Chris Acland
Albert Ayler
Bobby Bloom
Graham Bond
Adrian Borland
Roy Buchanan
Kurt Cobain
Vincent Crane
Darby Crash
Ian Curtis
Nick Drake
Tom Evans
Peter Ham
Donny Hathaway
Doug Hopkins
Michael Hutchence
Phyllis Hyman
Terry Kath
Philip Taylor Kramer
Hector Lavoe
Billy Mackenzie
Richard Manuel
Marilyn Monroe
Phil Ochs
Per "Dead" Ohlin
Kristen Pfaff
Ingo Schwichtenberg
Rory Storm
Jason Thirsk
Sid Vicious
Jeff Ward
Kevin Wilkinson
Larry Williams
Paul Williams
Wendy O. Williams
Al Wilson
SUBSTANCE OVERDOSES:
Baby Huey
Mike Bloomfield
Tommy Bolin
John Bonham
Tim Buckley
Paul Butterfield
Steve Clark
Nick Drake
Pete Farndon
Judy Garland
Lowell George
Dwayne Goettel
Tim Hardin
Jimi Hendrix
James Honeyman-Scott
Shanon Hoon
Janis Joplin
Rudy Lewis
Frankie Lymon
Jimmy McCulloch
Robbie McIntosh
Jonathan Melvoin
Keith Moon
Jim Morrison
Fats Navarro
Bradley Nowell
Johnny O'Keefe
Gram Parsons
Kristen Pfaff
Rob Pilatus
Elis Regina
David Ruffin
John Baker Saunders
Bon Scott
Bobby Sheehan
Hillel Slovak
Gary Thain
Johnny Thunders
Dinah Washington
Danny Whitten
Hank Williams
Alan Wilson
Andrew Wood
Jerry Osborne answers as many questions as possible through this column. Write Jerry at: Box 255, Port Townsend, WA 98368 E-mail: jpo@olympus.net Visit his Web site: www.jerryosborne.com
All values quoted in this column are for near-mint condition.
Copyright 2014 Osborne Enterprises - Reprinted By Exclusive Permission
