Bobby Fuller (The Bobby Fuller Four)
Born: 22 October 1942
Died: 18 July 1966 (24 Years)
Died: 18 July 1966 (24 Years)
The Bobby Fuller Four
Robert Gaston Fuller (October 22, 1942 – July 18, 1966) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for "Let Her Dance" and his cover of the Crickets' "I Fought the Law" , recorded with his group The Bobby Fuller Four.
Within months of "I Fought the Law" becoming a top 10 hit, Fuller was found dead in an automobile parked outside his Hollywood apartment. The Los Angeles deputy medical examiner, Jerry Nelson, performed the autopsy. According to Dean Kuipers: "The report states that Bobby's face, chest, and side were covered in 'petechial hemorrhages,' probably caused by gasoline vapors and the summer heat. He found no bruises, no broken bones, no cuts. No evidence of beating." Kuipers further explains that boxes for "accident" and "suicide" were checked, but next to the boxes were question marks. Despite the official cause of death, some commentators believe Fuller was murdered.
Erik Greene, a relative of Sam Cooke, has cited similarities in the deaths of Cooke and Fuller. Fuller's bandmate Jim Reese suspected that Charles Manson played a role in Fuller's death, but never provided credible evidence; Manson was in prison from 1961 to 1967. A sensationalist crime website has speculated that the Los Angeles Police Department may have been involved because of Fuller's connection to a Mafia-related woman.
Fuller was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. His death was profiled in a segment of Unsolved Mysteries.
His death was also explored in the May 11, 2015 episode of the NPR program All Things Considered. The program references the book I Fought the Law: The Life and Strange Death of Bobby Fuller, by Miriam Linna, with contributions by Randy Fuller. Sometime after the Unsolved Mysteries segment in question initially aired, the cause of Fuller's death was officially changed from "suicide" to "accident".
(wikipedia)
Within months of "I Fought the Law" becoming a top 10 hit, Fuller was found dead in an automobile parked outside his Hollywood apartment. The Los Angeles deputy medical examiner, Jerry Nelson, performed the autopsy. According to Dean Kuipers: "The report states that Bobby's face, chest, and side were covered in 'petechial hemorrhages,' probably caused by gasoline vapors and the summer heat. He found no bruises, no broken bones, no cuts. No evidence of beating." Kuipers further explains that boxes for "accident" and "suicide" were checked, but next to the boxes were question marks. Despite the official cause of death, some commentators believe Fuller was murdered.
Erik Greene, a relative of Sam Cooke, has cited similarities in the deaths of Cooke and Fuller. Fuller's bandmate Jim Reese suspected that Charles Manson played a role in Fuller's death, but never provided credible evidence; Manson was in prison from 1961 to 1967. A sensationalist crime website has speculated that the Los Angeles Police Department may have been involved because of Fuller's connection to a Mafia-related woman.
Fuller was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. His death was profiled in a segment of Unsolved Mysteries.
His death was also explored in the May 11, 2015 episode of the NPR program All Things Considered. The program references the book I Fought the Law: The Life and Strange Death of Bobby Fuller, by Miriam Linna, with contributions by Randy Fuller. Sometime after the Unsolved Mysteries segment in question initially aired, the cause of Fuller's death was officially changed from "suicide" to "accident".
(wikipedia)