Gone but Still Singing Trivia Quiz

Answer: Eddie Cochran

"Three Steps To Heaven" was written by Eddie Cochran/Bob Cochran. It entered the UK Singles Chart on the 12 May 1960 and was number one for two weeks for Eddie Cochran. It did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Eddie Cochran died of injuries received in a car crash the previous night in Chippenham, England, on the 17 April 1960 aged 21.

"Three Steps To Heaven" was the second posthumous number one hit on the UK Singles Chart, the first being "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" by Buddy Holly (1959). A spooky coincidence is that Sonny Curtis and Jerry Allison, who were in The Crickets with Buddy Holly, also backed Eddie Cochran on "Three Steps To Heaven". Eddie Cochran had two more posthumous Top 20 hits on the UK Singles Chart when he had a number 15 hit with "Weekend" in 1961 and a number 14 hit with the re-release of "C'Mon Everybody" in 1988.

Answer: Buddy Holly

"Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" was written by Chuck Berry. It entered the UK Singles Chart on the 14 March 1963 and peaked at number three for Buddy Holly. It did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Buddy Holly died in a plane crash near Mason City, Iowa, USA, on the 3 February 1959 aged 22.

"Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" was originally recorded by Buddy Holly and The Crickets in 1956 at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico. In 1962 Norman Petty brought in The Fireballs and overdubbed original Holly tracks for the 1963 album "Reminiscing" which peaked at number two on the UK Album Chart and number 40 on the Billboard Album Chart. In the UK in 1963 Buddy Holly had three posthumous Top Ten hits, "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" (number three), "Bo Diddley" (number four) and "Wishing" (number ten).

Answer: Otis Redding

"(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" was written by Otis Redding/Steve Cropper. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 on the 27 January 1968 and was number one for four weeks for Otis Redding. It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart the same year. Otis Redding died in a plane crash on Lake Monona, Madison, Wisconsin, on the 10 December 1967 aged 26.

"(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" was recorded on the 22 November and the 7 December 1967. Co-writer Steve Cropper mixed the record and added the sound of waves and seagulls as Redding had requested. Both Booker T. Jones and Isaac Hayes played keyboards on the record and it was also the first posthumous number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Also in 1968 the album "The Dock Of The Bay" was the first posthumous album to reach number one on the UK Album Chart; it peaked at number four on the Billboard Album Chart.

Answer: Janis Joplin

"Me And Bobby McGee" was written by Kris Kristofferson/Fred Foster. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 on the 30 January 1971 and was number one for two weeks for Janis Joplin. It did not chart on the UK Singles Chart. Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose in Hollywood, California, USA, on the 4 October 1970 aged 27.

The second posthumous number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 was Janis Joplin's version of "Me And Bobby McGee". It was first recorded by Roger Miller; his version peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Country Chart in 1969. Joplin recorded her version for her album "Pearl" which was also a posthumous number one for nine weeks on the Billboard Album Chart in 1971.

Answer: John Lennon

"Woman" was written by John Lennon. It entered the UK Singles Chart on the 24 January 1981 and was number one for two weeks for John Lennon. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year. John Lennon died of gunshot wounds in New York, New York, USA, on the 8 December 1980 aged 40.

The death of John Lennon set up this series of events on the UK Singles Chart. "(Just Like) Starting Over" peaked at number one on the 20 December 1980 for one week, "Imagine" peaked at number one on the 10 January 1981 for four weeks and "Woman" peaked at number one on the 7 February 1981 for two weeks. "Woman" also knocked "Imagine" off the top making John Lennon the first act to replace themselves at number one since The Beatles did it in 1963. This completed a hat-trick of posthumous UK number one hits in seven weeks.

Answer: Patsy Cline

"Crazy" was written by Willie Nelson. It entered the UK Singles Chart on the 8 December 1990 and peaked at number 14 for Patsy Cline. It peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961. Patsy Cline died in a plane crash near Camden, Tennessee, USA, on the 5 March 1963 aged 30.

Willie Nelson wrote the song for country singer Billy Walker, who turned it down. Released in 1961 by Patsy Cline, it was a crossover hit having peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot Country Singles in 1961. "Crazy" took nearly 28 years after Patsy Cline's death in 1963 to enter the UK Singles Chart. She had only had two minor hits on the UK Singles Chart previously with "She's Got You", number 63 in 1962 and "Heartaches", number 31 in 1962.

Answer: Roy Orbison

"I Drove All Night" was written by Billy Steinberg/Tom Kelly. It entered the UK Singles Chart on the 4 July 1992 and peaked at number seven for Roy Orbison. It did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Roy Orbison died of a heart attack in Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA, on the 6 December 1988 aged 52.

"I Drove All Night" was originally recorded by Roy Orbison in 1987, the year before his death, but not released until 1992. Cyndi Lauper's version of the song was the first to chart and the biggest hit when it peaked at number six in the US and number seven in the UK in 1989. A version by Celine Dion was number one for five weeks in Canada in 2003. After "I Drove All Night", Roy Orbison had one more posthumous Top 20 hit on the UK Singles Chart in the 20th century with "Crying", a duet with kd lang which peaked at number 13 in 1992.

Answer: Freddie Mercury

"Living On My Own" was written by Freddie Mercury. It entered the UK Singles Chart on the 31 July 1993 and was number one for two weeks for Freddie Mercury. It did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Freddie Mercury died of bronchial pneumonia as a complication of AIDS in London, England, on the 24 November 1991 aged 45.

"Living On My Own" was originally released on Freddie Mercury's 1985 album "Mr. Bad Guy". It was then released as a single and peaked at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart in 1985. Belgian producers No More Brothers re-mixed "Living On My Own" for the 1993 issue which gave Freddie Mercury his only solo UK number one hit which was his last solo hit on the UK Singles Chart in the 20th century. It was number one in many European countries which included Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

Answer: Louis Armstrong

"We Have All The Time In The World" was written by John Barry/Hal David. It entered the UK Singles Chart on the 19 November 1994 and peaked at number three for Louis Armstrong. It did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Louis Armstrong died of a heart attack in New York, New York, USA, on the 6 July 1971 aged 69.

"We Have All The Time In The World" was a secondary musical theme in the 1969 James Bond movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" starring George Lazenby as James Bond. The song was released to coincide with the release of the movie in December 1969 but failed to chart in either the UK or USA. 25 years later "We Have All The Time In The World" was used in a Guinness beer commercial and became Louis Armstrong's first UK Top Ten hit since the double A-Sided number one hit "What A Wonderful World/Cabaret" in 1968.

Answer: Elvis Presley

"A Little Less Conversation" was written by Mac Davis/Billy Strange. It entered the UK Singles Chart on the 22 June 2002 and was number one for four weeks for Elvis Presley. It peaked at number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year. Elvis Presley died of a heart attack in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, on the 16 Aug 1977 aged 42.

"A Little Less Conversation" was originally performed by Elvis in the 1968 movie "Live a Little, Love a Little". It peaked at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 for Elvis in 1968. The remix by Dutch musician Tom Holkenborg, better known as Junkie XL (JXL) was a different take than the original 1968 release. As well as in the UK "A Little Less Conversation" was number one in many countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland.