Bud Prager
DOB Unknown – December 23, 2008
Bud Prager was a longtime artist manager who, with his ESP Management, steered the careers of the likes of Megadeth, Foreigner, Bad Company and Damn Yankees. Prager passed away after a long struggle with cancer.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the assist.
Oscar Peterson
August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007
Oscar Peterson was a prolific Canadian jazz pianist and composer who, over the course of a 60+ year career, released over 200 albums, seven of which earning him Grammys. Peterson actually started out with the trumpet as a child, but after coming down with tuberculosis at the of seven, he could no longer play it, so he turned his focus to the piano. Peterson is regarded for his choice of duet partners over the years. Some of those he worked with were Ray Brown, Herbie Hancock, Clark Terry and Herb Ellis. He also put together some of the greatest trios and quartets jazz has ever known. Peterson was an educator as well, teaching at advanced music schools and universities in Canada. He continued to perform up until the final months of his life. On December 23, Oscar Peterson died of renal failure at the age of 82.
Joe Strummer (Born John Mellor)
August 21, 1952 – December 22, 2002
Joe Strummer was the co-founding lead singer of the Clash, arguably the most influential band on modern rock. The Clash made their professional debut on America’s bicentennial, July 4, 1976, in support of the Sex Pistols at a Sheffield, England club. They soon signed with CBS Records and began releasing some of rock music’s most important albums. It was the band’s seamless marriage of punk, reggae and rockabilly along with their politically charged lyrics that endeared them to both critics and fans alike. Their ambitious by punk standards double-album, London Calling, was selected by Rolling Stone magazine as the best album of the ’80s even though it was released in 1979. Much like the Beatles in their time, the Clash made many a young kid around the world pick up a guitar and start a band. Along with the Sex Pistols, they laid the foundation of what would eventually be called alternative rock. Following the break up of the Clash in 1986, Strummer contributed to the Sid and Nancy soundtrack and gave a hand to former Clash mate, Mick Jones’ new band, Big Audio Dynamite, as well as the Pogues. Strummer also made a go at acting, appearing in such films as Walker, Straight To Hell, and Mystery Train. By 1999, Strummer had formed a new group called the Mescaleros, a band that carried on in the spirit of the Clash. They made three albums together before Strummer’s untimely death. On December 22, 2002, Joe Strummer, 50, died suddenly of a congenital heart defect.
Dennes “D.” Boon
April 1, 1958 – December 22, 1985
Member of the 27 Club
D. Boon was the founder, lead singer, guitarist and primary lyricist for Southern California punk band, the Minutemen. Formed in 1980, the trio included bassist Mike Watt and George Hurley on drums. Though mostly underground, their influence on alternative rock can not be denied, particularly on bands like Sublime. The band recorded four albums and eight EPs for SST Records, helping bring the label international acclaim. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine selected Boon as the 89th greatest guitarist of all time and included the Minutemen’s Double Nickels on The Dime on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. On December 22, 1985, Boon was laying in the back of the band’s tour van when they got in an accident along an Arizona highway. Because he wasn’t wearing a seat belt, Boon was thrown from the van and was killed instantly at the age of 27.
Gertrude “Ma” Rainey
September, 1882 or April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939
Called the Mother of the Blues, Ma Rainey was one of it’s earliest stars as well as one of it’s first generation to record. She was a direct influence on Bessie Smith and no doubt, countless more. She began her music career as a vaudeville performer at just 14. Several years later, Smith joined that same troupe as a dancer and soon learned to sing the blues from Rainey. In 1923, Rainey made her first recording, and over the next five years, she recorded more than 100 songs, including “C.C. Rider” (better known as “See See Rider”), “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and “Bo Weevil Blues.” Over the years, she was backed by such musicians as Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, and Fletcher Henderson. With the music of blues’ first generation falling out of favor by the early ’30s, Rainey retired to run a couple of theaters in her hometown in 1932. On December 22, 1939, Ma Rainey died of a heart attack.
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