December 20, 2004

Blues musician Son Seals, who was born in Osceola (Mississippi County), died in Richton Park, Illinois, from complications of diabetes. His left leg had been amputated below the knee in 1999 because of the disease. Two years before that, his ex-wife shot him in the face while he slept, resulting in months of reconstructive surgery. Finally, fire destroyed his motor home, and his custom-made guitar was stolen. He was survived by fourteen children from one marriage and various long-term relationships over the years. A singer who became a driving force behind a brief but stormy rejuvenation of the blues throughout the mid-to-late 1970s, Seals dominated the Chicago blues scene as no one has since.