Death

Police Superintendent David Hennessey is shotgunned to death on Basin Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Hennessey's death will be immortalised as an early blues song, The Downfall Of The Lion, written by Richard 'Rabbit' Brown.

Mary Phagan is raped and strangled to death by Leo Frank at the National Pencil Company, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Both of them work at the factory. Her death will cause a national sensation, and the story will be told in the song Little Mary Phagan, written by Fiddlin' John Carson in 1915. Perhaps the best-known recording is the one made on May 27, 1925, by Vernon Dalhart [under the name Al Craver] for Columbia Records.

Vaudeville impresario Frederick F. Proctor dies at his home in Larchmont, New York, USA, aged 78 years, from congestion of his lungs. 91929)

Georgia-born singer and 12-string slide guitarist Barbecue Bob dies of pneumonia.

Blues pianist Joshua Altheimer [aka Josh Altheimer], dies aged 30 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. A revered accompanist, his best work can be found on recordings by Big Bill Broonzy and Sonny Boy Williamson 1st.

Internationally popular vocalist Al Bowlly, dies when a bomb destroys his apartment block during the German blitz on London.

Jazz trumpet player Sonny Berman dies at the age of 21, reportedly from a drug overdose, in New York City, USA

Adaline Shepherd dies aged 76 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She is perhaps best-remembered as the composer of the ragtime piano favourites Pickles And Peppers and Wireless Rag.

The Miami Herald runs a story about a hotel guest who committed suicide and left a note stating, "I walk a lonely street". On seeing this story, Mae Axton will write the song Heartbreak Hotel, which will provide a huge hit for Elvis Presley in 1956.

The new No1 single in the USA and Canada is Moody River by Pat Boone.

William Zantzinger, the rich and murderous Maryland tobacco farmer castigated in Bob Dylan's song The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll, is sentenced in Hagerstown, Maryland, USA, to a mere six months in prison for the killing of Hattie Carroll.

Publisher and songwriter Reginald John Connelly dies in Bournemouth, England, UK, Europe. His compositions (with his partner Jimmy Campbell) had included Show Me the Way to Go Home, If I Had You, Goodnight Sweetheart and Try A Little Tenderness.

Dinah Washington, known as the Queen of the Blues, is found dead at home in Detroit, Illinois, USA, from an overdose of alcohol and diet pills.

The day after the burial of recently-assassinated US Senator Bobby Kennedy, Duke Ellington, the Bill Evans Trio, the Woody Herman Orchestra, Johnny Hodges, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Felicia Saunders, the Horace Silver Quintet and Joe Williams, are seen on tv in a tribute concert recorded for WCBS-tv, New York City, USA.

Jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler disappears in New York City, USA. His body will be found in the East River on the 25th of the month, and his death will be ruled as suicide.

Smith "Hezzy" Adair, a former member of Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys, dies in Montgomery, Alabama, USA.

Influential British jazz multi-instrumentalist Tubby Hayes dies during an operation on his heart, in Hammersmith, London.

Revered mandolin-playing bluesman Johnny Young aka 'Man' Young, dies of a heart attack in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Louis Jordan dies of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California, USA, aged 66.

Delta blues singer, guitarist and songwriter Bukka White dies aged 67 of cancer in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Police in New York City, USA, arrest notorious serial killer David Berkowitz, aka The Son Of Sam, as he is starting his car outside his apartment on Pine Street in Yonkers. Berkowitz killed at least six people and wounded several others in the course of eight shootings in New York between 1976 and 1977. His murder spree will inspire several songs including Diddy Doo Wop [I Hear The Voices] by Hall And Oates, Son of Sam by Elliott Smith; Psycho Killer by Talking Heads, and Sam, Son of Man by Marilyn Manson and The Spooky Kids.

American jazz pianist and composer Duke Pearson dies from MS at Atlanta Veterans' Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. As a record producer, he had played a significant role in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s.

Wiltshire anarcho-punk band The Subhumans spend the first of five days recording their debut album, The Day The Country Died, for Spiderleg Records.

Country musician and songwriter Al Dexter, perhaps best-known for his hit Pistol Packin' Mama, dies aged 78 in Lewisville, Texas, USA.

Legendary country performer/songwriter Ernest Tubb dies from emphysema at the Baptist Hospital, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, aged 70.

Having long suffered from congestive heart failure, innovative and controversial jazz/boogie-woogie singer and songwriter Harry 'The Hipster' Gibson shoots himself in the head and dies, aged 74, in Brawley, California, USA.

Carter Cornelius, leader of early 70s Florida-based soul band The Cornelius Brothers with Sister Rose, dies of a heart attack at home in Dania, Florida, USA.

Bebop trumpet and flugelhorn player Art Farmer, who worked extensively both as a leader and as a sideman to many of the greats of his era, dies of a heart attack, aged 71.

Lorraine Blue, owner of famous 60's club Mother Blues in Chicago, Illinois, USA, dies of lymphoma, aged 73, in Sacramento, California, USA. Mother Blues showcased a broad range of up-and-coming performers, from Buddy Guy to Big Brother And The Holding Company (with Janis Joplin), Jefferson Airplane, Spanky And Our Gang, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.

Lorraine Blue, owner of famous 60's club Mother Blues in Chicago, Illinois, USA, dies of lymphoma, aged 73, in Sacramento, California. Mother Blues showcased a broad range of up-and-coming performers, from Buddy Guy to Big Brother And The Holding Company (with Janis Joplin), Jefferson Airplane, Spanky And Our Gang, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.

Jimmy Griffin, guitarist of 70s soft-rock supremos Bread, dies aged 61 of lung cancer, at home in Franklin, Tennessee, USA.

David Wayne, former singer of Metal Church, dies at home in Tacoma, Washington, USA, aged 47, of injuries resulting from a car crash which took place several months earlier.

Eldee Young, bassist for The Ramsey Lewis Trio, dies of a heart attack, aged 72, in Bangkok, Thailand, Asia.

Brad Delp, vocalist for the band Boston, commits suicide, aged 55, from carbon monoxide poisoning. He is found dead, with his head on a pillow on the floor of his sealed bathroom, in his home on Academy Avenue in Atkinson, New Hampshire, USA. He had lit two charcoal grills in the bathroom and died from smoke inhalation.

Edie Adams, who found success as comedienne, singer and impersonator, dies of cancer and pneumonia, aged 81, in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Jazz guitarist Jimmy Gourley dies aged 82 in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France, Europe. In a long and acclaimed career, he had worked with Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Anita O'Day, Stephane Grapelli and many others.

Steve Childers, guitarist of Burning Inside, Black Witchery and Public Assassin, dies aged 49 in a vehicular accident when his van is hit by a semi truck on Highway 400, just west of Leon, Butler County, Kansas, USA.

Gallops, Spook School, Tigercats, Death Pedals, Fever Dream, Johanna Glaza, Alpha Male Tea Party and others play at If Not Now, When?, East Oxford Community Centre, Oxford, England, UK, Europe.

The Official Charts Company reveals that 5m David Bowie records (2m albums and 3.1m singles) have been sold in the UK since the singer's death two years earlier.

Music business entrepreneur Peter Stringfellow, best-known for his chain of 'gentlemen's clubs', dies of lung cancer, aged 77.

Ceon Broughton is sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for giving the drug 2CP to his girlfriend, Louella Fletcher-Michie, which killed her, in woodlands near the Bestival music festival site in Dorset, England, UK, Europe, in September 2017.