Doug Sahm - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Sahm died of a heart attack in his sleep in a motel room in Taos, New Mexico, on November 18, 1999.

A posthumous album, The Return of Wayne Douglas, was released in 2000. Sahm's son, Shawn Sahm, continues in his father's footsteps as the leader of his band, Shawn Sahm & The Tex Mex Experience. Father and son appeared together on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1968. The surviving members of the Texas Tornados (Augie Meyers and Flaco Jimenez) reunited with Shawn Sahm on the 2010 release, Esta Bueno. Doug Sahm's other son, Shandon, played drums for The Meat Puppets from 1999 to 2002, and is their current drummer as of 2010.

In October 2012, a group of musicians—including Dave Alvin, Steve Earle, Delbert McClinton, Boz Scaggs, and Jimmy Vaughan among others—played a tribute to Sahm at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park. The group, performing under the name "Doug Sahm's Phantom Playboys," commemorated Sahm's lasting impact on the Americana music scene by playing several of his songs.