Music History Events: Deaths
May 6, 1983 Jazz trombonist Kai Winding dies of a brain tumor at age 60.
April 30, 1983 Blues musician Muddy Waters dies of heart failure at age 70 in his Westmont, Illinois, home.
April 22, 1983 Jazz pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines dies at age 79.
April 14, 1983 Rock bassist Pete Farndon (of The Pretenders) overdoses on heroin and drowns in his bathtub at age 30.
April 3, 1983 Danny Rapp (of Danny & the Juniors) dies at age 41 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He's discovered in a hotel room in Quartzsite, Arizona.
March 8, 1983 English composer William Walton dies at age 80.
January 28, 1983 English pop singer Billy Fury, known for hit singles like 1961's "Halfway to Paradise," dies of a heart attack at age 42. Fury's heart was damaged when contracted rheumatic fever as a child.
January 21, 1983 Lamar Williams (the bassist who replaced Berry Oakley in The Allman Brothers Band) dies of lung cancer, possibly from exposure to Agent Orange during his service in the Vietnam War, at age 34.
December 17, 1982 Blues musician Big Joe Williams dies in Macon, Mississippi, at age 79. Known for hits of the '30s and '40s, such as "Baby, Please Don't Go" and "Crawlin' King Snake."
December 8, 1982 Country singer Marty Robbins dies at age 57, six days after undergoing quadruple coronary bypass surgery.
December 2, 1982 Folk singer-songwriter David Blue, writer of the Eagles' "Outlaw Man," dies of a heart attack at age 41 while jogging in New York City.
August 13, 1982 Southern Soul singer Joe Tex dies of a heart attack at age 47 in Navasota, Texas.
July 15, 1982 Bill Justis of "Raunchy" fame dies of cancer at age 55.
June 16, 1982 James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitarist for The Pretenders) dies of heart failure due to cocaine intolerance at age 25.
June 10, 1982 R&B singer Addie "Micki" Harris (of The Shirelles) dies at age 42 after suffering a heart attack during a performance in Atlanta, Georgia.
May 8, 1982 Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart dies of cancer and lymphoma at age 39.
April 30, 1982 Renowned music critic Lester Bangs, who wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone, dies at age 33 from an accidental drug overdose.
March 17, 1982 Samuel George, Jr. (of The Capitols) is stabbed and killed during a domestic dispute.
March 5, 1982 John Belushi of The Blues Brothers, 33, dies of a drug overdose in his bungalow at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Belushi had been injected with a speedball, a mixture of cocaine and heroin.
February 21, 1982 Murray The K dies at age 60. As a disc jockey in New York City, he held showcase concerts featuring many top acts - Stevie Wonder, The Lovin' Spoonful and The Supremes were just a few of the artists to play his revues. He also was an early champion of The Beatles, hyping the band when they came to America and calling himself "The Fifth Beatle."
February 17, 1982 Jazz great Thelonious Monk dies at age 64.
February 4, 1982 Alex Harvey (of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band) dies of a massive heart attack at age 46.
January 30, 1982 Country blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins dies of esophageal cancer at age 69.
December 27, 1981 "Georgia On My Mind" composer Hoagy Carmichael dies of heart failure at age 82.
December 9, 1981 Sonny Til (lead tenor for The Orioles) dies of heart failure and diabetes in Washington, D.C., at age 53.
December 8, 1981 Blues harmonicist Big Walter Horton dies of heart failure at age 60.
October 5, 1981 Jud Strunk, comedian and singer/songwriter, crashes his private plane when he suffers a heart attack while taking off in Maine. The 45-year-old Strunk and his passenger are both killed. Known for the 1973 hit ballad "Daisy A Day."
August 28, 1981 Guy Stevens (music producer/manager) dies of a prescription drug overdose in South London, England, at age 38. He produced The Clash's third album, London Calling.
August 26, 1981 Folk singer Lee Hays (bass vocalist for The Weavers) dies from diabetic cardiovascular disease at age 67 in Croton-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York. Hays penned a farewell poem wishing for his ashes to be mixed with his compost pile. That wish was fulfilled.
July 11, 1981 Hubert Johnson of The Contours dies by suicide at age 40.
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