Harry Nilsson 

Harry Nilsson was born Harry E Nilsson III in Brooklyn and worked in a California bank before he began making records of his own songs. His first break came in 1964 when he became part of Phil Spector's California song writing stable.

After signing with RCA he made a number of highly praised albums. Pandemonium Shadow Show was his first (1968) and others included Aerial Ballet (1968), Harry (1969) and Nilsson Sings Newman (a selection of material by Randy Newman, released in 1970).

After this he wrote the story and music for an animated made-for-TV children's film called The Point, which was narrated by Dustin Hoffman - for whose film Midnight Cowboy, Nilsson sang Everybody's Talkin'.

Nilsson was often labelled "the fifth Beatle" (the Fab Four were huge fans), caught somewhere between the acidic wit of Lennon and the music hall traditions of McCartney.

More than anything though, his voice had an emotive, haunting quality as highlighted by his great covers of Everybody's Talkin' (Fred Neil) and Without You (Badfinger).

The seventies brought Nilsson Schmilsson (1971), Son Of Schmilsson (1972) and A Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night (1973). After rupturing a vocal cord making the booze-and-cocaine fuelled Pussy Cats album with John Lennon in 1974, Nilsson's voice sadly never recovered.

Nilsson and Lennon were firm friends - it was Nilsson that Lennon turned to when seeking a partner in crime during his mid-70's estrangement from Yoko Ono - and after Lennon's death in 1980, Nilsson turned his energies to gun control with the Washington-based 'Coalition to Stop Gun Violence'.

Nilsson suffered a massive heart attack in 1993 but survived to try and complete one final album. He finished the vocal tracks for the album on 15 January 1994. He died the same night of heart failure at his California home. He was 52.