V

Valens, Ritchie

Real name:  Richard Stephen Valenzuela
Best known at:  »Donna», US #2 (1959).
Birthday:  May 13, 1941
Place of birth:  Pacoima, California, USA
Death:  Feb. 3, 1959
Cause of death:  Aeroplane crash.

Valente, Caterina

Best known at:  Italian singer.
Birthday:  Jan. 14, 1931
Place of birth:  ?

Valentine, Dickie

Best known at:  UK singer. »Finger of Suspicion» (1954).
Birthday:  Nov. 4, 1929
Place of birth:  ?
Death:  May 6, 1971
Cause of death:  Car accident.

Valentine, Hilton

Real name:  Hilton Stuart Patterson Valentine
Best known at:  The Animals, guitar.
Birthday:  May 2, 1943
Place of birth:  North Shields, England

Vallee, Rudy

Real name:  Herbert Pryor Vallee
Best known at:  »Brother, Can You Spare a Dime» (1932).
Birthday:  July 28, 1901
Place of birth:  USA?
Death:  July 3, 1986
Cause of death:  ?

Valli, Frankie

Real name:  Francis Casteluccio
Best known at:  »Can’t Take My Eyes Off You» (1967).
Birthday:  May 3, 1937
Place of birth:  Newark, New Jersey, USA

Van Halen, Alex

Real name:  Alexander Arthur Van Halen
Best known at:  Van Halen, drums.
Birthday:  May 8, 1953
Place of birth:  Nijmegen, Netherland

Van Halen, Eddie

Real name:  Edward Lodewijk Van Halen
Best known at:  Van Halen, guitar, keyboards.
Birthday:  Jan. 26, 1955
Place of birth:  Nijmegen, Netherland

Van Zandt, Ronnie

Real name:  Ronald Wayne Van Zandt
Best known at:  Lynyrd Skynyrd, lead vocal.
Birthday:  Jan. 15, 1948
Place of birth:  Jacksonville, USA
Death:  Oct. 20, 1977
Cause of death:  Plane crash.

Valens, Ritchie

Real name:  Richard Valenzuela
Best known at:  »Donna», US #2 (1959).
Birthday:  May 13, 1941
Place of birth:  Pacoima, California, USA
Death:  Feb. 3, 1959
Cause of death:  Aeroplane crash.

Vandross, Luther

Best known at:  US R&B crooner and Grammy Awards winner. »The Best Things in Life Are Free», duet with Janet Jackson, US #10, US R&B #1, (1992).
Birthday:  Apr. 20, 1951
Place of birth:  New York City, New York, USA
Death:  July 1, 2005
Cause of death:  The cause of death was not immediately disclosed, but Vandross had a stroke on Apr. 16, 2003 and never fully recovered. He also suffered from hypertension and diabetes.
More:  Luther Vandross and Rock On The Net: Luther Vandross

Vangelis

Real name:  Evangelos Papathanassiou
Birthday:  Mar. 29, 1943
Place of birth:  Volos, Greece

Varley, Paul

Best known at:  Arrows, drums.
Birthday:  May 24, 1952
Place of birth:  Preston, Lancashire, England

Vaughan, Jimmie

Best known at:  The Fabulous Thunderbirds, guitar.
Birthday:  Mar. 20, 1951
Place of birth:  ?

Vaughan, Stevie Ray

Birthday:  Oct. 3, 1954
Place of birth:  Dallas, Texas, USA
Death:  Aug. 27, 1990
Cause of death:  Helicopter crash.

Vearncombe, Colin

Best known at:  Black, vocal, guitar. »Wonderful Life» (1986).
Birthday:  May 26, 1951
Place of birth:  England

Vee, Bobby

Real name:  Robert Thomas Velline
Best known at:  One of the bobbies at sixties. »The Night Has a Thousand Eyes», US & UK #3 (1963).
Birthday:  Apr. 30, 1943
Place of birth:  Fargo, North Dakota, USA

Vega, Suzanne

Best known at:  »Luka», US #3 (1987).
Birthday:  Aug. 12, 1959
Place of birth:  New York City, New York, USA

Vegas, Lol

Best known at:  Redbone, guitar, vocal.
Birthday:  Oct. 2, 1939
Place of birth:  Fresno, California, USA

Venuti, Joe

Best known at:  US violinist.
Birthday:  Sep. 1, 1894
Place of birth:  ?
Death:  Aug. 14, 1978
Cause of death:  Cancer.

Veres, Mariska

Best known at:  Shocking Blue, vocal.
Birthday:  Oct. 1, 1949
Place of birth:  Hague, Holland
Death:  Dec. 2, 2006
Cause of death:  Cancer.
Trivia: Her first solo record 1975 was this catchy pop song »Take Me High». Finnish pop lady Taiska made 1976 her own quite fascinating version called »Moi moi vain». Nope, it's not French.
More:  Mariska Veres

Verity, John

Best known at:  Argent, guitar, vocals.
Birthday:  July 3, 1949
Place of birth:  Bradford, Yorkshire, England

Vicious, Sid

Real name:  John Simon Ritchie
Best known at:  The Sex Pistols, 'bass'. Virtually nobody, but together with US punk Nancy Spungen stays as the icon of the punk history.
Birthday:  May 10, 1957
Place of birth:  London, England
Death:  Feb. 2, 1979
Cause of death:  Drug overdose.

Vickers, Mike

Best known at:  Manfred Mann, guitar.
Birthday:  Apr. 18, 1941
Place of birth:  Southampton, England

Vincent, Gene

Real name:  Vincent Eugene Craddock
Best known at:  One of the Rock Legends: »Be-Bob-A-Lula», US #7 (1956).
Birthday:  Feb. 11, 1935
Place of birth:  Norfolk, Virginia, USA
Death:  Sep. 12, 1970
Cause of death:  Bleeding ulcer.

Vinton, Bobby

Real name:  Stanley Robert Vinton
Best known at:  Yet another bobby of the sixties. »Blue Velvet», US #1 (1963) and UK #2 (1990).
Birthday:  Apr. 16, 1935
Place of birth:  Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Vogel, Janet

Best known at:  The Skyliners, vocal.
Birthday:  June 10, 1942
Place of birth:  ?
Death:  Feb. 21, 1980
Cause of death:  Committed suicide.

Volman, Mark

Best known at:  The Turtles, Mothers of Invention, vocal.
Birthday:  Apr. 19, 1947
Place of birth:  Los Angeles, California, USA

Voormann, Klaus

Best known at:  well-known session musician.
Birthday:  Apr. 29, 1942
Place of birth:  Berlin, Germany
Trivia:  designed the sleeve for the Beatles album »Revolver» (1966).

Vudi

Real name:  Mark Pankler
Best known at:  American Music Club, guitar, accordion.
Birthday:  Sep. 22, 1952
Place of birth:  Chicago, Illinois, USA
More:  American Music Club