Died On This Date (March 26, 2004) Jan Berry / Jan and Dean

Jan Berry
April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004

With Dean Torrence, Jan Berry successfully recorded as Jan and Dean, one of the true pioneers of what would become known as surf music. Along with the Beach Boys, they ruled the genre during the late ’50s through the mid ’60s. Their smash hits included “Surf City,” “The Little Old Lady From Pasadena,” and the prophetic “Dead Man’s Curve.” If being pop stars didn’t take enough time, Berry was also an exceptional college student attending both UCLA and what is now known as the UC Irvine School Of Medicine. Two years into med school, tragedy struck. While on his way to a business meeting, Berry crashed his Corvette into a parked gardener truck on a Beverly Hills road not far from the actual “Dead Man’s Curve” of Sunset Blvd. The accident left Berry with brain damage and partial paralysis from which he never fully recovered. He was able to stay productive through the ’70s and ’80s as a producer and sometime performer and was involved with several Jan and Dean reissue packages into the 2000s. Berry passed away at age 62.

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