Bernie Mac was one of the best-loved stand-up comics of his generation and along with working his way out of poverty, he spent 12 years performing in Chicago clubs before hitting the big time; in 2008 he died at the age of 50.

Janis Joplin, a rock-and-roll icon whose explosive performances electrified audiences around the world, dies alone in her Los Angeles hotel on October 4, 1970, at the age of 27.