Big Green Head of Charlie Parker
Kansas City, Missouri
Charlie "Bird" Parker was a jazz genius and hipster hero. When Charlie died watching TV at age 34 the coroner mistook him for a man twice his age (Charlie was also a heroin addict).
Charlie didn't really like Kansas City, but that's where he grew up, and in March 1999 the city unveiled a big green head of Parker. Titled "Bird Lives," with a missing piece in the back of the head shaped like Africa, the head was sculpted by Robert Graham, who lived in a windowless fortress-house with film star Anjelica Huston. Parker had been dead for 44 years.