On the night in question, Owen Hart was given a dramatically absurd entrance. The plan was that he'd be lowered by a cable, beginning his descent far up in the rafters of the packed Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Things didn't go as planned.
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Jean-Michel Basquiat, an artist whose roots in graffiti made his work stand out among others, left a legacy of stunning paintings. But his sudden popularity in his 20s caused him to spiral into a drug habit that eventually cost him his life. His death cemented his status as an art world rockstar.
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Hank Williams Jr. found some success, working more or less as a tribute act and playing plenty of his old man's standards. Critical reception was lukewarm -- The New Yorker pointed out that he "was raised to be an echo, not an influence," changing his name to better pull a nostalgic crowd.
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Unfortunately, The Ramones only seemed like a tight unit from the outside. They may have made rock history, but the band's internal affairs were full of arguments, feuds and disappointment ... and ultimately, several untimely deaths.
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For a band as longstanding and storied as Metallica, they have not been without ups and downs. No event had such a dramatic impact on Metallica's history, though, as the death of the bassist Cliff Burton.
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On July 6, 1992, Johnson's lifeless body was pulled from New York's Hudson River. The police classified it a suicide. None of her friends accepted that.
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You could do worse than marrying the King of England. That had to have gone through her mind... at least until she was beheaded.
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Emmett Till loved to laugh."He would pay people to tell him jokes," according to his cousin, Wheeler Parker. He also "loved to tell jokes," said childhood friend Richard Heard, who remembered Emmett being "a funny guy all the time."
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Every time a metalhead throws up the devil horns and casts a protective ward against the evil eye, we're saying a small thank you to Ronnie James Dio. Here's how he passed.
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Bing Crosby was a beloved entertainer, dominating the silver screen, music charts, and infiltrating radios across the country from the 1930s to 1960s. Yet despite all his success, Crosby's personal life was filled with hardship. This is the tragic real-life story of Bing Crosby.
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The best indicator of Steve Clark's importance within Def Leppard might be the fact that he was never fired. He stayed with the band until his tragic death.
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Those of a certain age might be forgiven for confusing Davy (though he preferred David) Crockett and Daniel Boone. Their timelines overlap, though Boone, born in 1734, could have been a grandfather to Crockett, born in 1786. Here's how Boone lived, and eventually, died.
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Che Guevara is legendary today, but his life was one of struggle and repeated defeat. This is the tragic real-life story of Che Guevara.
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Ella Fitzgerald gained a devout audience for over six decades, though her troubled history isn't usually mentioned. This is the tragic real-life story of Ella Fitzgerald.
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The Andrews Sisters -- Patty, LaVerne, and Maxene -- broke onto the music charts in 1937. By the time they were done selling records, they'd moved some 100 million units, and racked up a whopping 46 Top 10 hits. But there was a dark side. This is the tragic real-life story of The Andrews Sisters.
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Jerry Garcia and The Dead arose out of San Francisco's music scene in the mid-1960s. Drugs were plentiful; music was powerful; a youth culture was flexing its muscles and making itself heard throughout the country. But Garcia's responsibility as the figurehead of a movement would take its toll.
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Sylvia Plath remains a singular voice in American literature decades since her death, and her tragic story continues to resonate with readers today.
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While Rock Hudson radiated light on screen, he had to keep the public in the dark about his sexuality. Otherwise, the prevailing homophobia of the era would eclipse his career. They found out in 1985, when the actor announced he's be diagnosed with AIDS. This is the tragic death of Rock Hudson.
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Poets Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton captivated the world with their words and their tragic endings. But through an inspirational professional relationship, they also captivated each other.
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Prince was practically worshipped by millions, but real life is rarely a fairy tale. Let's take a look at the tragic real-life story of Prince.
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Andy Kaufman was a true original, and there has never been anyone else like him. While Kaufman's life ended in tragedy, the stories he created on the way there are unforgettable.
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It's cliche to compare the life of a country music star to the events of a country music song, but the real-life life story of Randy Travis sounds like it was ripped from a tragic ballad.
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Danny DeVito is in a class all his own, and that's "national treasure that must be protected at all costs." It doesn't matter when you grew up, there's something he's been in that's shaped your childhood. But there's a lot of tragedy in his past. This is the tragic real-life story of Danny DeVito.
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Hank Williams, the country legend, didn't have the opportunity to live in the world long. He picked up a drinking habit as a teen he would never be able to beat. But in the short amount of time he had, Williams gave the world a series of hits. This is the tragic real-life story of Hank Williams.
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Chief O'Brien's rise from random bridge guy to main cast member wasn't easy. This mild-mannered transporter chief has a biography that would make a Vulcan weep. Get the violins ready because we're about to dive into Chief O'Brien's tragic Star Trek timeline.
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Waylon Jennings sang about heartbreak, hard luck, and hard choices. And as it turns out, he knew all about that stuff, as he lived a tough life marked with pain, struggle, and loss. Here's a look at the tragic, ramblin' life of Waylon Jennings.
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Behind Louis Armstrong's career, success, and fame, there was tragedy. The man nicknamed Pops and Satchmo didn't have an easy life by any stretch of the imagination, and even as he was taking to the stage and wowing fans, he struggled. Here's the tragic real-life story of Louis Armstrong.
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