Died On This Date (June 3, 2012) Bobby Durango / Rock City Angels
themusicsover Bobby Durango
DOB Unknown – June 3, 2012
Bobby Durango is perhaps best remembered as the lead singer of the ’80s hard rock band, Rock City Angels. Formed out of the ashes of a punk band called the Abusers – Durango performing as Bobby Bondage, Rock City Angels eventually morphed into a glam-by-way-of punk band that built a sizable following on their home turf of South Florida. By the late ’80s, they found themselves in Hollywood and Durango was going by Bobby St. Valentine. Numerous line up changes later, including a stint with pre-21 Jump Street Johnny Depp on guitar, the band caught the attention of Geffen Records who signed them to a lucrative deal. The band released their debut album, Young Man’s Blues in 1988 and subsequently toured with the likes of Joan Jett and the Georgia Satellites before focusing on their second album. Unfortunately for bands like Rock City Angels, it was the early ’90s and bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and their grunge brethren to the north, were starting to draw kids – and record labels – away from the hair and post-hair metal bands of the Sunset Strip, so Geffen dropped them before their new album came together. The band eventually broke up but reunited to record Use Once & Destroy in 2001. Durango continued on with the group, in one form or another, for the better part of the next decade and were reportedly working on a new album to be released in late 2012. But Bobby Durango passed away unexpectedly on June 3, 2012. Cause of death was not immediately released.
Thanks to Janiss Garza for the assist.
Selena Quintanilla was a Texas-born Tejano star who was quickly becoming a worldwide superstar when her life was tragically cut short. Known simply as Selena, she began building a following within the Spanish-speaking community in and around the Houston area in the mid ’80s and by 1987, she was at the top of her field when she won Best Female Vocalist at the Tejano Music Awards which she would continue to rule over the next several years. Signed to EMI Records in the States, Selena was soon being groomed to cross over much the same way Gloria Estefan had before her. By the early ’90s, Selena was approaching superstar status, designing her own clothing line, opening boutiques in Texas and appearing in Spanish novellas and alongside Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway and Marlon Brando in Don Juan DeMarco. In 1994, her Amor Prohibido was nominated for a Grammy, and she began work on an English language album. And by 1995, she was drawing upwards of 65,000 to her concerts in Texas. Around this time, her family discovered that Yolanda Saldivar, the president of her fan club and manager of one of her clothing stores was embezzling from the company. After being fired, Saldivar agreed to meet Selena at her hotel in Corpus Christi to return some financial paperwork. Instead, Saldivar shot Selena in the back as she was exiting the room. She died later that day.
