Category: Celebrity Death

The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul and R&B singing group. Roebuck “Pops” Staples (1914–2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (1934–2013), Pervis (b. 1935), and Mavis (b. 1939). Yvonne (1937–2018) replaced her brother when he was drafted into the U.S. Army, and again in 1970. They are best known for their 1970s hits “Respect Yourself”, “I’ll Take You There”, “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)”, and “Let’s Do It Again”, which with one exception (“I’ll Take You There”) peaked on the Hot 100 within a week from Christmas Day. While the family name is Staples, the group used “Staple” commercially.

Yvonne Staples Cause of Death

Yvonne Staples died on April 10, 2018. Cause of death was colon cancer (diagnosed weeks earlier).

In 1999, The Staple Singers was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Pops Staples died of complications from a concussion suffered in December 2000. In 2005, the group was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Cleotha Staples died in Chicago on February 21, 2013, after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for over a decade.

Lead singer Mavis Staples is still alive.

Dolores Mary Eileen O’Riordan (6 September 1971 – 15 January 2018) was an Irish musician and singer-songwriter. She led the rock band the Cranberries for 13 years before the band took a break starting in 2003, reuniting in 2009.

In 1990 O’Riordan auditioned for and won the role of lead singer for a band called The Cranberry Saw Us (later changed to The Cranberries). The band released five albums: Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? (1993), No Need to Argue (1994), To the Faithful Departed (1996), Bury the Hatchet (1999) and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (2001) and a greatest-hits compilation entitled Stars: The Best of 1992–2002 (2002), before they went on hiatus in 2003.

Dolores O’Riordan death

On 15 January 2018, at the age of 46, while in London for a recording session, O’Riordan died unexpectedly at a hotel. The cause of death has not yet been made public, although police said it was not being treated as suspicious.

The Cranberries – Zombie (Live in Paris 1999)

River Jude Phoenix (August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American film actor. He was listed on John Willis’s Screen World, Vol. 38 as one of twelve "promising new actors of 1986", and was hailed as highly talented by such critics as Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. He was the older brother of actors Joaquin Phoenix and Summer Phoenix.

River Phoenix’s Cause of Death
On October 31, 1993, Phoenix collapsed from a drug overdose of heroin and cocaine (known as a speedball) outside the Viper Room, a Hollywood night club partially owned by actor Johnny Depp until 2004. On the night of Phoenix’s death, River was to perform onstage with Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. At some point in the evening Phoenix went to the bathroom to take drugs with various friends and dealers. It is reported that an acquaintance offered him some Persian Brown (a powerful form of methamphetamine mixed with opiates, which is then snorted) and soon after consuming the drug he became ill. Upon leaving The Viper Room, he collapsed onto the sidewalk and began convulsing for eight minutes. His brother Joaquin, sister Rain and actress Samantha Mathis were at the scene. Joaquin dialed 911; during the call Joaquin was unable to determine whether River was breathing. River had, in fact, already stopped breathing. Paramedics arrived on the scene and found Phoenix in asystole (flatline), when they administered drugs in an attempt to restart his heart. He was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center via an ambulance. Further attempts to resuscitate Phoenix (including the insertion of a pacemaker) were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at 1:51 a.m. PST on the morning of October 31, 1993.

River Phoenix (White Shirt) – Stand By Me

Elis Regina (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 1982) was a singer of Brazilian popular music. She is considered one of the most important Brazilian singers of her time by many critics.  She had recorded dozens of top-selling records in her career.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, along with Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, Elis Regina helped to popularize the work of the tropicalismo (Tropicália) movement, recording songs by musicians such as Gilberto Gil. Her 1974 collaboration with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Elis & Tom, is often cited as one of the greatest bossa nova albums of all time, which also includes what many consider the all-time best Brazilian song, "Águas de Março". She also recorded songs by Milton Nascimento, João Bosco, Aldir Blanc, Chico Buarque,Guinga, Jorge Ben, Baden Powell, Caetano Veloso and Rita Lee. She possessed an exciting voice and superb pronunciation and intonation, and excelled at up-tempo numbers and ballads under the banner of Brazilian Popular Music (Música Popular Brasileira). Her nicknames were "furacão" ("hurricane") and "pimentinha" ("little pepper").

Death of Elis Regina
Elis Regina died at the age of 36 in 1982, from a cocaine overdose.

Death of Elis Regina

Elis Regina –  Aquarela Do Brasil

Laurie Bird (September 26, 1953 – June 15, 1979) was an American actress and photographer. She appeared in just three films: Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), Cockfighter (1974), and a small role in Annie Hall (1977). Bird shot the cover photo for Art Garfunkel’s Watermark album in 1978, and was the still photographer on Cockfighter.

Bird’s mother died when she was three, and her father worked long hours, so she more or less raised herself. She was romantically involved with her Blacktop and Cockfighter director Monte Hellman, and later with Garfunkel for several years.

Bird committed suicide in Garfunkel’s New York apartment.

Related Story: Charles H. Joffe (July 16, 1929 – July 9, 2008) won Oscar for producing Annie Hall.