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Today in Music

January, 15

  • 1999 Marion Ryan, a popular U.K. singer of the ‘50s and mother of ‘60s British hitmakers, twins Paul and Barry Ryan, dies of a heart attack in Florida. Ryan, 67, was best known for her 1958 hit “Love Me Forever” on Pye Nixa.
  • 1998 Junior Wells, a pioneer in blues harmonica dies of lymphoma at the age of 63. Wells was known for his sweeping harmonica solos punctured with sharp, staccato wails.
  • 1995 Vic Willis, an early partner to Hank Williams and a longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry, dies after a one-car accident near Hohenwald, Tenn. The Willis Brothers’ country hits include “Bob,” “A Six Foot Two by Four,” and the 1964 Top 10 country hit “Give Me 40 Acres (to Turn This Rig Around).”
  • 1994 Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson dies in his sleep at age 52. Nilsson never fully recovered from a heart attack the previous February. The performer was born Harry Edward Nelson III. He had his first hit with the No. 6 song “Everybody’s Talking’ ” from the movie “Midnight Cowboy.” His biggest hit was the million-selling 1971 song “Without You,” which topped Billboard’s singles chart for four weeks.
  • 1993 Songwriter Sammy Cahn dies of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles at age 79. Cahn won Academy Awards for “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “All the Way,” “High Hopes” and “Call Me Irresponsible.”
  • 1987 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Shake You Down,” Gregory Abbott.
  • 1975 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Mandy,” Barry Manilow. The song is Manilow’s first single to reach Billboard’s Hot 100 singles pop chart.
  • 1960 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Running Bear,” Johnny Preston. The singer was a protégé of the Big Bopper, a DJ who wrote this song before his death in 1959.
  • 1941 Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) is born in Glendale, Calif. He is later to be a high-school friend of Frank Zappa, with whom he forms an unsuccessful band, the Soots.