Tragic Suicide

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Rock and roll singer Del Shannon came into this world as Charles Westover in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1934. He became a singer and songwriter who had many popular songs in the 1960s. Among the songs he was known for were “Little Runaway”, “Runaround Sue” and “Needles and Pins”. Shannon’s song “Little Runaway” rose up on the charts to number one in April 1961. Other Top 10 hits followed like “Hats Off To Larry” and “Keep Searchin’ (We’ll Follow the Sun)”. He soon became more popular in the U.K. than in the U.S. Through the 1970s and 1980s he was already looked at as an oldies act. However once new generations heard his songs there was interest in this singer. He was on his comeback trail in early 1990 when an album of his original material was released and there were rumors going about that he might take the place of the late Roy Orbison with The Traveling Wilburys. It seemed that his star was once again ascending so it was shocking to hear how it all ended. Instead of basking in new-found stardom Del Shannon shot himself at his home on February 3, 1990. His widow brought a lawsuit against the drug company Eli Lilly who manufactured the antidepressant Prozac. Unfortunately she was not successful in proving that there was a possible connection between suicidal ideation and SSRIs, the class of drugs to which Prozac belongs. Sadly Shannon was gone but his music lives on. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/del-shannon-dies-of-a-self-inflicted-gunshot-wound