I listen to dead people
I am here to tell you all about some dead musicians that I listen to!
This page is made out of respect for the impact these musicians have had on my life. I will eventually add more reflection - in some ways it's a unique kind of reflection knowing that unless someone "unearths previously unheard recordings" you'll never heard new music from that artist. For this reason, I haven't listened through their library, though I have enough albums to journal about it (eventually).
To start, I'll include a short summary of how each person died and a link to their obituary.
❗ 💀 Trigger warning: 💀 ❗
Don't read this page if you're uncomfortable with specific descriptions of death. This is not meant to be a torture device to trigger death anxiety, but I personally find this kind of stuff interesting.
Welcome to the Cryptkickers Graveyard: Dead Musicians Hall! (We know it's not really a hall.) Please watch your step as you enter the gate, it seems to have a bug and it's always swinging like that. Just run. It's okay.
Now that we got through that, we hope you'll enjoy your time here! There is a plot for many musicians from my personal library (and history). We are adding new graves every few years as people die or I find new musicians to love and then learn they're already dead.
Enjoy your stay and do feel free to hang out and picnic! Mouseover the grave stones to see who they belong to.
Died: October 9, 1973 (58)
Siser Rosetta Sharpe
obituary link · obituary link 2 (newspaper image)
Tharpe died in Philadelphia, PA, as a result of stroke (blood flow to the brain is interrupted).
The grave marker for this artist is under construction.
Died: October 16, 1973 (64)
Gene Krupa
Krupa died in Yonkers, NY, at the age of 64 from heart failure (the heart sucks at pumping blood and cannot meet the body's needs), but he also had leukemia (cancer affecting the blood and bone marrow) and emphysema (lung condition - permanent damage).
The grave marker for this artist is under construction.
Died: May 24 1974 (75)
Duke Ellington
Ellington died in New York, NY, of complications from lung cancer and pnemonia (lung infection). His last recorded words were: "Music is how I live, why I live, and how I will be remembered."
The grave marker for this artist is under construction.
Died: May 18, 1980 (23)
Ian Curtis
Curtis died by suicide in Macclesfield, UK, by hanging himself in his kitchen using a clothes line. He suffered from severe epilepsy and depression.
The grave marker for this artist is under construction.
Died: September 27, 1986 (24)
Cliff Burton
Burton died after a bus crash in Sweden while the band was touring to support "Master of Puppets." Burton was sleeping without a safety belt and was thrown through the window of the bus, which overturned on top of him, killing him instantly.
The grave marker for this artist is under construction.
Died: September 28, 1991 (65)
Miles Davis
Davis died in Santa Monica, CA, from the combined effects of a stroke (blood flow to the brain is interrupted), pneumonia (lung infection), and respiratory failure (the lungs suck at exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide and cannot meet the body's needs).
The grave marker for this artist is under construction.
Died: January 6, 1993 (75)
Dizzy Gillespie
Gillespie died in Englewood, NJ, of pancreatic cancer (tumor in pancreas).
The grave marker for this artist is under construction.
Died: April 5, 1994 (27)
Kurt Cobain
Cobain died by suicide in Seattle, WA, by shotgun to the head. There are several conspiracy theories surrounding his death due to ambiguities in the details of the suicide report, and an episode of Unsolved Mysteries that aired in 1997.
Died: May 29, 1997 (30)
Jeff Buckley
Buckley died by drowning in the Wolf River in Memphis, TN, while swimming. The autopsy showed no signs of drugs or alcohol and the death was ruled accidental.
The grave marker for this artist is under construction.
Died: November 22, 1997
Michael Hutchence
Hutchence died by suicide in Sydney, Australia, his body found by a hotel maid, naked and kneeling behind the door with a belt around his neck; he choked himself to death, officially ruled suicide by hanging. He suffered from depression and the autopsy revealed signs of alcohol and other drugs. After his death, partner Paula Yates started a rumor that death was related to autoerotic asphyxiation, which was debunked.
The grave marker for this artist is under construction.
