OBITUARIES: (Click on More to view all articles): 2,000 Attend Singer's Funeral

PLANO, Texas (AP) — Drowning Pool lead singer Dave Williams was remembered Sunday as a man who was full of life and loved what he did.

More than 2,000 people, many of them Dallas metal-rock fans, attended Williams' funeral. They cheered at a video clip that showed performance photos and honoring a bandmate's wish that they give Williams a final round of applause.

"He was very passionate about music, and so knowledgeable," said the band's guitarist, C.J. Pierce. "He could walk into any place and light it up. He was 100 miles per hour nonstop. That was the beautiful thing about him — he was so full of life."

Williams, 30, was found dead in his bunk on the band's tour bus when the band arrived at a Holiday Inn in Manassas, Va., Wednesday afternoon.

The band had come from Indianapolis as part of the Ozzfest concert tour.

An autopsy did not determine the cause of death. Toxicology test results are pending.

Pierce said there had been nothing unusual about the last night of Williams' life.

"People have been asking, and I want everyone to know, that night was no different than any other — it was actually pretty tame," he said.

Family friend Larry Landers told the crowd that he commended Williams for reaching his goal of being a rock musician.

"He loved what he did — how sad it is that so many of us cannot do that," Landers said.

Hometown Boys Drummer Martinez Dies

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Jesse Martinez, drummer for the conjunto musical group Hometown Boys, died Saturday after suffering a brain aneurysm a day earlier. He was 34.

Martinez, the third brother in the group to die, was stricken just minutes before the band was to go on stage, Tejas Records executive vice president John Whipple told the San Antonio Express-News.

Tragedy has struck the band before.

In January 1998, accordionist Joe Martinez, an older brother of Jesse Martinez, died of a heart attack while jamming with his former bandmates at a Houston Tejano club.

Joe Martinez, who had left the Hometown Boys in late 1997 to form Joe Martinez and Dream, also was 34 when he died.

In October 1997, another older brother, percussionist Roman Martinez Jr., Jesse's older brother, died of cerebral palsy. He was 45.

The band was founded in 1970 in Lubbock as El Conjunto Internacional, and its members have changed over the years. The band became known for foot-stomping Tejano/conjunto polkas.

The band renamed itself the Hometown Boys in 1990, developed a loyal following and became affectionally known as the Homies.

The group was later inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame alongside Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Butch Hancock and Joe Ely.

At the 1997 Tejano Music Awards, the band's song "Joe's Special No. 10" was named best instrumental.

Palm Beach Opera Conductor Dies

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — Anton Guadagno, artistic director and principal conductor of the Palm Beach Opera for the past 18 years, has died. He was 79.

Guadagno died of a heart attack Friday night in Vienna, Austria, according to a statement from the Palm Beach Opera. He had conducted "Otello" in St. Margarethen, Austria, the night before his death.

A native of Italy, Guadagno had for the past 30 years conducted operas at the Vienna Staatsoper, where he was a resident conductor.

He also had served as music director at the Philadelphia Lyric Opera; principal conductor for the Cincinnati Opera; director of the Conservancy and Symphony of Arequipa, Peru; music director of the International Opera Season of Bellas Artes in Mexico City; and director of the Opera Nacional of Lima, Peru.

He also was musical director of Monterrey Opera in Mexico, where he met and conducted famed tenor Placido Domingo.

Guadagno held degrees in orchestra conducting, composition and band instrumentation from the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini in Palermo, Italy, and the Conversatorio di Santa Cecila in Rome. He later attended the Salzburg Mozarteum, where he studied under Herbert von Karajan and won a first prize for conducting in 1948.

He has conducted performances at some of the world's foremost opera houses, including New York's Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, the Paris Opera and London's Royal Opera House at Covent Garden.

Survivors include his wife, Dolores, and a son, Steven, who is also a conductor.

Funeral services are pending.