Whitney Houston, 1963-2012
The six-time Grammy-winning "I Will Always Love You" singer, who long battled problems with substance abuse, was 48 years old when she passed, just one day before the 2012 Grammys. "I am personally devastated by the loss of somebody who meant so much to me," her longtime mentor Clive Davis said. "She had a talent beyond compare."
Amy Winehouse, 1983-2011
In July 2011, the mesmerizing 27-year-old Back to Black songtress died of accidental alcohol poisoning after years of a very public battle with drugs and alcohol.
Florence Ballard, 1943-1976
After being dropped from The Supremes, the soulful singer led a turbulent life, which ended with her death from cardiac arrest at the young age of 32.
Maria Callas, 1923-1977
The opera star died of a heart attack at her home in Paris when she was 53 years old. One of the most exciting singers of her time, she was known for her dramatic soprano voice.
Judy Garland, 1922-1969
The Wizard of Oz star turned 47 just days before dying from an accidental drug overdose.
Édith Piaf, 1915-1963
The French singer lived a life riddled with drug and alcohol addiction before she died of liver cancer at the age of 47. Her funeral ceremony attracted more than 100,000 fans. In 2007, Marion Cotillard won an Academy Award for portraying the star in La Vie en Rose.
Dinah Washington, 1924-1963
The "Queen of Blues" and Grammy winner died in her sleep at 39 from a lethal combination of secobarbital and amobarbital.
Patsy Cline, 1932-1963
A plane crash took the life of the iconic country singer at age 30. Ten years later, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame for her chart-topping work.
Dorothy Dandridge, 1922-1965
The actress and singer, who was the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, died from an accidental drug overdose at just 42 years of age.
Billie Holiday, 1915-1959
Known for bundles of gardenias in her hair, the jazz vocalist, nicknamed "Lady Day," endured a tumultuous life that ended at 44 due to congestion of the lungs from heart failure. Diana Ross famously played her in Lady Sings the Blues.
Divine, 1945-1988
Before RuPaul, there was Divine. She wasn't a singer, but she certainly was a larger than life diva. The famous and fabulous drag queen passed away in L.A. of an enlarged heart at the age of 42, just three weeks after her hit 1988 film Hairspray, costarring Ricki Lake and Sonny Bono hit theaters.