Raves from the Grave: Posthumous Hits

John Lennon
Following the birth of his son Sean in 1975, John Lennon changed track and became, for all intents and purposes, a stay-at-home dad. Five years later, at age 40, Lennon returned to the studio. With an abundance of songs that had been collecting dust during his hiatus, he and Yoko Ono had no problem choosing songs for Double Fantasy. In fact, there were so many songs written, the duo were well into recording the album's follow-up, Milk and Honey, when  Lennon was shot to death by a deranged fan on December 8, 1980.

Released just two days before his murder, Double Fantasy hit the top of the album charts, where it remained firmly ensconced for eight weeks. It spawned three Top 10 hits, including "Watching the Wheels," "Woman" and the chart-topper "(Just Like) Starting Over." Double Fantasy later won a Grammy for Album of the Year. Similarly, 1984's posthumous album, Milk and Honey, produced three chart hits, including the Top 5 smash "Nobody Told Me."


The Notorious B.I.G.

Brooklyn rapper Christopher Wallace -- aka the Notorious B.I.G. -- was a central player in the East Coast hip-hop scene in the 1990s. At the time, the East Coast rappers were feuding with the West Coast rappers, and in 1997, Biggie was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting while in Los Angeles. Released just four days after his death, Biggie's sophomore album, Life After Death, sold 690,000 copies. The singles "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money Mo Problems," which featured Puff Daddy and Mase, would go on to top the charts. Biggie was 24.

Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash's long and varied career had its ups and downs, but through it all Cash remained a true country and pop music icon who was faithful to his vision. According to liner notes, this beloved country enigma laid the vocal tracks for "around 50" songs for Rick Rubin before dying of diabetes in 2003 at age 71. In 2006, Rubin released Cash's posthumous American V: A Hundred Highways to rave reviews and a chart-topping debut on the Billboard Top 200 sales chart. Additionally, the biopic Walk the Line heated up interest in Cash's vast catalog, creating brisk sales for many of his catalog releases.

Nirvana
Uncomfortable in the spotlight after the blinding success of 1991's Nevermind and dealing with crippling stomach problems, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was self-medicating with a variety of drugs to help ease his pains. By 1994, he was also publicly battling a heroin addiction. A few days after agreeing to go to a rehab facility in Los Angeles, the singer escaped over the wall and hopped a plane back to Seattle. On April 8, 1994 -- the day that Sub Pop was to have celebrated its 10th anniversary -- the music world was shocked to learn that 27-year-old  Cobain had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. In November of that year, Nirvana debuted at No. 1 with their MTV Unplugged in New York and again in 1996 with From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah.

Elvis Presley
There have been plenty of posthumous, repackaged releases and re-releases from Elvis Presley over the years, and the King continues to be a strong catalog seller. In fact, Nielsen SoundScan, which only started tracking album sales in 1991, shows that Presley has ratcheted up a whopping 31.2 million sales -- and again, that count only started in 1991, 14 years after his 1977 death. In October 2002, RCA Records released Elvis: 30 #1 Hits, which debuted on top of the charts. Additionally, a JXL remix of a relatively obscure Presley song called "A Little Less Conversation" hit the singles pop charts -- more than 25 years after the King's death.

2Pac
Tupac's love of poetry and music meshed when the rapper lent his skills to Digital Underground's "Same Song," which finally put him on the path to success. While in New York in 1994, Tupac was shot five times outside a recording studio and left for dead. He survived, but the incident added fuel to the East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry going on in rap music. In September 1996, Tupac went to Las Vegas to see Mike Tyson fight and was shot six times while he was driving away from the fight. Those wounds eventually proved fatal, and Tupac died a few days later at age 25. Less than two months later, his The Don Killuminati -- The 7 Day Theory debuted at No. 1. Surprisingly, the deceased rapper also charted with Until the End of Time in 2001 and with Loyal to the Game in December 2004.

Beatles
John Lennon, who was shot and killed in 1980, recorded a demo of "Free as a Bird" in 1977, but the song was never used in his late solo work. The cassette sat unheard until Yoko Ono gave it to Paul McCartney for possible inclusion on the Beatles' Anthology video and CD collection. The surviving band members heard the song, which was just a sparse recording, and added their own instrument and vocal tracks to it, fleshing out the song and "finishing" it. ELO's Jeff Lynne produced "Free as a Bird" in Paul McCartney's home studio, and the song hit the Top 5 on the Billboard singles chart at the end of 2005 -- some 28 years after it was written and 25 years after John Lennon's death.

Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix helped bring "psychedelic" into the mainstream when he released the sonically heavy Are You Experienced? in 1967. His appearance at both the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock -- complete with the celebrated torching of his guitar -- helped make Hendrix a legendary rock 'n' roll icon. Before his death, the Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded three albums, but his catalog has grown exponentially since. Specifically, Cry of Love, which was released after the performer's death in 1971, went to No. 3 on the Billboard album chart. When the Hendrix family gained control of Jimi's music in the 1990s, they remastered his studio efforts and released two albums of unreleased songs. In 1997, Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell and Electric Ladyland engineer Eddie Kramer reconstructed that release, using Hendrix's notes, song lists and tapes to add more tracks to the original version, and updated the production on First Rays of the New Rising Sun, which also charted.

Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson was a premier showman whose exciting dance moves and dynamic personality earned him the nickname "Mr. Excitement." On September 29, 1975, Wilson suffered a massive heart attack while onstage playing a Dick Clark show in Cherry Hill, N.J., falling head-first to the stage while singing the hit "Lonely Teardrops." The blow to the head left him in a coma for the next eight-plus years until his death in 1984, at age 49. At the start of his career, the Detroit native signed a contract with Brunswick Records and released his first single, the Berry Gordy, Jr.-penned "Reet Petite." Wilson had modest success on the R&B charts in 1956 with the song, but "Reet Petite" topped the U.K. charts in 1986 thanks to a claymation video that proved a massive hit with television viewers.

Otis Redding
Otis Redding, a self-described country boy from Macon, Ga., was a 26-year-old soul superstar when he died in a plane crash in 1967. Redding had started recording "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" four days before flying to Cleveland, Ohio, to make an appearance on a local television show called Upbeat, and still needed to come up with some arrangements. Pressed for time, the singer whistled where a horn arrangement was to be and continued recording the rest of the song. Although "Dock of the Bay" displayed a more controlled version of the impassioned soul Redding became associated with, with the news of his death the label released the song as it was -- the whistle intact -- and the song became Otis Redding's only No. 1 single.

Janis Joplin
In October 1970, blues-rock powerhouse Janis Joplin was working on her second solo album in Los Angeles when she died in a hotel room from a heroin overdose. She was 27. Pearl, named for Joplin's affectionate nickname for herself, was released in 1971 featuring nine completed tracks and an unfinished instrumental ominously titled "Buried Alive in the Blues." One of those finished tracks was her cover of Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee," which rose to No. 1; the album remained perched atop the album chart for an incredible nine weeks.

Marvin Gaye
Although soul superstar Marvin Gaye was married to the sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, that didn't stop the two men from clashing over everything including album art, musical direction and even which songs to record. Gaye had success with Motown throughout the '60s and '70s, but he left the label in the early '80s after a dispute over the release of In Our Lifetime. Gaye's career enjoyed a resurgence after this move, and in 1983 Gaye won his first-ever Grammy Award for the song "Sexual Healing." On April 1, 1984, one day before his 45th birthday, Gaye was shot to death by his father while in the midst of a family argument. His first posthumous release, Dream of a Lifetime, produced the chart hit "Sanctified Lady."

Ray Charles
There have been plenty of successful posthumous releases, but perhaps none as successful as Ray Charles' last studio recording, Genius Loves Company. After Charles succumbed to liver cancer in 2004, his record label released the album. A collection of duets with such stars as Van Morrison, Elton John, Norah Jones, Willie Nelson and Bonnie Raitt, Genius Loves Company was one of Charles' most successful albums, sweeping the Grammys and going triple platinum within six months of release. Sales of Charles' music also got a lift from the popular 2004 biographical film starring Jamie Foxx, titled Ray.

Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly released only three albums in his lifetime, but the Lubbock, Tex., native had been so prolific Coral Records was able to release brand-new albums and singles for 10 years after his death. In March 1959, a month after 22-year-old Holly's untimely demise in a plane crash, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" (penned by Paul Anka) was released and became a huge posthumous hit for the star. Holly continued to be promoted and sold as an "active" artist, and his records had a loyal following, especially in Europe. The demand for unissued Holly material was so great that more often than not, his home demo recordings were completed via the overdubs by studio musicians.

Aaliyah
The R&B singer's albums sold millions after her tragic death at 22. The highly decorated singer and actress (she starred in 2000's Romeo Must Die and Queen of the Damned), released her third studio album, Aaliyah, a month before her plane crashed in the Bahamas. The album debuted at No. 19 on the Billboard chart but then zoomed up to No.1 after her death. It spawned three top 30 hits, including "Rock Da Boat," "More Than a Woman" and "I Care 4 U." In December 2002, I Care 4 U, a posthumous album of previously unreleased material, hit the stores and sold well, thanks in part to the album's first single, "Miss You."

Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison was a bona fide country and pop star throughout the '50s and '60s, and although his personal career waned in the '70s, he was buoyed by the amount of artists who frequently hit the charts with covers of his songs. He was enjoying a second wind in his career in the late '80s both as a solo performer and as part of the Traveling Wilburys -- a group ELO's Jeff Lynne put together featuring Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Lynne and of course, Roy Orbison. Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 spent a full year ion the Billboard charts. This success led to Orbison recording a solo album, with Lynne onboard as producer. The Texas native was recording his comeback album, Mystery Girl, when he died of a heart attack in December 1988. Lynne finished production and the album was released in April '89. The single "You Got It" found its way onto four Billboard charts: Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, Mainstream Rock Tracks and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.

Sublime
Timed perfectly to ride the ska/punk revival wave of the early '90s, Long Beach, Calif., band Sublime got their break when KROQ/Los Angeles put their controversial, independently funded single "Date Rape" into rotation. The band was snapped up by Gasoline Alley/MCA Records. They toured relentlessly in 1994 and 1995 and had to be prodded to get back into the studio to record the next album. Lead singer/songwriter Bradley Nowell died of a heroin overdose two months before the release of their 1996 self-titled major-label debut. That  record turned out to be a blockbuster, thanks to hit singles such as "Santeria," "Wrong Way" and most of all, the No. 1 Modern Rock smash, "What I Got."

Queen
Queen's popularity in the '70s and early '80s made them one of the most prominent and successful bands of the era. By the late '80s, however, most of the band's recorded work was for movies, and Queen's potency waned. As early as 1989 rumors were circulating that Freddie Mercury had AIDS, which the singer vehemently denied, attributing his increasingly gaunt appearance to exhaustion. Two years later while on his deathbed, Mercury confirmed he did, in fact, have AIDS, and he died shortly thereafter due to AIDS-related pneumonia. Made in Heaven was released four years after Mercury's death and charted in the Billboard Top 200, making an especially strong impact in the band's native U.K., where it went quadruple platinum. Additionally, Queen hit the U.S. charts once again when their mega-hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" was featured in the 1992 film Wayne's World.

Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline is one of the greatest country singers of all time, and her style continues to influence up-and-comers decades after her untimely death in 1963. Country's first lady was yet another musician lost in a plane crash -- this time while returning from a benefit concert in Kansas City, Mo. At the time of her death in 1963, Cline was recording songs for an album; one of the songs she finished was a cover of Don Gibson's lovely ballad, "Sweet Dreams (Of You)." The song's posthumous release became a crossover hit, charting as both a country and a pop hit. It was also the title of a 1985 biopic starring Jessica Lange as Cline. Cline was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973.

Jim Croce
After a couple of career hiccups, things finally started looking up for Jim Croce when he signed with ABC Records in 1972. He released two albums in 1972 -- a practice that is unheard of today but was very common at the time. With a string of hit singles ("Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," "Time in a Bottle," etc.), Croce was definitely sitting pretty. On September 20, 1973, after finishing a concert in Louisiana, Croce and his crew boarded a small plane headed to Texas. The plane never gained enough altitude to clear a tree near the end of the runway (later investigations hint that the pilot may have had a heart attack on takeoff) and all onboard were killed. Weeks later, Croce's I Got a Name was released and spawned three hits, including "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song." Additionally, Croce's first two albums found their way back into the charts after the singer's death.

Selena
Selena, whom Tom Brokaw famously called the "Mexican Madonna," had a hugely successful career within the Latin community, not only with her music but also with her Texas-based boutiques and acting on the soap opera Dos Mujeres, Un Camino. In early 1995, her family discovered that Selena's fan-club president, Yolanda Salvidar, was embezzling and fired her. Selena confronted the woman and asked her to hand over financial records and bank statements for tax purposes, and during the argument Salvidar shot Selena in the back. Although Selena was received medical treatment, she died at the hospital. Four months later, Selena's English-language debut was released. Dreaming of You went to the top of the Latin charts and the Billboard Top 200 sales chart. Jennifer Lopez got her big break playing the part of the singer in the 1997 movie Selena.

Glenn Miller
You'd be hard-pressed to find a more successful artist in the late 1930s and early '40s than Glenn Miller. As the leader of one of the most successful bands of the era, Miller's unique brand of swing was a popular draw with both live shows and radio broadcasts. In 1942, he enlisted in the army to help with the war efforts. Two years later, the 40-year-old bandleader left the U.K. and was heading to Paris to play for the troops. His plane disappeared over the English Channel, and Miller's status is still listed as "Missing in Action." The three releases immediately following Miller's death all went to the top of the charts.

Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith, one of indie rock's most unassuming heroes, hit a career high in 1997 when the songwriter's "Miss Misery" from the hit movie Good Will Hunting was tapped for an Oscar nomination. Smith, who suffered from depression and abused drugs, died from apparently self-inflicted stab wounds in Los Angeles in October 2003. An avid home recorder, the singer left behind a number of unfinished, unreleased demos that his Portland, Ore., producer Larry Crane constructed into From a Basement on the Hill, which was released in 2004. The album debuted on the Billboard at No. 19. In May 2007, Kill Rock Stars released New Moon, an album of unused songs recorded while Smith was contracted to the label. New Moon debuted on the Billboard chart at No. 24.

Nick Drake
Nick Drake's haunting, folky soundscapes never went much beyond a cult following, although his regard steadily grew as an increasing number of new artists listed the Englishman as an influence. Drake battled depression throughout his life and in 1974, at age 26, he overdosed on antidepressants. His three albums became the stuff of music folklore; they stood as new gems to be discovered -- and they were discovered -- with each passing generation. The first posthumous Nick Drake release was titled Fruit Tree. Fruit Tree was a compilation of Drake's three albums and the tracks he was working on at the time of his death. There wasn't much interest in the box set, and in 1983, Island records deleted it from its catalog. Ironically, '80s college-rock heroes Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and Robert Smith (the Cure) often cited Drake as one of their influences, and yet another generation was exposed to Nick Drake's music. In 2000, Volkswagen used the title track of the 1972 album Pink Moon in a commercial, resulting in an avalanche of album sales. In 2007, Drake's Family Tree -- a compilation of material predating any of his official recorded output and including tracks sung by family members -- managed to find its way onto Billboard's Independent Album chart.

Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley's angelic voice created such a robust impression that his posthumous releases far exceed his official ones; it's staggering to think that the sum total of his official releases includes a lone studio album and a four-song live EP. On May 29, 1997, Buckley took a night swim in Memphis' Wolf River, which had become semi-routine since the singer moved to the city. His body was found on June 4, and the coroner ruled his death an accidental drowning. Buckley was 30. His first posthumous release, Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk, was put together by his mother and featured many of the songs he was fleshing out at the time of death. The album managed to chart at No. 64 on Billboard's Top 200 sales chart. More impressively, Buckley's "Hallelujah" topped the Billboard Digital chart when, in 2008, American Idol contestant Jason Castro performed the song to rave reviews on the show.

Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone's place in music history was assured by virtue of the fact that the gangly singer fronted the legendary punk band the Ramones. The Ramones had an impressive 22-year run, finally disbanding in 1996. Ramone, whose real name was Jeffrey Hyman, began working on a solo record, but that plan was cut short when he died of lymphoma on April 15, 2001. Don't Worry About Me was released posthumously in 2002 and managed to eke out a position on Billboard's Top 200 sales chart. In 2006, his buzzing version of the Louis Armstrong classic "What a Wonderful World" was used in a Suzuki commercial, resulting in another sales spike for the album.

Hit the play button below to hear some of posthumous hits mentioned above. Or, if you are a Rhapsody subscriber, you can listen to the full list by clicking on this playlist link.

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