Biography > Noteworthy People > Deaths > 1997 Deaths

Townes Van Zandt

singer, songwriter

Van Zandt's spare delivery and melancholy lyrics influenced folk and rock musicians such as Steve Earle, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson, though he never enjoyed commercial success. His tragic ballads reflected his own personal travails and lonely wanderings, including mental illness and alcohol abuse. His recordings include For the Sake of the Song, “Pancho and Lefty,” which Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson performed in 1983, and No Deeper Blue.

Born: 1944
Died: 1997

Virginia Van Wie

1997 Deaths

Gianni Versace