Dying Can Sure Give You The Blues Quiz

Answer: Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain (February 20,1967 - April 5, 1994) committed suicide at age 27. He was the driving force behind the group Nirvana, which had four Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits between 1991 and 1995, including two before Cobain's death: "Smells Like A Teen Spirit" (Number Six in 1991) and "Come As You Are" (Number 32 in 1992).

In 2014, Nirvana (Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Answer: Selena

Selena Quintanilla-Perez (April 16, 1971-March 31,1994) was sometimes called the Queen of Tejano music. An actress, songwriter, and fashion designer as well as a vocalist, she had two Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits in 1995: "I Could Fall In Love" (Number Eight) and "Dreaming Of You" (Number 22).

As of 2012, her albums had sold over 60 million copies worldwide. On March 31, 1994, Selena was shot and fatally wounded by a former employee and friend, Yolanda Saldivar, who had been caught embezzling money from Selena's boutiques and fan club.

Answer: Aaliyah

Aaliyah (Aaliyah Dana Haughton) was born on January 16, 1979 and died in the plane crash on August 25, 2001, along with several others. She was only 22. She had eight Billboard Top Pop 40 Hits between 1994 and 2000, including "Try Again" (Number One in in 2000), "Are You That Somebody?" (Number Four in 1998), and "Back & Forth" (Number Five in 1994). Posthumously, she had five more Top 40 Pop Hits from 2001-2003, including "Miss You" (Number Three in 2002).

Answer: Hank Williams

During his all too brief lifetime, Hank Williams recorded 35 single records (five released posthumously) which appeared in the Top 10 on the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers list. Eleven of those charted at Number One, including: "Lovesick Blues" (1948), his first Number One song, "Cold, Cold Heart" (1950), "Hey Good Lookin'" (1951), "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" (1952); and his last three posthumously, "Kaw-Liga," "Take These Chains From My Heart," and "Your Cheatin' Heart."

Answer: Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin had two songs chart on the Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits: "Peace Of My Heart" with Big Brother and The Holding Company reached Number 12 in 1968, and "Me And Bobby McGee" scored (posthumously) at Number One in 1971. Joplin performed at the Monterrey Pop Festival, at Woodstock, and on the "Festival Express" train tour. Two of her albums reached Number One on the Billboard Top 200: "Cheap Thrills" with Big Brother and The Holding Company in 1968 and "Pearl" posthumously in 1971. On October 4, 1970, Janis Joplin died from an overdose of heroin, a brilliant career cut tragically short.

She was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

Answer: Otis Redding

Otis Ray Redding, Jr., born on September 9, 1941, was killed in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. He was only 26 years old. "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" reached the top of the charts on February 10, 1968 [his only Top Ten song.] In 1968, he had three other songs reach the Billboard Top 40: "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" (Number 21), "The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)" (Number 25), and "Amen" (Number 36).

Answer: Eddie Cochran

In his very short career, Edward Raymond "Eddie" Cochran, born on October 3, 1938, had three Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits. His first was "Sittin' In The Balcony," Number 18 in 1957. He followed that with "Summertime Blues," Number Eight in 1958, and "C'Mon Everybody," Number 35 in 1959. During a British tour, on April 17, 1960, he was killed in a car accident while riding in a taxi.

He was just 21 years old.

Answer: Amy Winehouse

Amy Jade Winehouse, who was born on September 14, 1983, is known mostly for her albums. She did have one song that made the Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits: "Rehab" that reached Number Nine in 2007 and that also won the Ivor Novello Award that year for Best Contemporary Song. For most of her brief career she battled alcoholism, a disease that she displayed often in her public performances. On July 23, 2011, at age 27, she died of alcohol poisoning.

Answer: Jim Morrison

James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was a founding member of The Doors. While he was with them, the group had six Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits 1967-1969 including: "Light My Fire" (Number 1 in 1967), "Hello I Love You" (Number 1 in 1968), and "Touch Me" (Number Three in 1969). Morrison developed a dependency on alcohol that let to embarrassing performances on stage, including two public arrests and promoters canceling concerts by The Doors.

As a result, the group dismissed him in late 1969. His death in Paris was, and remains, controversial.

He was found dead in his bathtub July 3, 1971. The official cause of death was heart failure, although, unusually, no autopsy was performed. Most theories at the end of the 20th century indicate that he died of a heroin overdose in a Paris nightclub and was then transported to his apartment and placed in the bathtub. [To consider all of the theories, check out his death on the internet.]

Answer: February 3, 1959

On February 3, 1959, Charles Hardin Holley (Buddy Holly), Richard Steven Valenzuela (Richie Valens), and Jiles Perry "J.P." Richardson (The Big Bopper) were killed when their small plane, flying from Mason City, Iowa to Fargo, North Dakota, crashed in bad weather just after it took off. Buddy Holly (with and without the Crickets) had eight Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits (1957-1958), including his only Number One song ""That'll Be the Day" with the Crickets in 1957.

He was 22 when he died. Richie Valens had two Top 40 hits 1958-1959, including "Donna" at Number Two in 1958.

He was killed at age 17. The Big Bopper had two Top 40 hits in 1958, including "Chantilly Lace" at Number Six. He died at 28. McLean's "American Pie" was a Number One smash hit.