Jimi
And Janis. Both 27 when they died, I believe. WAY too young.
River Phoenix, I think, was really tragic - I’m not sure he qualifies as an “artist” but I do think he was a very talented young man with a ton of potential.
:dubious: Do you say that because he was an actor, or because he was not, in your opinion, a great actor? I could see someone making an argument for the latter, though not the former.
wipes tears from face
Thanks, lola, I haven’t heard that one before.
Of all the famous people I’ve never known, Jim Henson is only one of two I truly look up to, and I truly miss in a personal way.
Canadian artist Tom Thomson who died at the age of 39, under what some view as mysterious circumstances.
Federico García Lorca, killed at 38 during the Spanish Civil War in 1936, allegedly because of his homosexuality. That one always breaks my heart. He was a buddy of Dalí’s… would have been interesting to see what he came up with.
Frank Zappa
Hank Williams (29)
Good one Ogre, I’ll add Patsy Cline (30)
I have three of his paintings up in my apartment (obviously reproductions). I hadn’t realized he was so young when he died.
John Candy could’ve made me laugh a lot more, I’d wager (he was 44).
A little research has the Classical Composers as:
Franz Schubert (31)
Vincenzo Bellini (33)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (35)
Henry Purcell (35)
Georges Bizet (36)
Felix Mendelssohn (38)
Frederic Chopin (39)
Just imagine the music that has been lost due to these early deaths!
Gilda Radner
Elliot Smith (34)
Douglas Adams (49) IMO, that was too young.
Selena had some potential and was finally getting mainstream notice, until her life was taken by a crazy fan. Given that Jennifer Lopez played her in a movie, and now she’s putting out Spanish language CDs, who knows what Selena could have done? ETA: In the movie that is Selena’s voice dubbed in, not J Lo’s voice.
I can’t believe I didn’t think of DNA. His is the only celebrity death I’ve ever cried at.
Mama Cass Elliott
Angela Carter and Teresa Hak Kyung Cha. Both are rather obscure outside of their disciplines (literature) but they were both brilliant writers. It’s sad that we’ll never know what else they might have written had they not died before their prime.
Yes; I agree.
Couple of Texas legends on the list: Janis Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Selena. We should also add Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper, too. And I never knew that Hank Williams didn’t even make it to thirty!
ZC, you mean that Selena’s songs were lip synced by J-Ho, right?
Freddie Mercury
Buddy Holly
John Lennon
Harry Chapin at 39.