Music History Events: Deaths
August 17, 1987 Studio drummer Gary Chester dies in New York at age 62.
August 2, 1987 David Martin (bass player for Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs and co-writer of "Wooly Bully") dies of a heart attack at age 50.
June 12, 1987 The Los Angeles Coroner's Office rules that blues legend Paul Butterfield died from a heart attack caused by decades of drug and alcohol abuse.
June 2, 1987 Spanish classical guitarist Andres Segovia dies at age 94.
May 4, 1987 Paul Butterfield (of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band) dies of a heroin overdose at age 44.
May 3, 1987 Italian-French singer Dalida overdoses on barbiturates at age 54, leaving behind a note that reads "Life has become unbearable for me... Forgive me."
April 7, 1987 Jazz singer Maxine Sullivan, known for her 1937 swing version of "Loch Lomond," dies after suffering a seizure at age 75 in New York City.
April 2, 1987 Jazz drummer Buddy Rich dies at age 69 of heart failure after surgery for a malignant brain tumor.
February 22, 1987 Pop artist Andy Warhol, former manager of The Velvet Underground and designer for The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers album cover, dies of a cardiac arrhythmia following gallbladder surgery.
February 4, 1987 Liberace dies of AIDS-related pneumonia at age 67.
December 2, 1986 Desi Arnaz, Cuban-born musician and I Love Lucy star, dies of lung cancer at age 69.
December 1, 1986 Lee Dorsey of "Working in the Coal Mine" fame dies of emphysema at age 59.
October 23, 1986 Pianist Eskew "Esquerita" Reeder dies of AIDS in Harlem, New York, at age 50.
October 19, 1986 Record executive Moses Asch dies at age 80. Founder of Folkways Records, formerly Asch Records, his label was the home of many classic folk recordings, including Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" and Lead Belly's "Goodnight Irene."
June 17, 1986 Longtime radio personality Kate Smith dies of respiratory arrest at age 79 after years of struggling with diabetic complications.
June 6, 1986 Dick Rowe, the Decca Records executive who rejected The Beatles but signed The Rolling Stones, dies of diabetes at age 64.
May 1, 1986 Hugo Peretti, who co-wrote Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love," dies at age 69 in Englewood, New Jersey.
April 23, 1986 Songwriter Harold Arlen ("Over The Rainbow," "Stormy Weather") dies at age 81.
March 31, 1986 O'Kelly Isley (of The Isley Brothers) dies of a heart attack at age 48 in Alpine, New Jersey.
March 22, 1986 Mark Dinning, known for the 1960 hit "Teen Angel," dies of a heart attack at age 52.
March 4, 1986 Songwriter Howard Greenfield, who co-wrote many of Neil Sedaka's hits, dies of complications from AIDS at 49.
March 4, 1986 Richard Manuel (pianist, singer of The Band) commits suicide at age 42, following a gig in Winter Park, Florida.
February 1, 1986 Dick James, co-founder of DJM Records and the Beatles' publishing company Northern Songs, dies of a heart attack at age 65.
January 25, 1986 Albert Grossman, manager to Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin, dies of a heart attack at age 59.
January 24, 1986 Singer/actor Gordon MacRae, who starred in the film versions of the musicals Oklahoma! and Carousel, dies of cancer and pneumonia at age 64.
December 31, 1985 Rick Nelson dies in a plane crash at age 45. A child star on The Ozzie and Harriet Show, he became a teen idol as a singer, charting 36 hits on the Top 40.
December 22, 1985 Dennes Boon of the Minutemen is killed in a van accident in Tucson, Arizona, at age 27.
December 12, 1985 Ian Stewart, the original keyboard player for The Rolling Stones, dies of a heart attack in London, England, at age 47. Stewart stepped down from the group because his image didn't suit them. He became the group's road manager and played on some of their songs.
November 24, 1985 Bluesman Big Joe Turner, real name Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., dies of heart failure after a series of illnesses in Inglewood, California, at age 74.
October 12, 1985 B-52s guitarist Ricky Wilson becomes one of the first high-profile casualties of AIDS, a disease that is widely misunderstood. His death at age 32 comes 10 days after the actor Rock Hudson became the first major celebrity to die from AIDS.
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