Grayson Lang / Grayson at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

Sandman built Morphine's signature sound around his own invention: a two-string slide bass played through a deep, murky baritone voice, a combination distinctive enough that bassists from Les Claypool to Josh Homme have named him as an influence. Before Morphine he played in the blues-rock band Treat Her Right, and he founded the recording studio and label Hi-n-Dry. He died of a heart attack performing on stage in Italy in 1999, at 46.