Death

Lew Sherwood is born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He will achieve acclaim as a vocalist, trumpeter and arranger, notably working with Eddy Duchin and His Orchestra between 1933 and 1941.

Jazz clarinettist Douglas Williams and others, record Slow Death, Roadhouse Stomp, Far Away Texas Blues and One Hour To-night for Victor Records in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Reginald Aubrey Fessenden dies in Bermuda, aged 65. In 1906 he sent the sound of a human voice by wireless telephony from a station at Brant Rock, eleven miles from Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA, for hundreds of miles. The broadcast is said to have been heard by ships at sea. Fessenden is credited with originating the continuous-wave principle of wireless transmission and the heterodyne system of reception.

Celebrated Argentinian tango musician, guitarist and composer Jose Ricardo, aka El Negro, dies in mid-Atlantic aboard the steamship Massilia, while returning home to Buenos Aires.

Joseph Louis 'Red' Cayou, blues pianist and recording artist, dies in Oakland, California, USA.

Mark Fisher, a songwriter, composer and bandleader in dance halls and hotels, dies in Ingleside, Illinois, USA.

Blues harmonica star Sonny Boy Williamson (No1) dies of a fractured skull after being mugged and brutally beaten while returning home after playing at the Plantation Club on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Huddie Ledbetter, known as Leadbelly, dies aged 61 of amyathopic lateral sclerosis [aka motor neurone disease], in Bellevue Hospital, New York City, USA.

Jazz vocalist and trumpeter Elmer 'Coo Coo' Talbert dies unexpectedly in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He is mostly remembered for the recordings he made with the George Lewis Jazz Band.

Alice Ormsby-Gore, future socialite and girlfriend of Eric Clapton, is born in the UK. She will die of a heroin overdose in 1995.

Songwriter Borney Bergantine, dies of hyperpotassamia and pneumonia in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. He is best-remembered for the evergreen My Happiness, a major hit from the late 1940s.

International famed samba singer and movie star Carmen Miranda, noted for her exotic outfits and exuberant personalty, dies aged 46, following a heart attack, in Beverly Hills, California, USA.

Carl Perkins is injured in a car crash in Delaware, USA, on his way to New York City to appear on the Perry Como Show. His brother Jay is killed, and Perkins is hospitalised, making it impossible to promote his original version of Blue Suede Shoes.

The Maddox Brothers And Rose release a new single, The Death Of Rock And Roll in the USA, on Columbia Records.

For his 13th birthday, Ray Davies, future leader of The Kinks, is given his first guitar by his sister Rene, who dies the same day.

Country-gospel singing star Ira Louvin of The Louvin Brothers is shot six times by his wife Faye, at his home near Nashville, Tennessee, USA. She tells police that he was beating her, reportedly declaring, "if the bastard don't die I'll shoot him again!" A 'lunacy warrant' is issued and she is arrested.

Popular 1930s bandleader, recording artist and broadcaster Ted Weems dies of emphysema, aged 61, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Singer and actress Marie McDonald, known as 'The Body Beautiful' and later nicknamed The Body, dies of an accidental drug overdose, aged 42, in Hidden Hills, California, USA.

Laverne Andrews, contralto vocalist of harmony singing group The Andrews Sisters, dies. The sisters were the most successful female vocal group of the first half of the 20th century in the USA.

Stuart Foster, best-known as a vocalist with The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, dies of a heart attack, aged 49, in New York City, USA.

Bobby Darin attends a memorial service for the recently assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in New York City, USA.

Novelty pop hitmaker Nervous Norvus dies aged 56, at Alameda County Hospital, Oakland, California, USA, of cirrhosis of the liver. His solitary major hit, Transfusion (1956) was banned on many radio stations, but still reached No13 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart.

While playing golf in Long Island, New York State, USA, James Brown's manager, Ben Bart collapses and dies from a heart attack. Bart was also the founder of the agency Universal Attractions in 1949.

Paper Lace release a new single, The Night Chicago Died, on Philips Records in the UK. It will go to No1 in the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart in the USA.

Phyllis Major, the wife of Jackson Browne, commits suicide with an overdose of barbiturates in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA. At least two of Browne's subsequent songs, Sleep's Dark And Silent Gate and The Shape Of A Heart, will be inspired by Major. Also, an earlier song, Ready Or Not, was written about how Browne and Major first got together after meeting in The Troubadour club in Los Angeles.

The body of AC/DC vocalist Bon Scott, who died two weeks earlier in London, England, UK, Europe, is flown to Australia, Oceania, and interred in Cemetary Memorial Gardens, Fremantle.

Bob Nolan, lead singer of influential country music group The Sons Of The Pioneers, dies of a heart attack, aged 72, in Newport Beach, Orange County, California, USA.

Jazz guitarist and banjo player Carmen Mastren, who worked with Tommy Dorsey, Adrian Rollini, Glenn Miller, Sidney Bechet and others, dies aged 68, from a heart attack at his home in Valley Stream on Long Island, New York, USA

Nudie Cohn, the designer of extraordinary rhinestone apparel for country music stars including Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Roy Rogers and Gram Parsons, dies aged 81, in Burbank, Los Angeles, California, USA. He also made Elvis Presley's famed $10,000 gold lame suit, as well as outfits for John Lennon and Elton John.

Jazz sax virtuoso Zoot Sims dies of cancer, aged 59, in New York City, USA.

jazz and r'n'b guitarist Tiny Grimes dies, aged 72, from meningitis in New York City, USA. As well as pursuing a successful solo career, Grimes had played with Art Tatum, Jay McShann, Milt Buckner and others.

Lum Guffin, who enjoyed some success as a blues singer, guitarist and recording artist, dies in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Dave Peverett, best-known as lead singer of The Savoy Brown Blues Band and Foghat, dies of cancer in Orlando, Florida, USA.

Jazz guitarist Dennis Sandole dies aged 87. One of his major achievements was introducing John Coltrane to advanced harmonic techniques.

Three months after being involved in a vehicle accident, blues vocalist and songwriter Robert Ealey dies aged 75 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA.

Jon Lee, drummer in Feeder, is found in his home in Miami, Florida, having committed suicide by hanging. He was 33.

Respected songwriter Harlan Howard - known as The Dean Of Nashville Songwriters - dies unexpectedly in Nashville, Tennessee. His major successes included I Fall To Pieces, Busted and Heartaches By The Number.

One-armed blues harp virtuoso Neal Pattman (aka Big Daddy Pattman) dies aged 79, of bone cancer, in Athens, Georgia, USA.

Singing legend Eartha Kitt dies of cancer, aged 81, in her home in Weston, Connecticut, USA. She was famously described by Orson Welles as the "most exciting woman in the world".

Electric blues and soul blues guitarist, singer and songwriter Michael Burks dies aged 54 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Andy Dog Johnson, an artist best-known for his Some Bizarre label record sleeves, dies aged 57 of a brain tumour, in England, UK.

Gene Simmons of Kiss posts a message - "Rest In Peace, Dilan Kohn." - on his Twitter feed. Behind those five words lies the fact that some days earlier, Simmons flew to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, to to visit terminally ill Dilan in The Children's Hospital Of Nevada. It was the teenager's last wish. Sadly, he died two days later.

Bobby Taylor, leader of Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers, dies aged 83 of throat cancer, in hospital in Hong Kong, Asia.

Shawn Smith is found dead aged 53 in Seattle, Washington, USA, of a torn aorta and high blood pressure. He had found success with the bands Brad, Satchel, Pigeonhed and The Twilight Singers, as well as performing as a solo act.