[citation needed] "People Who Died" was used in the 1985 Kim Richards film Tuff Turf starring James Spader and Robert Downey Jr., which also featured a cameo appearance by the band.
Carroll was born to a working-class family of Irish descent, and grew up in New York City's Carroll was a basketball star in high school, but also developed an addiction to While still in high school, Carroll published his first collection of poems, After working as a musician, Carroll returned to writing full-time in the mid-1980s and began to appear regularly on the spoken-word circuit. Starting in 1991, Carroll performed readings from his then-in-progress first novel, In 1978, after he moved to California to get a fresh start since overcoming his heroin addiction, Carroll formed The Jim Carroll Band, a The Jim Carroll Band released a single, "People Who Died", from their 1980 debut album, Carroll died of a heart attack at his Manhattan home on September 11, 2009, at the age of 60. The Jim Carroll Band released a single, "People Who Died", from their 1980 debut album, Catholic Boy. Lyrics to 'People Who Died' by Jim Carroll: Teddy sniffing glue, he was 12 years old Fell from the roof on East Two-nine Cathy was 11 when she pulled the plug On 26 reds and a bottle of wine Bobby got leukemia, 14 years old It is the fifth track on his 1980 post-punk album Catholic Boy. “People Who Died” is poet and bandleader Jim Carroll’s most famous song. At the time of his death, he was in ill health due to The title is self-explanatory. The album featured contributions from Allen Lanier and Bobby Keys.