Paragraph 9 reads: "
Orbison in The Traveling Wilburys after Orbison's death. [citation needed ] However, on February 8 of that year, Shannon committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a .22 caliber rifle. His wife has expressed the opinion that his death might have been related to his recent use of the prescription drug Prozac .[1] His final album was released after his death, titled Rock On!.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_ShannonDel Shannon (
December 30,
1934 –
February 8,
1990) (born
Charles Weedon Westover in
Coopersville, Michigan) was an
American rock and roller who launched into fame with the
No. 1 hit "
Runaway" (
1961). The song introduced the
musitron, an early form of the
synthesizer played by "Runaway" co-writer and
keyboardist Max Crook.
Shannon followed his first hit with "Hats Off to Larry", which peaked at #5 (Billboard) and #2,on Cashbox, and the less popular "So Long, Baby," another song of breakup bitterness. "
Little Town Flirt", released in
1962, also reached #12 in
1963, as did the album of the same name. After these hits, Shannon was unable to keep his momentum in the U.S., but continued his run of success in
England, where he had always been more popular. In
1963, he became the first American artist to record a
cover version of a
Beatles song with "
From Me to You".
Shannon returned to the charts in
1964, with "
Handy Man" (a
1960 hit by
Jimmy Jones), "
Do You Wanna Dance" (a
1958 hit by
Bobby Freeman), and two more originals "Keep Searchin'" (a Top 10 hit), and "Stranger in Town" (
1965), both themed about flight from pursuit in a dangerous world. A
1966 chart offering was Shannon's cover of the
Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb".
In the late
1960s, after a dry spell of hits, he turned to production. In
1969, he discovered a group called
Smith and arranged their hit "Baby It's You," which had previously been a smash hit for the
Shirelles in
1963. He then produced his friend
Brian Hyland's million seller "Gypsy Woman" in
1970.
In the
1970s, Shannon's career slowed down greatly; the hates and fears he had turned into art in his earlier songs were turning into full-blown
mental illness, and he was self-medicating with alcohol.
[citation needed ] He finally put the bottle down in
1978, and he was able to return to mainstream audiences with "Sea of Love" in the early
1980s. This song came from Shannon's album "Drop Down And Get Me", produced by
Tom Petty.
In December,
1983, Shannon served as
Grand Marshal of the
Coopersville, Michigan, Christmas parade and also performed a benefit concert at Coopersville High School.
Shannon enjoyed a resurgence in audience interest after re-recording a portion of his song "Runaway" (with new lyrics), as the theme song for the television program
Crime Story. Producer
Michael Mann felt that this was one of the definitive songs of the era in which the program was set.
[citation needed ]
In
1990, Shannon recorded a comeback album with
Jeff Lynne of
Electric Light Orchestra, and was concurrently being considered to replace
Roy Orbison in The
Traveling Wilburys after Orbison's death.
[citation needed ] However, on February 8 of that year, Shannon committed
suicide by shooting himself in the head with a .22 caliber
rifle. His wife has expressed the opinion that his death might have been related to his recent use of the prescription drug
Prozac .
[1] His final album was released after his death, titled
Rock On!.
During the summer of
1990, the country band
Southern Pacific released a cover of Shannon's hit "I Go To Pieces" (also a hit back in
1965 for
Peter & Gordon), with the song's video being dedicated in Shannon's memory.
Shannon was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
1999, and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the
Rockabilly Hall of Fame.