On the occasion of Florian Schneider's death, I wrote a piece in 2020 about his legacy:

The Concept of the 'Cold German'
pophistory.hypotheses.org/3378

#otd 21 April 2003
Nina Simone (Eunice Kathleen Waymon, *1933)

US-American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist

~ breast cancer

youtu.be/eYSbUOoq4Vg

21 April 2020
Florian Schneider (Florian Schneider-Esleben, *1947)

German musician and multi-instrumentalist, founding member of Kraftwerk (first named Organisation), son of the architect Paul Schneider-Esleben

~ cancer

#otd 21 April 2016
Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson, *1958) aka The Artist Formerly Known As Prince

US-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, dancer, actor and director

~ fentanyl overdose

youtu.be/AjY8HvpNu6o

#otd 20 April 2018
Avicii (Tim Bergling, *1989)

Swedish DJ, remixer, record producer, musician and songwriter

~ suicide

youtu.be/IcrbM1l_BoI

#otd 20 April 1991
Steve Marriott (*1947)

English guitarist, singer and songwriter; co-founder of the bands Small Faces and Humble Pie

~ died in a fire in his house after falling asleep smoking under the influence of Valium and alcohol

youtu.be/6vWTtx_PxPo

#otd 20 April 2004
Lizzy Mercier Descloux (*1956)

French musician, singer-songwriter, composer, actress, writer and painter

~ ovarian and colon cancers

youtu.be/QEDDK0XLGfw

#otd 19 April 2012
Greg Ham (Gregory Norman Ham, *1953)

Australian musician, songwriter and actor, played flute, sax and synthesizer for Men At Work, sued in 2009 for plagiarism for the famous flute riff of "Down Under"

~ found dead, cause of death unknown

youtu.be/XfR9iY5y94s

#otd 19 April 1997
El Duce (Eldon Hoke, *1958)

US-American singer and drummer of The Mentors and The Screamers; claimed Courtney Love had offered him $50,000 to kill Kurt Cobain

~ decapitated by a train

youtu.be/3IdGhEC2IvA

#otd 19 April 2010
Guru (Keith Edward Elam, *1961)

US-American rapper and record producer, member of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, released also the popular Jazzmatazz solo albums

~ multiple myeloma (blood cancer)

youtu.be/y9lNbNGbo24

#otd 18 April 1991
Martin Hannett (*1948) aka Martin Zero

English record producer, mostly for Factory Records (Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark)

~ heart failure, due to alcohol, drug abuse and obesity

youtu.be/9ryJB-FF_Jg

#otd 18 April 1996
Bernard Edwards (*1952)

US-American bass player and record producer; co-founded together with Nile Rodgers the group Chic; father of Focus... (Bernard Edwards Jr.)

~ pneumonia (shortly after a concert)

youtu.be/aXgSHL7efKg

#otd 17 April 1998
Linda McCartney (*1941)

US-American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, and entrepreneur; keyboardist in the band Wings, which also featured her husband Paul McCartney

~ breast cancer

youtu.be/OrbuDWit1Co

#otd 17 April 1960
Eddie Cochran (*1938)

US-American rock and roll musician; played the guitar, piano, bass, and drums

~ car accident (sat together with his friend and fellow performing artist Gene Vincent and others in a taxi)

youtu.be/zdIqME_JLaU

#otd 15 April 2001
Joey Ramone (Jeffrey Ross Hyman, *1951)

US-American musician, composer and singer of The Ramones

~ lymphoma

youtu.be/HJWFsZ_YUc4

#otd 14 April 2010
Peter Steele (Petrus Thomas Ratajczyk, *1962)

US-American musician, singer and songwriter for Type O Negative and Carnivore

~ sepsis caused by diverticulitis

youtu.be/KgkBWZXVLyk

#otd 14 April 2015
Percy Sledge (*1940)

US-American R&B, soul and gospel singer, best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman" (1966)

~ liver cancer

youtu.be/EYb84BDMbi0

#otd 14 April 2015
Percy Sledge (*1940)

US-American R&B, soul and gospel singer, best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman" (1966)

~ liver cancer

youtu.be/EYb84BDMbi0

#otd 13 April 1981
Jiří Schelinger (*1951)

Czech rock singer and guitarist; considered to have been the first Czech hard rocker

~ accepted a bet to jump from a bridge in Bratislava and never resurfaced (speculations: suicide or murdered by State Security)

youtu.be/zNqYLBHMebY

#otd 13 April 2013
Chi Cheng (*1970)

US-American musician and poet, bassist and backing vocalist for the alternative metal band Deftones

~ cardiac arrest
(was involved in a car crash in 2008 while not wearing a seat belt, remained in a semi-comatose state since then)

youtu.be/lMPtIhAPnn4

#otd 12 April 1975
Josephine Baker (Freda Josephine McDonald, *1906)

American-born singer & dancer, French Resistance agent and civil rights activist, first Black woman to star in a major motion picture and to enter the Panthéon in Paris

~ cerebral hemorrhage

youtu.be/Uxv2HO_KjF0

#otd 10 April 1962
Stu Sutcliff (Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe, *1940)

Scottish painter and musician, original bass guitarist of the Beatles; studied art in Germany after leaving the band

~ brain haemorrhage (ruptured aneurysm)

youtu.be/39qqW7z8dAk

#otd 9 April 2021
DMX (Earl Simmons, *1970)

US-American rapper and actor (Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds), transitional deacon and father of 17 children

~ cocaine-induced heart attack

youtu.be/fGx6K90TmCI

#otd 8 April 2010
Malcolm McLaren (*1946)

English impresario, visual artist, performer, musician, clothes designer, boutique owner and manager (New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Adam And The Ants, Bow Wow Wow)

~ lung cancer

youtu.be/HCBN7lyLT4w

8 April 1991
Dead (Per Yngve Ohlin, *1969)

Swedish musician, founding member of Morbid and singer for Black Metal pioneers Mayhem

~ suicide, first slit his wrists and throat, then shot himself in the head

youtu.be/0yUA9XeHACg

#otd 6 April 1998
Wendy O. Williams (*1949)

US-American musician, lead singer of the punk rock band Plasmatics; recorded a duet of the country hit "Stand by Your Man" with Lemmy of Motörhead in 1982

~ shot herself after two suicide attempts

youtu.be/iknNk_Esdl4

#otd 6 April 1998
Tammy Wynette (*1942)

US-American country music artist, actress and author; signature song "Stand by Your Man" (1968)

~ blood clot in her lung after years of health problems and alcohol abuse

youtu.be/zc4e-HdlhPY

#otd 5 April 2002
Layne Staley (*1967)

US-American musician, songwriter and lead singer of Alice In Chains, also member of glam metal bands Sleze and Alice N Chains

~ speedball overdose, was found 2 weeks later

youtu.be/Nco_kh8xJDs

#otd 5 April 1981
Bob Hite (Robert Ernest Hite, *1943)

US-American musician, co-founder and co-lead vocalist of Canned Heat

~ heart failure after he snorted heroin (and others unsuccessfully attempted to revive him from coma with a large dose of cocaine)

youtu.be/tRYKAMjKgto

#otd 5 April 1994
Kurt Cobain (*1967)

US-American guitarist, songwriter and singer (Nirvana)

~ shot in the head

youtu.be/3YtH2rjrfaI