The most shocking musical deaths of 2012 include the passing of both iconic figures and a pretty little flower that never fully bloomed. With celebrity deaths come extravagant burials and funeral caskets. Some stars were buried in the most expensive coffins and caskets that include jewels and other high class accessories.

Davy Jones of the Monkees trumped the calendar odds by dying on the least probable date of February 29th. He was found on that once-in-a-four-year morning in his car complaining of serve chest pains. Jones was taken to the hospital for treatment. He ultimately succumbed to a heart attack.

Don Cornelius, the man behind the hit 1960s show Soul Train, also accepted his invitation to the hereafter. Cornelius died of a self inflicted gunshot to the head in the early morning hours of February 1st this year.

Leslie Carter is the pretty little flower the Reaper plucked before it had a chance to bloom. Leslie was the little sister of the Backstreet Boys’ Nick Cater. Leslie constantly attempted to peek out from her brother’s pop shadow through feverishly attempting to write and perform music. Unfortunately, she died of a prescription overdose in her home in upstate New York on January 31st. It’s both shocking and sad so much effort was cut short before a breakthrough was made.

Of course the real trophy Death hauled into the Great Beyond was the one and only Whitney Houston. 2012 will surely go down as the musical year we lost Houston just as 2009 is fossilized as the year we lost Michael Jackson. On February 9th, Whitney Houston was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel. While the official record states Houston died of an accidental drowning, it’s clear that such accidents are much easier for Death to take advantage of when one has a kaleidoscope of drugs in their system. The Reaper will have to work hard to evict someone from the music scene with more emotional drama than Houston to finish off the latter half of 2012. Let us hope Houston’s demise was the climax of musical deaths this year. The rest of the year will hopefully only bring the passing of obscure indie rockers still believing there are enough folks left on MySpace to check out their band.

On a softer note, perhaps the most shocking is the one we would be prone to forget about. Robert B. Sherman, the musician behind the childhood ditty “It’s a Small World After All”, also left our world. Truly this is the year the music died.