On the 8th of February 1990 American singer and songwriter Del Shannon died of self inflicted gunshot wounds. On the advice of his doctor, Shannon had begun taking the antidepressant Prozac on January 24. According to his widow, while testifying to the Food and Drug Administration in 1991 :
He was very much in charge of his business, but within days after he started taking Prozac I noticed a personality change in him. He developed severe insomnia, extreme fatigue, chills, racing heart, dry mouth, and upset stomach.” “Suicide was totally out of character for my husband. There was no note and no goodbye.”
Del Shannon scored the 1961 UK and US number 1 single “Runaway,” and many other Top 40 singles, including “The Wanderer.” In 1963 he became the first American to record a cover version of a song by the Beatles. His version of “From Me to You” charted in the US before The Beatles version did. Prior to his suicide he had been working with Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne and was rumoured to be replacing Roy Orbison in the Traveling Wilburys.
In 1999 Del Shannon was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.