Rock & Roll Cemetery II Trivia Quiz

Answer: Def Leppard

Def Leppard, and the music world, lost Steve January 8,1991. Steve sadly lost his battle with drug and alcohol abuse at age 30. He arguably wrote some of the coolest licks in '80s rock & roll. Steve was replaced by Vivian Campbel who had played guitar for Whitesnake and Dio.

Answer: Syd Barrett

Visionary artist Syd Barrett lost his life due to pancreatic cancer. David Gilmour replaced Syd in 1968 because of his unreliability. If you have have both "Wizard of Oz" DVD and "Dark Side of the Moon" CD, press play on the CD and quickly pause so it's ready to go.

Then set your CD to continuous repeat, typically done by hitting the repeat button twice (once only repeats the previous song). As the third roar of the lion in the opening credits on the DVD is ending, quickly press play on the CD. Watch the movie with Floyd as the soundtrack. I don't know who figured this out, but it's bizarre, well worth the effort.

Answer: The Who

The Who, an English rock band, formed in 1964, with Roger Daltry, Pete Townshend, Keith Moon, and John Entwhistle. The band has sold around 100,000, 000 albums, charted many top 40 singles, and top 10 albums. They also have gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums to their credit. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their first year of eligibility.

Answer: Folsom

Johnny performed a live concert at Folsom State Prison in 1968. Folsom, located in Represa California, was one of the first maximum security prisons in the U.S. It opened in 1880, and had an inmate population of 7246. Johnny later released his hit single "Folsom Prison Blues".
Even though his official cause of death was respiratory failure, the romantic in me says it was a broken heart having recently lost his wife June.

Answer: Plane crash

Randy, a classically trained guitarist, joined Ozzy Osbourne after leaving Quiet Riot. Randy was talked into getting on a private plane in Leesburg, Florida, for a short ride. The plane clipped Ozzy's tour bus and crashed into a mansion, killing all on board.

Answer: The Wailers

The Wailers, comprising Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Livingston scored a slew of hits in their native Jamaica during the 1960s, but it wasn't until they teamed with bonkers-but-brilliant producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, that reggae magic was born. On December 3, 1976, a group of gunman piled out of two vehicles outside Marley's Kingston home and blanketed the place with bullets, striking several members of the band, including Marley, though non-fatally. The Wailers had been rehearsing for a free concert, and as then Prime Minister Michael Manley had announced a general election for two weeks later.

It's likely that some had interpreted Marley's concert as support for Manley's People's National Party. To escape the violence and tension, Marley moved to London where domestic contentment further influenced his music. Robert Nesta Marley died May 11, 1981 from brain, lung, and stomach cancer.

Answer: Eric Carr

Succeeding in auditions to replace drummer Peter Criss in 1980, Carr remained friendly with his predecessor. Carr's thunderous, Bonhamesque drumming is showcased on 1982's "Creatures Of The Night". Diagnosed with cancer in 1990, Carr endured months of surgery to treat various tumors on his heart and lungs.

The death of Freddie Mercury on the same day meant that Carr's death was shamefully ignored.

Answer: Jerry Garcia

Garcia's earliest musical influences stemmed from his grandparents' love of country music, with whom he lived after witnessing the drowning death of his father in 1948. It was his older brother's love of T-Bone Walker and Chuck Berry that inspired him to take up guitar.

After years of financial floundering, the Dead's relentless touring paid off earning them U.S. 11.5 million in 1985, and by the '90s Forbes magazine cited them as some of the highest earners in entertainment. After several stints at rehab facilities to help with his personal problems, an attendant found him dead in his bed at Serenity Knolls rehab center in California, due to a heart attack.

When word got out, the mayor of San Francisco ordered that flags be flown at half-mast.

Answer: Mississippi

The now infamous crossroads in question are found at the junction of highways 61 and 49 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where Robert supposedly sold his soul in exchange for guitar greatness. The urban legend has been met with speculation for decades. Some authors propose that it wasn't at the crossroads at all, but in a cemetery that he made his alleged pact with Satan. Either way it remains one of the most interesting stories in music history.

A notorious womanizer, Robert died of poisoning August 16, 1938.

He was 27.

Answer: Plane crash

Redding and his band boarded a plane bound for Wisconson, its crash (cause undetermined) killed all on board except for trumpet player Ben Cauley, who was thrown clear. The icey waters of Lake Monana near Madison, claimed the others. In a sad twist of irony, the U.S.'s first posthumous hit was Otis' "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay".