Death

Sharpshooter, frontierswoman and storyteller Martha Jane Cannary, better known as Calamity Jane, dies aged 51, of from inflammation of the bowels and pneumonia, at the Calloway Hotel, Terry, South Dakota, USA. The musical western movie Calamity Jane, based slightly on her life, will be released in 1953, and she will appear as a character in numerous other films and tv productions.

The Phantom of the Opera, a silent film based on Gaston Leroux's novel of the same name, is released in France. The film stars Lon Chaney as the masked and facially deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem.

A passenger train and a freight train collide near Ingleside, Virginia, USA, resulting in the death of two persons. The disaster will inspire Blind Alfred Reed to write his song The Wreck Of The Virginian.

Jazz piano pioneer Clarence 'Pine Top' Smith [aka Pinetop Smith] is performing at The Masonic Lodge dance hall in Chicago, Illinois, USA, when a fight breaks out. Shots are fired and Smith is killed by a bullet from the gun of David Bell.

Lonnie Johnson records Death Is On Your Track in New York City, USA, for Okeh Records.

Green Bailey records Shut Up In Coal Creek Mine, and other songs,for Gennett Records in Richmond Indiana, USA. The song is inspired by a gas and coal dust explosion at The Fraterville Mine near Coal Creek, Tennessee, USA, which killed 184 miners and other workers.

A fire at the Ohio State penitentiary, Columbus, Ohio, USA, kills 320 inmates, some of whom burn to death when they are not unlocked from their cells. It is perhaps the worst prison disaster in American history. Just three days later Charlotte And Bob Miller release the first of four recordings of their song Ohio Prison Fire on in the USA. Versions of the song will appear on Okeh Records, Grey Gull, VanDyke, Radiex and Champion, with the performers assuming different names, including Carlotte And Bob Miller, Miller And Milleand, B And C Barnes.

Notoriously racist American politician Theodore Bilbo dies aged 69 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. His passing will be commemorated by the heavily ironic blues song Bilbo Is Dead, recorded by Andrew Tibbs for Aristocrat Records of Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Enigmatic blues singer, guitarist and recording artist King Solomon Hill dies in Sibley, Louisiana, USA. His birth name is thought to have been Joe Holmes, but there is no conclusive evidence to support this idea.

Jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt dies, aged 43, from a brain hemorrhage in hospital in Fontainebleau, France, Europe. Reinhardt is regarded as one of the greatest guitar players of all time and the first important European jazz musician to make major contributions to the development of the genre.

Country hitmaker Johnny Horton dies in Milano, Texas, USA, when his cadillac is hit by a truck on a bridge. Horton is best-remembered for his hits The Battle Of New Orleans and North To Alaska.

Pioneering blues vocalist 'Stick' McGhee [aka Sticks McGhee] dies of lung cancer in New York City, USA. His best-remembered song was Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee, in 1949.

Bandleader Don Redman dies aged 64 in New York City, USA. One of the most successful bandleaders in New York during the 30s, Redman also worked as an arranger with Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie and Pearl Bailey.

Tim Harper, in the Drake University, Iowa, USA, newspaper, the Times-Delphic, writes a feature entitled 'Is Paul McCartney Dead' which reports Californian college gossip that Paul McCartney of The Beatles had died in a car crash in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike. This is the first published account of what will become known as the 'Paul Is Dead' myth.

Chicago r'n'b vocalist / pianist Billy Stewart is killed along with three band members, including Rico Hightower and William Cathey, in a car crash in North Carolina, USA.

Jim Morrison of The Doors, who died over two months earlier, is buried in Pere Lachaise cemetary, Paris, France, Europe. No priest is present but Morrison's girlfriend Pamela Courson says a few words before his body is lowered into the ground.

Teddy Bunn, a top-rated American blues and jazz guitarist in the 1930s, dies in Lancaster, California, USA. In a long career, he had worked with Sidney Bechet, Hadda Brooks, Johnny Dodds, J.C. Higginbotham, Lionel Hampton, Jimmie Noone and others.

On the night before hitmaking singer Minnie Riperton dies of breast cancer, she is visited by Stevie Wonder at the Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA. When Wonder leaves she tells an attendant, "The person I was waiting for has arrived and everything will be all right now".

The M.A.S.H. reach No1 in the UK singles chart with Theme From M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless).

The funeral of John Bonham, drummer of Led Zeppelin, takes place in Rushnock, Hereford, England, UK, Europe.

Carolyn Leigh, a respected lyricist for Broadway, film, and popular songs, dies aged 57 of a heart attack in New York City, USA. She is best remembered as the wordsmith of popular standards Witchcraft and The Best Is Yet to Come, with co-writer Cy Coleman.

Dennis Wilson, drummer of The Beach Boys, drowns while swimming near his boat moored at Marina Del Rey, California, USA.

Never having recovered from his 1975 heart attack, Jackie Wilson passes away in a nursing home in New Jersey, USA.

A psychiatric report states that Marvin Gaye's father had a brain tumour which might have affected his behaviour when he murdered his son a month earlier.

Curt Boettcher dies at Los Angeles County Hospital, Los Angeles, California, USA, while being treated for a lung infection. In a long and acclaimed career, Boettcher found success as a singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, working with The Association, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Millennium, Sagittarius and others.

Influential Latin music star Billo Frometa dies aged 72 in Caracas, Venezuela, South America. Just over one week earlier he had suffered a stroke while rehearsing with the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra for a tribute concert in his honour set for the following day. Just after he finished conducting the practice run for Un Cubano en Caracas, he collapsed on the ground while the orchestra was applauding his performance.

Die Toten Hosen play at Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany, Europe.

U2's Zoo TV Tour - Outside Broadcast arrives in the USA, for the first of two shows at Giants Stadium, New Jersey. During the afternoon, Bono is photographed in the jacuzzi in his New York hotel suite.

Jazz guitarist Remo Palmier dies in The Bronx, New York City, USA, aged 78, having long suffered from leukemia and lymphoma. In his acclaimed career he had worked with Coleman Hawkins, Red Norvo, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie and many others.

Folk-blues singer-songwriter Dave Van Ronk dies in New York City, USA, from complications arising from colon cancer.

Les Gray, vocalist with glam rock hitmakers Mud, dies aged 57 from throat cancer, at home in Portugal, Europe.

Jan Berry, of legendary Californian surf music innovators Jan And Dean, dies in UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA, following a seizure at his Brentwood home.

Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard suffers a heart attack from which he will die just over a month later, in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Jazz drummer and bandleader Louie Bellson dies, aged 84, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA, of complications of Parkinson's disease following a broken hip.

Jazz flute and saxophone star Bud Shank, dies, aged 82, in San Diego, California, USA. Although a leading light in the West Coast jazz scene and a pioneer of the 60s samba-jazz craze, he is perhaps best-known to a wider public for his signature flute embellishments on the Mamas And The Papas summer anthem California Dreamin'.

At least eleven people die and forty are injured during a stampede caused by the collapse of a wire fence at the Mawazine festival at the Hay Nahda stadium in Rabat, Morocco, Africa. The nine-day-long event featured international stars including Kylie Minogue, Algerian rai singer Khaled, Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder.

80s pop singer Rick Astley, made famous by his hit Never Gonna Give You Up, denies widespread rumours of his death. He was reported dead in a CNN iReport as a result of a prank in the form of a faked press release. Since the death of Michael Jackson, several similar pranks have claimed the deaths of Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears.

More than 150 club-goers die when fire sweeps through the Lame Horse nightclub in Kuybyshev Street, Perm, Russia, Europe. The fire was sparked by the use of indoor pyrotechnics and, within days, Russian President Vladimir Putin will ban the use of such fireworks throughout Russia.

Songwriter Jerry Ragavoy dies aged 80, following a stroke, at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, New York City, USA. Ragavoy's best-remembered compositions include the Irma Thomas hit Time Is On My Side and Erma Franklin's Piece of My Heart.

Alan Bown, leader of 60s soul/blues band The Alan Bown Set, dies, after a long illness, in Slough, Berkshire, England, UK.

Canadian country singer Hal Willis dies aged 82 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He found success in 1965 with the international hit single, The Lumberjack, which sold over 1.5m copies, peaking at No5 on the Billboard Country Chart in the USA.

Former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza dies aged 51 after suffering a heart attack during a performance by his band Ohm at The Baked Potato in Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Ariana Grande reveals that she has had a bee tattooed behind her left ear. The bee is a symbol of the city of Manchester, England, UK, Europe, where 22 people were killed in a terror attack shortly after Grande's concert there had finished, on 22 May 2017, with

Jerry Allison, drummer and songwriter who played alongside Buddy Holly in American rock band The Crickets, dies aged 82. No reason or place of death is given when his passing is announced. Allison is credited with co-writing hits including That’ll Be the Day and Peggy Sue.