Died On This Date (August 28, 2012) George Green / Longtime John Mellencamp Writing Partner
themusicsover George Green
January 28, 1952 – August 28, 2011
George Green was a successful songwriter who is most often associated with John Mellencamp for whom he wrote the lyrics for such pop hits “Hurts So Good,” and “Crumblin’ Down.” A boyhood friend of Mellencamp, Green’s collaborations also include “Thundering Hearts,” “Rain On The Scarecrow,” and “Minutes To Memories.” Throughout the years, Mellencamp has recorded over a dozen songs co-written with him. Green also has had his songs recorded by Barbra Streisand, Kenny Chesney, Ricky Skaggs, Hall & Oates, Vanessa Williams, the Oak Ridge Boys, and Dwight Yoakam, to name a few. George Green was 59 when he died of lung cancer on August 28, 2011.
Luciano Pavarotti was an immensely popular operatic singer who successfully crossed over to pop music during the 1990s. In the early part of the decade, he joined Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras to perform and record as The Three Tenors. Their album together went on to become the biggest selling classical album in history. Over the years he has sung with such pop acts as U2, Vanessa Williams and Mercedes Sosa. He is the only opera singer to ever perform on Saturday Night Live. Pavarotti was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer while in the midst of his “farewell tour” of 2006. He died of the disease on September 6, 2007.
