Died On This Date (April 30, 2007) Zola Taylor / The Platters
themusicsover Zola Taylor
March 17, 1938 – April 30, 2007
Miss Zola Taylor had the honor of being the female member of the Platters during their most prolific years of 1954 to 1962, and thereby contributing vocals to some of the most influential songs in all of R&B. And in one of popular music’s stranger stories, Taylor insisted she was Frankie Lymon’s second wife although she had no proof. And many years later, she unsuccessfully sued to gain ownership of Lymon’s catalog. The story of Frankie Lymon and his loves was made into the 1998 film, Why Do Fools Fall In Love in which Taylor is portrayed by Halle Barry. Zola Taylor passed away from pneumonia in 2007 at the age of 69.
What You Should Own
Along with being a beat writer, Richard Fariña was a folk singer-songwriter who performed and recorded with second wife, 
Will Owsley was a respected singer-songwriter, producer and musician who is best remembered as Amy Grant’s touring guitarist for more than 15 years. Over the course of his career, he also worked with Shania Twain, the Neville Brothers, Faith Hill and Wynonna Judd. Owsley also released a handful of albums under his own name, including 1999’s Owsley, which earned him a Grammy nomination for its engineering. During the early ’90s, he formed the power pop band, the Semantics with Zak Starkey and Millard Powers. Will Owsley died on April 30, 2010 of an apparent suicide.
At the time of his death of a heart attack in 1999, Darrell Sweet was co-founder and drummer for the Scottish hard rock band, Nazareth. By the 1975 release of Hair Of The Dog, Nazareth were bona fide international superstars. And as if the title track weren’t great enough, Hair Of The Dog also begat rock’s definitive version of “Love Hurts,” perhaps the greatest power ballad of its generation. On April 30, 1999, Darrell Sweet died of a heart attack he suffered at the New Albany Amphitheater where the band was scheduled to perform later that evening. He was 51.
