Amy Jade Winehouse, the Grammy Award-winning soul singer who spent years struggling with drug and alcohol abuse, was found dead in her London home on July 23. Cause of death is under investigation. She was 27. Born in 1983 to taxi driver Mitch and his pharmacist wife Janis, Winehouse was raised in a middle class … Continue reading
Category Archives: Musicians
“5-8-8 2-300. Empire!” For much of the past four decades, just about everyone living in or near Chicago knew that telephone number. They knew Empire sold carpets. They knew the company spokesman on sight because he’d appeared in more than 1,000 television commercials. Between ball games, soap operas and local newscasts, The Empire Man was … Continue reading
Norman Jeff Healey, a Grammy-nominated singer and musicologist, died on March 2 of lung cancer. He was 41. Born and raised near Toronto, Healey was diagnosed with a rare form of retinal cancer when he was only one years old. The disease, known as retinoblastoma, claimed his eyesight. Blindness could not halt Healey’s passion for … Continue reading
John Wallowitch, a Broadway songwriter and composer who penned more than 2,000 songs, died on Aug. 15 of bone cancer. He was 81. The Philadelphia native was only seven years old when he wrote “Waiting on Passyunk Bridge,” a song about committing suicide over unrequited love. He had hoped to become a high school music … Continue reading
Percy “Dwight” Wilson, a Canadian World War I veteran, died on May 9. Cause of death was not released. He was 106. Wilson was born on Feb. 26, 1901 in Vienna, a hamlet outside of London, Ontario. When World War I began, he felt honor-bound to serve his country and fight against the Germans. After … Continue reading
Bradley Delp, the lead singer of the mega-platinum rock band Boston, committed suicide on March 9. He was 55. A Boston native, Delp bought his first guitar when he was 13 years old. The purchase was inspired by a viewing of the Beatles’ appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Delp’s first band, The Iguanas, was … Continue reading
Walker Edmiston, a veteran actor and puppeteer who worked in Hollywood for six decades, died on Feb. 15 of complications from cancer. He was 81. Born in St. Louis, Mo., Edmiston always had a talent for mimicry. One of the first voices he mastered and performed for his family was that of actor Lionel Barrymore. … Continue reading
Ruth Martin Jefford, Alaska’s first female commercial air taxi pilot, died on Jan. 9. Cause of death was not released. She was 92. The Iowa native began flying when she was only 17 years old. She made her first solo flight in 1937, then married her flight instructor Jim Hurst. The couple moved to Anchorage, … Continue reading
Basil Konstantine Poledouris, an Emmy Award-winning film composer, died on Nov. 8 of cancer. He was 61. Born in Kansas City, Mo., Poledouris began playing the piano when he was only 7 years old. Since modern music didn’t appeal to him, he fully expected to become a concert pianist after graduating from the University of … Continue reading
Rufus Harley Jr., a musician billed as “the world’s first jazz bagpiper,” died on July 31 from prostate cancer. He was 70. A North Carolina native of African-American and Cherokee descent, Harley always had a passion for music. He moved to Philadelphia as a young boy and studied the saxophone, oboe, trumpet and flute. To … Continue reading
