Died On This Date (December 14, 1963) Dinah Washington / Influential Jazz Vocalist
themusicsover Dinah Washington (Born Ruth Jones)
August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963
Dinah Washington was one of popular music’s most influential R&B, jazz and blues singers. Over a career that spanned just 20 years, she charted over 30 records in the U.S. and U.K. Washington learned to play the piano as a child, and by her teens, she was singing in local gospel groups. By eighteen, she was singing with Lionel Hampton’s band, and within a year, she was making her own recordings. Over the course of her career she charted with such songs as “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes),” (with Brook Benton), “Unforgettable,” and “What a Difference a Day Makes,” which won her a Grammy in 1959. Dinah Washington reportedly struggled with weight issues and was taking diet pills when, on December 14, 1963, she died of an accidental overdose when she mixed them with alcohol. She was just 39 when she died.
What You Should Own
Chuck Schuldiner was a rock singer, songwriter and guitarist who has been called the “father of death metal” for creating a genre by marrying the best elements of British metal bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest with those of thrash bands like Slayer and Mercyful Fate. Schuldiner began learning the acoustic guitar before he was ten-year old, but soon grew tired of it, so his parents bought him an electric guitar and amps which he took too with a vengeance. In 1983, he formed his first band, Mantas who eventually morphed into Death, a band that would define the death metal genre, much in the same way 
Zal Yanovsky is best remembered as the lead guitarist for the Lovin’ Spoonful. He was with the band from its inception in 1964 until he was asked to leave following a marijuana bust in 1967. He played on such rock classics as “Summer in the City” and “Do You Believe in Magic.” Following his run in Lovin’ Spoonful, Yanovsky released a solo album and appeared in the theater presentation of National Lampoon’s Lemmings. Later in life, he became a successful restauranteur. On December 13, 2002, Zal Yanovsky died of heart failure at the age of 57.
Yvonne King Burch was a member of the popular singing group, the King Sisters, who came to prominence during the swing era, and then found a new audience during the ’60s, thanks to their popular television variety program, The King Family Show. They also performed in several movies during the ’40s, working alongside the likes of Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and Buddy Ebsen. On December 13, 2009, Yvonne King Burch, age 89, died following a fall.
