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The Death of Rock: Medical Causes

Pneumonia

Because the Medical Archive has the largest number of entries, I have divided it into several pages. Musicians who succumbed to pneumonia are listed on this page. You can select different medical causes using the links, below.

Key

Melanie Appleby

pnuemonia after treatment for metastatic paraganglioma (a rare nueroendocrine tumor) in 1990. She was 23. Appleby was half of the English duo, Mel and Kim, who scored a UK #1 with "Respectable".

*Glenn Buxton

pneumonia; 1997. He was 49. Buxton was guitarist for Alice Cooper. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named him one of the greatest guitarists of all time (ranking #90). Buxton, as part of the Alice Cooper Band, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. "Welcome to My Nightmare," "School's Out," "No More Mr. Nice Guy"

Allen Collins

*Allen Collins

(Larkin Allen Collins, Jr.), pneumonia (1990). He was 37. Collins was a guitarist for and one of the founders of Lynyrd Skynyrd. In 1986, he crashed his car while driving drunk; his girlfriend was killed and he was paralyzed from the waist down. The pneumonia was a result of decreased lung capacity from the paralyzation. Collins, along with Gary Rossington (died 2023), Leon Wilkeson (see 2001), Artimus Pyle and Billy Powell (see 2009), was also a survivor of the 1977 plane crash that killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines, and manager Dean Kilpatrick. Lynyrd Skynyrd were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Visit the Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute. "Free Bird," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Gimme Three Steps," "Simple Man"

Van Connor

bassist for grunge band, Screaming Trees. In 2021, after emergency stomach surgery, Connor fell into a coma. He then contracted COVID-19, exacerbating his health issues. In 2023, he died of pneumonia. He was 55. (Lead singer of Screaming Trees, Mark Lanegan, passed away in 2022 at the age of 57. The cause of death was not disclosed. Read about their involvement with the Shadows of Seattle.) Screaming Trees reached their peak of popularity when their single, "Nearly Lost You", appeared on the Singles movie soundtrack.

Bernard Edwards

pneumonia; 1996. He was 43. Edwards was a member of disco icons, Chic. He also produced pop acts, including Sister Sledge ("We Are Family"), Diana Ross ("Upside Down"), and Power Station ("Some Like It Hot"), which featured fellow Chic member, Tony Thompson (see 2003), John and Andy Taylor of Duran Duran, and Robert Palmer (see 2003). With Chic: "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)," "Le Freak," "Good Times".

Jim Henson

Jim Henson

bacterial pneumonia (1990). He was 53. Henson created The Muppets, who scored two hits: "Rubber Duckie" in 1970 and "Rainbow Connection" in 1979.

*Keith Knudsen

pneumonia (2005); he was 56. Knudsen had played for Southern Pacific and been drummer for the Doobie Brothers since 1974 along with conga player Bobby LaKind (see 1992) and saxophonist Cornelius Bumpus (see 2004). He battled cancer in 1995. The Doobie Brothers were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. With the Doobies: "Takin it to the Streets," "Black Water," "China Grove"

Mercededs Navarro Murciano

pneumonia in 2007; she was 49. The Cuban-born singer/songwriter was a member of Miami Sound Machine, and shared vocals with Gloria Estefan on the band's first release, Otra Vez. This was the only album on which Murciano appeared. In later years, Miami Sound Machine would hit the charts with the singles "Bad Boy," "Conga," "The Words Get in the Way," and "Rhythm is Gonna Get You."

Brittany Murphy

combination of pneumonia, an iron deficiency and "multiple drug intoxication," in 2009; she was 32. Murphy was better known for her acting (Clueless, 8 Mile and Girl, Interrupted), but she was also a singer. She was in a band in the early '90s called Blessed Soul (with actor Eric Balfour) and in 2006, she and Paul Oakenfold had a club hit with the single "Faster Kill Pussycat." (The song reached number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart.) Murphy also covered Queen's "Somebody to Love" and Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland" for the soundtrack to the film, Happy Feet. Murphy was found at her home, unconscious in full cardiac arrest.

"Bird" Charlie Parker

Charlie "Yardbird" Parker

(Charles Christopher Parker, Jr.), pneumonia (1955). Innovative jazz saxophonist who worked with artists such as bassist Charles Mingus (see 1979). Parker suffered form ulcers and cirrhosis of the liver possibly caused by heroin addiction; he was 34. "A Night in Tunisia," "Groovin' High," "Repetition"

Greg Ridley

succumbed to pneumonia in 2003. He was 56. Ridley was the bassist and co-founder of Humble Pie. "Black Coffee," "30 Days in the Hole," "I Don't Need No Doctor," "Natural Born Bugie"

Fats Waller

(Thomas Wright Waller), pneumonia in 1943. He was 39. Waller was a legendary jazz pianist and composer. Two of his compositions, "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Ain't Misbehavin'" are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, "Ain't Misbehavin'" was also listed in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

Barrie James (B.J.) Wilson

pneumonia, in 1990; age 43. Drummer for Procol Harum, the late '60s - early '70s psychedelic sensation (and author Douglas Adams's favorite band). Their hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was rumoured to be John Lennon's (see 1980) favorite song. Wilson also played drums on The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack. "Conquistador," "Repent Walpurgis," "She Wandered Through the Garden Fence"

Jackie Wilson

*Jackie Wilson

(Jack Leroy Wilson, Jr.), age 50 at the time of his death. Wilson suffered a heart attack in 1975 while performing "Lonely Teardrops", struck his head falling and lapsed into a four-month coma. When he emerged, it was discovered he had suffered brain damage from oxygen depravation. He remained hospitalized, immobile and incapable of speech until his death from pneumonia 9 years later, in 1984. "Mr. Entertainment" was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. "Lonely Teardrops," "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher"

Johnny Winter; photo I took at Winter's grave.

^Johnny Winter

cause of death not officially released (2014); Winter's guitarist said he died of a combination of emphysema and pneumonia. Winter was 70. (Although Winter's age would normally omit him from The Archive, I included him because I was able to visit his gravesite.) Winter was a Blues-guitar legend. He produced three Grammy Award-winning albums by Muddy Waters and was nominated for several Grammy Awards for his own work. (He posthumously won the Grammy Award for Best Blues Album for Step Back, which also won the 2015 Blues Music Award for Best Rock Blues Album.) In 2015, at the Maple Blues Awards, Winter was awarded the B.B. King International Artist of The Year Award. In 1980, Winter was on the cover of the first issue of Guitar World. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, the first Caucasian performer to be inducted. In 2003, he was ranked 63rd in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".