Suicide

A little-known and deeply troubled Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh, shoots himself in the chest with a revolver in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, Europe. He will die, aged 37, two days later. Don McLean's 1970 song Vincent refers to several Van Gogh paintings, including The Starry Night, but the song, with lines such as "You took your life as lovers often do," is more generally inspired by Van Gogh's life, his tragic existence and his suicide.

Early in the evening, at an outdoor music concert by Caton's Dozen (a military band) in Winfield, Kansas, USA, thirty-six-year-old Gilbert Twigg kills eight people with his shotgun. Several others are injured, including the band’s drummer, Re Oliver. Twigg then kills himself with a .38 pistol. This is thought to have been the first indiscriminate mass killing in US history.

Paul Whiteman And His Orchestra record their version of the song Gloomy Sunday, for Victor Records in the USA. Written in 1933, Gloomy Sunday would quickly acquire a reputation as The Suicide Song because many of those who sang it came to premature ends, and also because many people were said to have committed suicide while listening to it.

Boruch Alan Bermowitz is born in Brooklyn, New York City, USA. He will find international acclaim as Alan Vega, co-founder of pioneering electro-punk duo Suicide.

Billie Holiday, with Teddy Wilson And His Orchestra, records Gloomy Sunday, Love Me Or Leave Me, I Cover The Waterfront and Jim for OKeh/Columbia Records in New York City, USA. Gloomy Sunday will require an extraordinary reputation as a song which causes people to commit suicide.

Unable to face his mounting debts, Benjamin Spector, the father of 60s record producer Phil Spector, commits suicide in New York City, USA, by sucking carbon monoxide through a hose in his car in broad daylight. A decade later, Phil will compose the song To Know Him Is To Love Him, inspired by the words carved into Benjamin's gravestone, which will become a No1 hit in 1958 for his group The Teddy Bears.

Phil Spector's father, Benjamin, commits suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide fumes in his car, because of insurmountable debt problems. Written on his tombstone will be the words, To Know Him Was To Love Him, prompting Phil to write the song To Know Him Is To Love Him which he will record a decade later with The Teddy Bears, giving him his first hit single.

Elvis Presley is in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, re-shooting the ending of Wild In The Country, because pre-release screening audiences did not like the original ending in which Hope Lange committed suicide.

Phil Everly heads the bill on a package tour at The Globe, Stockton, UK. The show was supposed to star The Everly Brothers, but Don Everly collapsed after a suicide attempt in London's Savoy Hotel. Other acts on the bill include Frank Ifield, Ketty Lester and The Vernons Girls.

Phil Everly heads the bill on a package tour at The Odeon, Leeds, UK. The show is supposed to star The Everly Brothers, but Don Everly collapsed after a suicide attempt in London's Savoy Hotel. Other acts on the bill include Frank Ifield, Ketty Lester and The Vernons Girls.

Phil Everly heads the bill on a package tour at the ABC, Cambridge, UK. The show is supposed to star The Everly Brothers, but Don Everly collapsed after a suicide attempt in London's Savoy Hotel. Other acts on the bill include Frank Ifield, Ketty Lester and The Vernons Girls.

Phil Everly heads the bill on a package tour at The ABC, Kingston, UK. The show is supposed to star The Everly Brothers, butDon Everly collapsed after a suicide attempt in London's Savoy Hotel. Other acts on the bill include Frank Ifield, Ketty Lester and The Vernons Girls.

Phil Everly heads the bill on a package tour at The Winter Gardens, Bournemouth, UK. The show is supposed to star The Everly Brothers, but Don Everly collapsed after a suicide attempt in London's Savoy Hotel. Other acts on the bill include Frank Ifield, Ketty Lester and The Vernons Girls.

Liverpool-born popular singer Michael Holliday commits suicide - a suspected drug overdose involving a rumoured pact with boxer Freddie Mills - in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK, Europe. Despite achieving two UK No1 singles with The Story Of My Life and Starry Eyed, Holliday had suffered a mental breakdown in 1961. It was speculated that Holliday and Mills had secretly been lovers.

Johnny Winter records Suicide Won't Satisfy, Blue S uede Shoes and I Wonder If I Care at Andrus Studios, Houston, Texas, USA.

Edie Sedgewick, an actress and fashion model who became an Andy Warhol 'superstar', dies aged 28 in her sleep, at her home in Santa Barbara, California, USA. The coroner will rule her death as "undetermined/accident/suicide", and her death certificate will describe the immediate cause as "probable acute barbiturate intoxication" due to ethanol intoxication. Inspired by Sedgewick's tragic life and death, The Adult Net will release the single, Edie, in 1985 on Beggars Banquet Records in the UK.

During their On Parole tour, The Clash play the second of four nights at The Music Machine, Camden Town, London, England, UK, Europe, supported by Suicide and The Specials.

918 people die in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, in an incident sometimes described as a mass-suicide and sometimes as a massacre. The incident is described in the 2008 song Reverend Charisma by Wedlock. It is worth noting that a band, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, made up its name as a combination of the name of a Rolling Stones guitarist with the Jonestown incident. Other songs inspired by this horrific incident include The Riverflow by The Levellers, Jonestown Mind by The Almighty, Jimmie Jones by The Vapors, Jonestown by Concrete Blonde and Ballad of Jim Jones by The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Bob Dylan's close longtime friend Howard Alk is found dead at Rundown Studios, Santa Monica, California, USA. Alk's death is ruled a suicide.

Danny Rapp, leader of 50s rock'n'roll band Danny and the Juniors, commits suicide in Parker, Arizona, USA, by shooting himself, aged 42.

Jeannine Deckers, better known to the world as The Singing Nun, and her companion of ten years, Annie Pecher, both commit suicide by an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol at their home in the Green Horizons apartment building in Wavre, Belgium, Europe. She had enjoyed huge international success in 1961 with the hit single Dominique.

European singing star Dalida, plagued by depression and a chaotic love life, commits suicide in Paris, France, Europe, with an overdose of barbiturates, leaving a note which reads, "Forgive me, life has become unbearable for me...". She had first found success in 1954 with her international hit single Bambina, and eventually sold over 85m records worldwide.

A young girl suffering from memory loss is prevented from committing suicide by jumping from the Severn Bridge, Bristol, England, UK, Europe. A newspaper report of the incident will provoke Fish of UK prog-rock band Marillion to write the songs which will be released as the album Brave.

Black Metal band Mayhem play in Sarpsborg, Norway, Europe. The show is recorded and will be released as the bootleg LP Dawn Of The Black Hearts, whose cover shows the band's vocalist, Dead (real name Per Yngve Ohlin), after his suicide.

Ozzy Osbourne is cleared in an Atlanta, Georgia, USA, court of "culpably exciting" a young fan to shoot himself by listening to Ozzy's 1986 song Suicide Solution.

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana commits suicide in Seattle, Washington, USA. His body will not be discovered until three days later.

Canadian songwriter Gene MacLellan commits suicide by hanging at his home in summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada. He had found success as the composer of Snowbird (a hit for Anne Murray) and Put Your Hand In The Hand (a hit for Ocean) and other songs.

Country recording star Faron Young attempts suicide by shooting himself in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Billy Mackenzie of The Associates commits suicide by overdosing on a combination of paracetamol and prescription medication in the garden shed of his father's house in Auchterhouse, Scotland, UK, Europe. Depression and the death of his mother are believed to have been contributing factors. At least two songs will be inspired by MacKenzie, including Cut Here (2001) by The Cure and Say (1999) by The Creatures.

Derrick Hand, State Coroner of New South Wales, Australia, Oceania, presents his report into the death of Michael Hutchence, lead singer of INXS. The report rules that Hutchence's death was a suicide while depressed and under the influence of alcohol and other drugs.

Guitarist Hideto Matsumoto [aka Hide] of the group X Japan is found dead, hanging from a towel tied to a doorknob in his apartment in Tokyo, Japan, Asia. His death will be recorded by the authorities as suicide. Within days three fans will die in copycat suicides, and 50,000 people will attended his funeral at Tsukiji Hongan-ji.

Having long suffered from depression, Adrian Borland, founder of acclaimed bands including The Sound, The Outsiders and Second Layer, commits suicide at the age of 41 by jumping into the path of an oncoming train at Wimbledon Station, Wimbledon, London, England, UK, Europe.

Acclaimed jazz-pop interpretative vocalist Susannah McCorkle commits suicide by jumping from the window of her New York City apartment, after penning a suicide note.

Richie Lee, vocalist with Acetone, is found dead at home in Los Angeles, California, having committed suicide aged 34.

James Lawrence of Hope Of The States hangs himself at Real World Studios, owned by Peter Gabriel, in Box, Wiltshire, England, UK, Europe. The group had been recording its debut album.

Music fan Michael Edward Pickels of San Jose commits suicide by jumping three stories to land on the stage during a Swell Season show at The Mountain Winery, Saratoga, California, USA.

Charles Haddon, 22 year old lead singer of pop band Ou Est Le Swimming Pool jumps to his death from a telecommunications mast behind the main stage onto a parking area after playing at the Pukkelpop music festival in Belgium, Europe. Local police treat the death as suicide.

The remaining members of electropop trio Ou Est Le Swimming Pool arrange a festival, billed as Chazzstock, in honour of recently deceased member Charles Haddon, at Koko in Camden, London, England, UK. The Kooks, Mr Hudson, Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet, Man Like Me, Daisy Dares You, Kissy Sell Out, Tribes, Ollie Wride, and The Horrors perform at the event.

Kim Jong-hyun, vocalist with popular boyband Shinee, dies in a rented apartment in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam District in southeastern Seoul, South Korea, Asia. He had been very depressed and, according to close friends, suicidal. Police rule his death a "possible suicide".

Israeli pop singer Yigal Bashan is found dead, aged 68, at his home in Tel Aviv, Israel. Having been hospitalised twice previously with self-inflicted stab wounds, his death is ruled as suicide.