On this day in 1980, Grammy award-winning musician and singer-songwriter John Lennon, was shot to death in front of his apartment The Dakota in New York City, at the age of 40. Born John Winston Lennon on 9 October 1940 in Liverpool, England. Founding member along with Paul McCartney of The Beatles. The Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership is widely regarded as one of the most influential and successful in music history. Lennon was married twice; Cynthia Powell (1962 – 1968 divorce) and Yoko Ono (1969 – 1980 his death). I learned of his death, as did many others, while watching Monday Night Football when Howard Cosell made the live announcement. The game was between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. Word had been passed to Cosell and Frank Gifford by Roone Arledge, who was president of ABC’s news and sports divisions at the time, near the end of the game and Cosell’s announcement was prefaced by Gifford saying, “And I don’t care what’s on the line, Howard, you have got to say what we know in the booth.” Cosell then announced:
| “Yes, we have to say it. Remember this is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City: John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous, perhaps, of all of The Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival. Hard to go back to the game after that news flash, which in duty bound, we have to take.” |
The Final Footprint – Lennon was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Ono scattered his cremated remains in New York’s Central Park, where the Strawberry Field’s memorial was later created. On what would have been Lennon’s 70th birthday 9 October 2010, the John Lennon Peace Monument was unveiled in Chavasse Park, Liverpool, by Cynthia and Julian Lennon. The sculpture entitled ‘Peace & Harmony’ exhibits peace symbols and carries the inscription “Peace on Earth for the Conservation of Life · In Honour of John Lennon 1940–1980”. On one of the benches in John Lennon Park in Havana, Cuba, there is a sculpture of Lennon, sculpted by Cuban artist José Villa Soberón, seated on the bench’s right half. On a marble tile at the foot of the bench there is an inscription reading: “Dirás que soy un soñador pero no soy el único” John Lennon, which is a Spanish translation of the English lyrics, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,” from the song Imagine. On 16 January 1997, a bronze sculpture of Lennon was unveiled outside The Cavern Club in Liverpool. Nelson Rockefeller was cremated at Ferncliff as well.
On this day in 1982, United States Navy veteran, singer, songwriter, musician, race car driver Marty Robbins died from complications after cardiac surgery in Nashville at the age of 57. Born Martin David Robinson on 26 September 1925 in Glendale, Arizona. In my opinion, one of the most popular and successful country and Western singers of all time. During his nearly four-decade career, Robbins often topped the country music charts, and several of his songs also became pop hits. My favorite songs are his cowboy and outlaw songs including; “Big Iron” and “El Paso”. Robbins married Marizona Baldwin (1948 – 1982 his death).
The Final Footprint – Robbins is interred in Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville. The city of El Paso, Texas, later honored Robbins by naming a park and a recreational center after him. Other notable final footprints at Woodlawn include; Other notable final footprints at Woodlawn include: Lynn Anderson, Eddy Arnold, Otis Blackwell, Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, Dobie Gray, Red Foley, D. J. Fontana, George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, Webb Pierce, Jerry Reed, Dan Seals, Red Sovine, Porter Wagoner, and Tammy Wynette..
On this day in 1983, rodeo performer and film and television actor Slim Pickens died after surgery for a brain tumor in Modesto, California, at the age of 64. Born Louis Burton Lindley Jr. on June 29, 1919 in Kingsburg, California. Perhaps best known for his roles in Dr. Strangelove and Blazing Saddles.
Slim Pickens as Major “King” Kong riding a nuclear bomb to oblivion in Dr. Strangelove
The Final Footprint
Pickens was cremated.
On this day in 2004, guitarist and songwriter Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed by a deranged fan while on stage with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 38. Born Darrell Lance Abbott on August 20, 1966 in Ennis, Texas. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside his brother Vinnie Paul. As one of the driving forces behind the development of groove metal, he is considered among the most influential guitarists in heavy metal history.
A son of country music producer Jerry Abbott, Abbott began playing guitar at age 12. Pantera released its debut album, Metal Magic (1983), when he was 16. Originally a glam metal musician, Abbott went by the stage name Diamond Darrell at the time. Two further albums in the glam metal style followed in 1984 and 1985, before original vocalist Terry Glaze was replaced by Phil Anselmo in 1986 and Power Metal (1988) was released. The band’s major-label debut, Cowboys from Hell (1990), introduced a groove metal sound to which Abbott’s guitar playing was central. This sound was refined on Vulgar Display of Power (1992), and the group’s third major-label record, Far Beyond Driven, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1994.
Tensions within Pantera reduced its output after the release of The Great Southern Trendkill in 1996, and Reinventing the Steel (2000) was the band’s final studio album before its acrimonious separation in 2003. Abbott subsequently formed Damageplan with his brother Vinnie Paul and released New Found Power, the band’s debut and only album, in 2004. Other works by Abbott included a collaboration with David Allan Coe titled Rebel Meets Rebel (2006) and numerous guest guitar solos for bands such as Anthrax.
The Final Footprint
Thousands of fans attended his public memorial, and the guest list included; Eddie Van Halen, Zakk Wylde, Corey Taylor, Jerry Cantrell, and Dino Cazares. Abbott was buried alongside his mother Carolyn at the Moore Memorial Gardens cemetery in Arlington, Texas. Gene Simmons donated a Kiss Kasket for the burial, and Eddie Van Halen donated his original black-and-yellow-striped 1979 Charvel “Bumblebee” guitar, which was featured on the back cover of Van Halen II, to be included in the casket. A few weeks prior to his death, Abbott had met Van Halen and asked him for a replica of the Bumblebee. Van Halen said at the funeral: “Dime was an original and only an original deserves the original.”
After Vinnie Paul’s death in 2018, he was buried next to Carolyn and Darrell, also in a Kiss Kasket.
#RIP #OTD in 2015 coloratura soprano, the first black singer to perform at La Scala in Italy, the first black woman to sing a lead role at the Metropolitan Opera, Mayor Maynard Jackson’s aunt, Mattiwilda Dobbs died from cancer at her home in Atlanta aged 90. South View Cemetery, Atlanta
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