Curated playlist
1997 deaths
- Lotte MotzIllness ended Lotte Motz's teaching in 1984, so she turned to Norse giantesses.
- James StewartJames Stewart gave his Oscar to his father for the shop window.
- Ewart AbnerEwart Abner's label signed the Beatles in January 1963 after Capitol Records passed. The label was Vee-Jay Records.
- Robert MitchumRobert Mitchum, the American film actor and singer, gave critic Roger Ebert a picture that never faded. Ebert named him his favorite movie star and praised his "deep, laconic voice and his long face and those famous weary eyes." Ebert saw…
- Diana, Princess of WalesAn estimated 2.5 billion people watched the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. The broadcast reached more than 200 countries. In the United Kingdom the audience peaked at 32.1 million, one of the highest figures ever recorded there. In…
- The Notorious B.I.G.The Notorious B.I.G.'s second album hit number one sixteen days after he was shot dead. He was twenty-four.
- Bulat OkudzhavaBulat Okudzhava claimed to know only seven chords, yet he wrote about 200 songs.
- Mobutu Sese SekoMobutu renamed his country Zaire, its cities and himself. He also banned Western suits and European baby names.
- Viktor FranklViktor Frankl wrote Man's Search for Meaning in nine days. He had lost his first manuscript at Auschwitz.
- Cheddi JaganCheddi Jagan governed British Guiana for only 133 days before Britain removed him.
- Townes Van ZandtTownes Van Zandt earned one of the boldest compliments in American songwriting from his friend Steve Earle. Earle said Van Zandt was "the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and…
- Andrew CunananAndrew Cunanan killed five people in the space of three months in 1997. Four of them had been his friends, lovers, or strangers who simply owned something he wanted. The fifth was one of the most famous fashion designers in the world. For…
- Jeff BuckleyJeff Buckley finished exactly one studio album before he died, and it was called Grace. It came out in 1994. Decades later, Rolling Stone placed it on three separate lists of the 500 greatest albums. In 2014, the Library of Congress added…
- Michael HutchenceMichael Hutchence, the lead singer and lyricist of the Australian rock band INXS, was 37 years old when he died in a Sydney hotel room. The band was due to open its 20th anniversary tour in Sydney on the 23rd of November 1997. With…
- Mother TeresaMother Teresa once summed herself up in a handful of short sentences. "By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world." The woman who said this was born Anjezë…
- A. L. RowseA china clay worker's son from Cornwall claimed to name Shakespeare's Dark Lady.
- Brown MeggsBrown Meggs heard a Beatles demo in 1963 and signed the group at once.