Random Most Suspicious Musician Deaths (12 items)

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  (#8) Richey Edwards

  • Dec. at 27 (1967-1995)

  Manic Street Preachers' Richey Edwards mysteriously disappeared on February 1, 1995, and was never seen or heard from again. For over two decades, his family and former bandmates anguished over his disappearance - even though he was legally declared dead in 2008. Authorities believe he took his own life by jumping from a toll bridge, although his body was never found.

  Police told the family that Edwards paid the bridge toll at 2:55 p.m. before jumping to his death. Decades later, investigators determined that the toll receipt was actually for 2:55 a.m.

  "We were appealing to people to have seen him at certain times that day when actually those times are meaningless now," sister Rachel Edwards explained. "We are hoping that it will establish a new line of inquiry because this is vital information that changes everything and turns it all on its head and needs to be looked at again." 

  Edwards' body was never recovered, and the case remains open despite the rocker being legally assumed dead. 
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  (#4) Brian Jones

  • Dec. at 27 (1942-1969)

  Former Rolling Stones rocker Brian Jones was famously found dead in a swimming pool at his home in Sussex, England, in 1969, shortly after the band booted him. At the time, medical examiners ruled the incident "death by misadventure," citing a liver swollen from years of alcohol and drug abuse as a partial factor.

  One theory among fans asserts that Frank Thorogood, a builder working on Jones's property, may have killed him. The theory gained popularity after Thorogood allegedly confessed to the murder on his deathbed in 1993. 

  Investigators reviewed the investigation in 2009 after journalist Scott Jones (no relation to the musician) handed over 600 pages of documents related to Brian Jones's death. The reporter asserted the death "was not fully investigated." 
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  (#6) Tupac Shakur

  • Dec. at 25 (1971-1996)

  Tupac Shakur's death is one of the most legendary unsolved murders of all time - and remains a fascinating chapter in the East Coast-West Coast rap war. In 1996, an unknown assailant shot and killed Shakur in a storm of gunfire in Las Vegas. Numerous theories have attempted to explain the murder, but one confession has shed light on the case.

  Keffe D, a former gang member whose real name is Duane Keith Davis, claims to have been in the car with the killer on the night of Shakur's death.

  "People have been pursuing me for 20 years. I’m coming out now because I have cancer, and I have nothing else to lose. All I care about now is the truth," he explained in an interview. When asked who shot the gun, Davis kept his mouth shut.

  "Going to keep it for the code of the streets," he said. "It just came from the backseat, bro." 
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  (#3) Sam Cooke

  • Dec. at 33 (1931-1964)

  Hotel manager Bertha Franklin shot and killed legendary R&B singer Sam Cooke under suspicious circumstances at a Los Angeles motel in 1964. Franklin claimed Cooke barged into the reception office and attacked her - causing her to shoot him in self-defense.

  On the night of the shooting, a young woman named Elisa Boyer met Cooke at a restaurant and accompanied him to the Hacienda Motel, where she claimed the singer tried to sexually assault her. She allegedly fled to the manager's office with Cooke in pursuit. He demanded that Franklin tell him where the young woman went. When a fight broke out, Franklin fired three times, shooting Cooke once in the chest. Authorities ruled the death a justifiable homicide.

  After Cooke's death, many questioned the accuracy of the official version of events. A month later, Boyer was arrested for prostitution. Franklin, whose own criminal record included time as a madam, unsuccessfully sued Cooke's family.

  To this day, many believe Cooke's death was a pre-planned murder. Some suspect his wife, Barbara, of being involved, while others think that Boyer and Franklin plotted to kill the singer together.
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  (#9) Darrell Banks

  • Dec. at 32 (1937-1970)

  Stax Records artist Darrell Banks was just gaining fame when an off-duty police officer killed him in 1970. The soul singer was shot by officer Aaron Bullock, who was reportedly sleeping with Banks' girlfriend.

  Bullock and Banks crossed paths when the officer dropped Marjorie Bozeman off at work - and Banks was there waiting for her. A struggle ensued and ended with Bullock fatally shooting the singer in the neck. Banks, who had two full-length albums out at the time and was moving up the Billboard charts, died in the hospital. 

  The singer's grave was unmarked until 2004, when the founder of a soul music website raised money to provide a headstone. 
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  (#12) Paul Williams

  • Dec. at 34 (1939-1973)

  Paul Williams, the co-founder of The Temptations, died in 1973 just after beginning work on a solo album. He was found in a Detroit alley with a gun near his body. While authorities ruled his death a suicide, theories have floated for years that he was murdered. 

  Williams, who suffered from sickle cell anemia, also abused alcohol later in life. His death remains a mystery to this day, although some look to his health struggles and alcoholism as possible factors in his suicide - if it was suicide.

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