First broadcaster to break down the obvious barriers and play so-called 'race' music to a largely white audience, exposing teenagers to the likes of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. At the end of his life, virtually bankrupted by legal debts and drinking heavily, he checked into hospital just as charges of tax evasion were levied against him. Freed died five days later from uraemia and cirrhosis of the liver before he could answer any of those charges.

Rockabilly heart-throb who was one half of The Echoes in his early career - a popular Nashville vocal duo. In 1965, a recording / publishing deal with guitar-giant Chet Atkins and Archie Bleyer looked to be on the cards but Sulik never made the meeting. He was killed in an automobile accident near his home in Connecticut the night before, the songs he had prepared on tape for Atkins and Bleyer remaining unheard until 34 years later.

Kidd's co-written 'Shakin' All Over' (1960) was a genuine 'moment' in pop music history. From this, the only direction to go was downwards and tunes that disappointingly pushed this distinctive band into a 'Merseybeat' direction were largely misses. On the road in October 1966 tragedy - or more truthfully - a skidding lorry struck. Kidd was killed in the crash on the M1, the remaining members of the band survived the accident.

In an era when female artists were in short supply, Alma Cogan positively thrived. Hit records included 'Bell Bottom Blues' (1954) and 'Dreamboat' (1955). However, the hits dried up in 1961, but there was still the staple cabaret circuit which Cogan pursued for several years. Cogan collapsed in 1966 where she was diagnosed with throat cancer; she was admitted to hospital but passed away shortly thereafter.

Music world's best-known impresario. Epstein met The Beatles in November 1961, kick-starting the most famous story in popular music. During 1963-4 The Beatles became the biggest-selling group in Britain's history. After The Beatles agreed to retire from live work in 1966, Epstein had little more to do. In 1967 Epstein began to spiral, admitting to recreational drug use and taking vast quantities of pills to sleep. In late summer, his lifeless body was found lying on his bed, surrounded by bottles of pills. There was no suicide note however, and a verdict of accidental death was recorded by the coroner.

The archetypal wandering minstrel who developed a relationship with the open road, was the first notable white protest singer. The last thirteen years of Guthrie's life were spent in chronic ill health. Doctors offered conflicting diagnoses, including schizophrenia. Yet, it was actually Huntington's chorea that robbed this talent of virtually all his faculties and eventually took his life.

Something of a prodigy - a gifted artist, actress, dancer and singer. On a rare vacation, Nebedov and her mother's lives were ended by a collision with a truck they were attempting to pass in her Mercedes. Later it transpired that Nebedov had taken out life insurance that same week and that her son - who survived the crash - had had a year's schooling pre-paid. The case was reopened in 2004, when reports emerged that the singer may have committed suicide because it had become known that her then-current lover, Pierre Lafaire, had been a US spy.

Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant formed The Tennessee Two, a struggling but cheery country duo that moonlighted in Memphis bars and cathouses while holding down motor-sales jobs by day. Johnny Cash eventually fronted their act. Luther Perkins' performance at Cash's famous Folsom Prison gig proved his last: he died from burns and smoke inhalation a couple of days after falling asleep with a lit cigarette in his hand.

Although Jagger and Richards were eventually to become the focal point, The Rolling Stones were Brian Jones's band. Jones drowned in a swimming pool in the summer of 1969, the verdict: misadventure. In 1993 however, Frank Thorogood confessed; 'It was me that did Brian. I just finally snapped - it just happened.' Two days after Jones's death 250,000 fans showed up at The Rolling Stone's free concert in Hyde Park - rebilled in tribute to their former guitarist.

Magic Sam was a prime mover in Chicago's electric-blues scene, recording two well-received albums and on the verge of a deal with Stax - and major stardom - at the time of his death. One morning however, complaining of heartburn Magic Sam collapsed - never to recover.

Blues guitarist, psychedelic icon and smouldering ladies' man. Hendrix trucked on in, lit a real big fire and then checked out before he'd had a chance to see what those flames might attract or where they might catch next. On the night of his death he took nine sleeping pills ingested with alcohol - however, there is still a mystery surrounding the exact time of Hendrix's death. Police definitely found Hendrix alone, lying dead in a pool of vomit the next morning.

For many, the greatest white blues songstress of all time. Died of a heroin overdose in Room 105, at the Landmark Hotel, Franklin Avenue - the drug had not been pharmaceutically checked and was found to be 40 per cent pure, as opposed to the street norm of 1-2 per cent. The hotel, now known as the Highland Gardens maintains that the ghost of Janis Joplin still inhabits Room 105.

Jim Morrison was the complete artist. He wore rebellion as a badge, was obsessed with chaos and disorder, urgently compelled to push it all just that one stage further. On the night of his death, after complaining of 'feeling ill' his long-term partner drew him a bath. She later found his dead body immersed in the water the following morning. The cause of Morrison's death is still unknown, however what seems most likely is that years of drug and alcohol abuse finally took their toll on a man who was only twenty-seven but 'felt bloated and forty-seven'.

Often dressed in flowing robes and wearing the requisite thick moustache, guitarist Lefty Baker replaced musician Oz Bach in Spanky & Our Gang. Baker's untimely death came about a year or so after he left Spanky & Our Gang. He died of cirrhosis of the liver.

A veritable vocal gymnast whose melodramatic performances made her a favourite with soul audiences throughout the late sixties. One night, Jones struggled to finish a concert at New York's Apollo Theater and collapsed backstage, dying later of complications arising from diabetes.

Rory Storm & The Hurricanes were 'the band that Ringo left'. In 1967, the dramatic post-concert death of lead guitarist Charles 'Ty' Brian caused the ailing band to split. On 28 September, just a week after his thirty-third birthday, Storm was found sprawled across his bed by his distraught mother, after having taken an overdose at her home. She apparently decided to take her own life there and then.

Known for his arresting, self-penned 'Splish Splash' (1958) and a year later 'Mack the Knife'. In 1971, he underwent corrective heart surgery, which enabled him to continue working for a while but at the end of 1973, an attempt to repair a faulty valve proved one operation too many. Darin died during surgery and his body - as requested - was left to the UCLA Medical Center.

Younger brother of the prodigious guitarist and songwriter Carl Perkins, bassist Clayton found himself in Carl's shadow as the group they'd formed with third sibling, Jay, began to attract attention from Sun Records. Carl Perkins fired needy Clayton from the band in 1963. The bass-player never worked in music again. Depressed by the premature death of his brother Jay Perkins, he fell into alcoholism and left his family behind. He was found in his bed on Christmas Day after apparently having shot himself with a .22 pistol.

After a spell as tenor with the Womack Brothers and enjoying a number of R&B hits with The Valentinos, Harry Womack was stabbed to death by his jealous girlfriend in 1974 after she found girl's clothes in his closet. It transpired that the clothes actually belonged to his brother Bobby Womack's latest love.

One of The Mamas & The Papas, who enjoyed success with hits such as 'California Dreamin'', 'Monday Monday', 'Dedicated to the One I Love' and 'Creeque Alley'. After inflicting a series of ill-advised crash diets on herself, Elliot put her heart under severe pressure as she began a two-week showcase at the London Palladium in July 1974. Elliot was eventually found dead at a flat in Curzon Place, Mayfair.

Hailed as the 'blackest sounding white-group' of their day, The Mello-Kings deserve plaudits for being one of the first inter-racial vocal groups to achieve a level of national success. Bob Scholl continued to manage the group until 1969. He died in a boating accident in 1975.

Journeyman bassist who began his career with a number of New Zealand turns before moving to Britain when he was eighteen. It was with prog stalwarts the occasionally critically derided Uriah Heep, that Thain experienced his most successful period. In September 1974 Thain received a massive electric shock on stage which caused him several months of ill health, during which time he was dismissed from the band. With the electric shock having apparently weakened his resistance and an increasing dependence on heroin, Thain died of an overdose in December 1975.

A long-time friend of The Beatles, Mal Evans became the Fab Four's driver, then roadie and even contributed to many legendary recordings. His vocals can be heard on 'Yellow Submarine' and he also played on 'You Won't See Me', 'Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite', 'A Day in the Life', 'Helter Skelter' and 'Dear Prudence'. On the night of the 4 January, Evan's new girlfriend returned to the apartment they shared to find her lover very inebriated, loaded up on valium and threatening to put a 30.30 rifle in his mouth. Within a short time, two officers arrived at the apartment to confront a now-calmer Evans, but he panicked on seeing them, and refused to relinquish his gun - at which point the officers fired at him six times. Four bullets hit the former roadie and he fell dead at their feet.

The right-hand man of rock 'n' roll's first international star, Bill Haley. He died after a long battle with lung cancer. Haley was devastated by the loss of his close friend and sidekick.

The legendary singer's death is now attributed to cardiac arrhythmia and hypertensive cardiovascular disease as opposed to the 'straining a stool' verdict so beloved of the star's detractors.

T-Rex represented the real talent in premier-league glam rock. During 1968 and 1971 T-Rex were seldom out of the British charts with a succession of records such as 'Hot Love', 'Telegram Sam', 'Metal Guru' and '20th Century Boy'. Bolan was killed instantly in a car crash in 1977, having taken almost 100 per cent of the impact.

Legendary drummer with The Who - during the seventies there were few to equal him, during the sixties there were none. With both Moon and his partner suffering the effects of the excesses of the night before, Moon took 32 Heminevrin tablets that had been rashly prescribed to combat alcoholism in a 'take as you please' supply of one hundred. When his partner awoke at 3.40pm, Moon was already dead. Ironic that after years of imbibing illegal substances, it should be a legal drug that called time on the drummer's behaviour.

A straight-down-the-line country boy, Mel Street was tipped as one of the genre's most promising performers of the decade, but he never overcame the depression that kept him locked out of mainstream success. On 21 October 1977, the Mel Street single 'Just Hangin' On' entered the country chart. On the same day - the singer's forty-third birthday - he put a gun to his head and blew his brains out.

On 3 March 1977 the Sex Pistols and manager Malcolm McLaren kicked out Glen Matlock to replace him with Sid Vicious. Who had never played bass in his life. The records were admittedly great at this point - 'God Save the Queen', 'Pretty Vacant' and 'Holidays in the Sun' all went Top Ten. Vicious died after shooting up 100 per cent pure heroin in February 1979, the second dose being enough to kill him.

One of the most sought after and inspiring artists of his day. Montrell's glittering career ended tragically when - on tour with Fats Domino - he was found dead in his room at the Sonesta Hotel, Amsterdam, apparently from a heroin overdose.

Ian Curtis was always an outsider in his own lifetime: only his lyrics gave the world a small insight into the complexities of his mind. On the eve of a debut US tour for Joy Division, the talismanic singer hanged himself at his Macclesfield home. It was a sudden brutal climax to a short career starkly highlighted by a lethal combination of powerful performance, crippling illness and a need for control.

John Winston Lennon had everything that Mark David Chapman did not - unique talent, success, love and above all, universal approval. On 8 December 1980 Chapman staked his place among other fans outside the Dakota building, securing his supposed hero's autograph at 5.30pm. For five hours Chapman waited in turmoil. Lennon returned at 10.50pm. Hearing his name called he glanced at Chapman who unloaded five bullets in the legend's direction. Lennon was hit four times, in the back and neck, saying only 'Help me!' before he collapsed. Although Lennon was rushed to hospital he died shortly after arrival, his internal organs destroyed and having lost 80 per cent blood volume.

Steve Currie was the first bassist to join Marc Bolan's expanded line-up, answering a Melody Maker advertisement. In the end his death was eerily similar to Bolan's. Just before midnight on 28 April, Steve Currie's car left the road near his home in Portugal. The bassist died at the scene.

Most rock musicians are unlikely ever to have the spirituality and resolve to impact on the world's politics in the same way that Bob Marley did for Africans and Jamaican Rastafarians. That he did so while popularising an erstwhile marginal form - and left behind such a vast, joyous reservoir of music - makes the achievement all the more remarkable. In 1977 Marley was advised to have his big toe amputated for fear of spreading infection but refused as bodily desecration goes against Rastafarianism. He subsequently died of advanced malignant melanoma in 1981.

The Capitols were one of Detroit's hottest acts as R&B moved into the mainstream. Samuel George was stabbed to death with a kitchen knife in a family dispute at his home in Detroit.

Fury's enviable chart career began with his own 'Maybe Tomorrow' sparking a remarkable run of twenty-four Top Forty UK entries during the sixties. None of his success however could prevent Fury from declaring bankruptcy by the mid seventies. In 1982 Fury collapsed from his heart condition - he was found unconscious by his housekeeper and died later that day in St Mary's Paddington.

Never much more than a second-division New York Dolls-styled rock act who relied more on appearance than on great songs or musicianship, Dingley (vocals, piano, sax) of Hanoi Rocks died in a crash while driving a 1972 Ford Pantera. After taking the full brunt of the impact, he was rushed to hospital with multiple head injuries but was pronounced dead at 7.12 that evening.

The nearest to a hit single The Heavy Metal Kids ever managed was 'She's No Angel' (1976). Holton's main desire was to be an actor and he appeared in Quadrophenia and Breaking Glass before clinching a role in Auf Wiedersehen Pet. In the early hours of 24 October Holton's body was found, it was discovered he had been drinking just half an hour before he died, but was likely rendered unconscious by a shot of morphine - no evidence of heroin was traced on the former addict.

A folk / pop singer largely unheard of outside of his native France. Also interested in foreign concerns, Balavoine used the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally to promote interest in providing water pumps for suffering African townships; it was one of these trips that ended in tragedy. Travelling with the rally's director, Daniel Balavoine was one of five on board killed when their helicopter flew into a sandstorm and, with no visibility, crashed into a dune.

The first major death to occur in hip hop, Scott La Rock's murder set a grim marker for the gun-related violence witnessed within the genre over the next twenty years. Summoned for his experience in mediating stressful situations, Scott La Rock drove his pick-up over to a South Bronx housing project where D-Nice and an unnamed young rapper were embroiled in an argument over a woman. The 16-year-old was, unbeknown to the DJ, armed with a handgun; La Rock was still seated in his pick-up when the fatal shots were fired.

The undisputed larger-than-life Queen of High-NRG, cross-dressing Divine stomped his way out of the closet and into the discos of both the USA and Europe, recording a number of sweaty mini epics during the early to mid eighties. On Monday 7 March the star was found dead in his bed. He had ballooned to 370lbs and was suffering from an enlarged heart.

After leaving The Bay City Rollers, Billy Lyall formed Pilot. The group quickly secured a big transatlantic hit with 'Magic' (1974). After this blurt of huge success, they were unable to chart any further records higher than thirty-one. Diagnosed two years before, Lyall died of an AIDS-related illness in December 1989.

Mel & Kim enjoyed brief UK chart domination with a run of house-flavoured pop hits between 1986 and 1988. In 1987 Mel Appleby was diagnosed with spinal cancer - she died in 1990.

A year punctuated with a spate of AIDS-related demises saved the biggest name to succumb to the disease until last. The grief that followed Mercury's passing, however, was quickly replaced by a cascade of celebration of his time in the spotlight; Mercury was considered by most to have been rock 'n' roll's last consummate showman.

Often lumped with two post-punk movements, the Seattle grunge scene and the Foxcore/Riot Grrl movement, 7 Year Bitch were in fact closer to a band like L7 in their distinctly rock outlook. In 1992, 7 Year Bitch put out Sick 'Em, a debut album on small imprint C/Z Records - but tragedy was to occur before the record hit the shelves. After also drinking heavily, Sargent was found dead from an apparent heroin overdose: a needle was found next to her body.

Apart from a stint recording with former MC5 members Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson, G G Allin fronted more ludicrously offensive bands year on year, which bore names like Afterbirth, The Drugwhores, Sewer Sluts and The Murder Junkies. After a violent drug and alcohol fuelled scene after a concert, Allin was given vast quantities of heroin to calm down. By morning his wretched body was very cold - and very dead.

Through the brilliant, intuitive medium of Nirvana's music, Kurt Cobain made a difference. Cobain's body was found slumped with a 20-gauge Remington shotgun resting on his chest - he had been dead for three days, killed by a single bullet wound to the mouth. By his side was an open wallet and driver's licence, presumably for identification; as well as Cobain's well-publicized suicide note, there was also drug paraphernalia near by. Although a verdict of suicide was passed, twelve years on there are an increasing number of dissenting voices.

Brought up by his grandmother after his father was drowned on a fishing trip and his mother was later killed in a car crash, 'godfather of freaked out Americana' Jerry Garcia was the frontman of the 'daddies of proto-psychedelic rock' The Grateful Dead. Despite having embraced to some degree the US vogue for healthier living and diet, Jerry Garcia's earlier narcotically-enhanced lifestyle finally called time on him on 9 August 1995.

Fast becoming rap's highest-profile act, 2Pac as a character had few equals within the genre as the nineties reached their halfway mark. On Friday 13 September at an intersection half a mile from Knight's Club 662 an occupant of a white Cadillac aimed a gun at the sedan Tupac Shakur was travelling in, issuing thirteen shots into the vehicle. Shakur was hit four times - in the chest, arm and thigh. After a series of operations, including one to remove a lung, Shakur was pronounced dead at 4.03pm.

Jeff Buckley - his was a parallel world of contradictions: his behaviour kind and caring, yet wilful; his notions naïve, optimistic, yet wise. And his death, like his music, was a direct product of these paradoxes. While singing along raucously to Led Zeppelin, Buckley jumped into a river fully clothed floating on his back. Despite his friend's shouts that he should get out of the water, the star kept swimming. His friend momentarily went to move their tape deck from the water's edge and when he looked up again, Buckley was gone. Taken by the undertow created by the vessels, the singer had drowned.

Known mostly for his famous singing partnership with Cher, Bono enjoyed success with the hit record 'I Got You Babe' (1965, written by Bono). While Cher went on to pursue a highly successful solo career, Bono's one and only solo album died. Bono was holidaying at the Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe with his fourth wife and children when he failed to show after a run. His body was discovered in woods off piste. He had apparently lost control and hit a tree, dying from head injuries.

Believed by many to be the finest white female blues singer of her generation, Springfield's career highs were 'You Don't Have to Say You Love Me', 'I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself' and 'Son of a Preacher Man' amongst many others. She died after a 5 year fight with breast cancer just two months short of what would have been her sixtieth birthday.

One of the finest British pop song-writers of her generation, Kirsty MacColl conversely enjoyed her biggest hits with the songs of others, though in truth only flirted with the fame that should have been hers. On 18 December 2000, MacColl took her sons to experience the underwater world with an instructor and a number of other divers in an area specifically designated for the sport. As MacColl and her sons prepared to surface, the instructor spotted a large speedboat approaching rapidly within the restricted area. As she pushed her sons to safety, MacColl was killed instantly, her body mutilated by the impact. A wicked, violent end to a life of such creativity.

A teen star whose death will continue to be at the centre of wild rumour and speculation. Aaliyah was the latest big name in music to be killed in a light-aircraft crash, at just twenty-two, her sudden passing a real loss to the glamorous end of R&B in the US.

TLC's most notable albums were Ooooh…On the TLC Tip (1992) and CrazySexyCool (1994). Lopes had just begun work on a second solo album when she was killed in a road accident in Jutiapa, Honduras. According to eyewitnesses, the van hit two trees and flipped several times before coming to rest, Lopes was killed outright suffering blunt trauma to her skull and chest.

Principal among 'The Walrus of Love's' successful records were; 'Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe', 'You're the First, the Last, My Everything' and 'You See the Trouble with Me'. His final months spent in a great deal of pain as all his vital organs began to fail, White eventually died of kidney failure.

One of the Ramones brothers (the others being Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy), this legendary group were known for such timeless albums as Ramones (1976), Leave Home (1977), Rocket to Russia (1977), and Road to Ruin (1978). Johnny Ramone died in September 2004 after a five year battle with prostate cancer.

Luther Vandross recordings epitomized the smooth, high-production values foisted upon soul music in the eighties. During his career he sold 25 million records although he never managed to achieve a number one, either in the US or UK. In 2003 he suffered a stroke which weakened his health; the singer later developed pneumonia and underwent a tracheotomy. Finally, surrounded by his family at the John F Kennedy Medical Center in Jersey he passed away during the summer of 2005.