# Hypothetical: Thirty more years of music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 24, 2025, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263 "2025-07-24T06:34:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/41 "2025-07-25T03:22:09Z")
He didn’t die, but I would’ve loved to have had a new Billy Joel album every few few years since he retired from recording in 1993. ---
**Author:** ![Happytree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happytree/32/3555_2.png) [@Happytree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happytree)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/42 "2025-07-25T03:45:30Z")
It’s gotta be Selena. She had barely broken into the mainstream when she was murdered. A lot of people think she was set to be the next big thing. Hendrix is my second pick. He was just getting started. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/43 "2025-07-25T04:03:41Z")
Jeff Porcaro. Only 38 when he died and one of the best, and most in-demand, drummers on the planet. Although he had achieved much in his career, I would have given anything to hear 30 more years of his playing. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/44 "2025-07-25T04:31:36Z")
I disagree—I believe John Lennon belongs on that list. No, he may never have reached the stratospheric fame of his Beatles years again, but I believe he was on the verge of surpassing his solo output. _Double Fantasy_, released just weeks before his murder, wasn’t a swan song—it was a reawakening. After a five-year hiatus focused on domestic life, Lennon was recharged. He hadn’t stopped writing—just releasing. By all accounts, he’d been stockpiling material and was gearing up for a full creative return. _Double Fantasy_ got mixed reviews, but it had strong tracks, and more importantly, it showed where he was headed: more mature, reflective music with real emotional weight. Had he lived, I think his next albums would’ve been even stronger—more confident, more exploratory. And I wouldn’t rule out collaborations with Paul and Ringo. Maybe even George, though George always carried around more of the Beatles baggage. Lennon wasn’t done—he was just _Starting Over_. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/45 "2025-07-25T04:52:22Z")
Jim Croce is my pick. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/46 "2025-07-25T04:56:54Z")
Jimi Hendrix or John Lennon. Two people I feel would have moved on to new ground if they had lived longer. I have to sadly disagree with Buddy Holly. He did a lot of great work in the fifties but rock was about to change and there’s no reason to assume he would have been able to keep up with the changes. Look at Chuck Berry. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/47 "2025-07-25T05:41:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I have to sadly disagree with Buddy Holly. He did a lot of great work in the fifties but rock was about to change and there’s no reason to assume he would have been able to keep up with the changes. Look at Chuck Berry. Things were already changing by the time Holly died and unlike others who started in the rapidly dying genre of Rockabilly, he was changing along with the new trends. He showed more growth in four short years than Chuck Berry did over his entire career. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/48 "2025-07-25T06:08:10Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Things were already changing by the time Holly died and unlike others who started in the rapidly dying genre of Rockabilly, he was changing along with the new trends. He showed more growth in four short years than Chuck Berry did over his entire career. This is my take, as well. Holly was already exploring different styles and genres when he died. If any of the early rock ‘n’ roll stars of the 1950s would have had a good chance of remaining relevant and vital in rock music once the Beatles and the British Invasion hit, I think it would have been Holly – who would still have only been 27 when the Beatles appeared on _The Ed Sullivan Show_. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/49 "2025-07-25T06:23:02Z")
Band: Badfinger Solo: Jeff Buckley Skynyrd was cut down too soon, but they managed to eek out about 30 extra years anyway. If Morrison were still alive, he’d be surly night assistant manager/cashier at a Denny’s in Barstow, sitting behind a cash register scribbling terrible “poetry” on napkins. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/50 "2025-07-25T06:34:30Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > The California rock band Jellyfish. > > They lasted from 1989 to 1994 and put out only two albums. > > [Jellyfish: the tumultuous story of the great lost band of the 1990s | Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/features/jellyfish-their-tumultuous-story) _Bellybutton_ was a fantastic album, but I didn’t care much for the follow-up. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/51 "2025-07-25T16:44:35Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > If any of the early rock ‘n’ roll stars of the 1950s would have had a good chance of remaining relevant and vital in rock music once the Beatles and the British Invasion hit, I think it would have been Holly Ask yourself this, did any of the early rock ‘n’ roll stars of the 1950s remain relevant and vital in rock music once the Beatles and the British Invasion hit? I feel the answer is no. And I don’t feel it’s realistic to assume that Holly would have been the exception if he had lived. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/52 "2025-07-25T16:50:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Ask yourself this, did any of the early rock ‘n’ roll stars of the 1950s remain relevant and vital in rock music once the Beatles and the British Invasion hit? Pretty much, no, which is literally why I said what I said. Compared to his peers, Holly was more creative and experimental, and that’s why I feel he _could_ have adapted to a changing music scene. Obviously, we’ll never know, but that _is_ the entire point of a thread based on hypotheticals. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/53 "2025-07-25T17:51:38Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Ask yourself this, did any of the early rock ‘n’ roll stars of the 1950s remain relevant and vital in rock music once the Beatles and the British Invasion hit? That’s a ridiculous question since the British Invasion (and Bob Dylan lyrically) essentially invented Rock music. Buddy Holly could have created his own genre of music or moved into another genre all together like Folk or Country (like Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Wanda Jackson, Bobby Darrin, Dion, not to mention his bandmate Waylon Jennings). Speaking of Jennings, he was just one of the many young artists whose early records were produced by Buddy Holly who (with “the Cricket Sound”) could very well have rivaled Phil Spector or Brian Wilson as the most influential producer of the 1960s. He launched his own record label a full ten years before the Beatles did. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/54 "2025-07-25T18:06:50Z")
My first thought was [Michael Hedges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hedges), but he was 43 and had achieved quite a bit of success/recognition before he passed on. Along the same lines as Buddy Holly perhaps: [Eddie Cochran](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Cochran), who died at 21. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/55 "2025-07-25T18:07:07Z")
Clifford Brown. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mFWbgarIlN0/hqdefault.jpg "Rare Clifford Brown Video from the Soupy Sales Show, 1955") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFWbgarIlN0) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/56 "2025-07-25T18:11:22Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Along the same lines as Buddy Holly perhaps: [Eddie Cochran](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Cochran), who died at 21. Eddie Cochran could have been America’s Jimmy Page. Like Page, he was a brilliant and prolific session player and producer. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/57 "2025-07-25T18:12:00Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > That’s a ridiculous question since the British Invasion (and Bob Dylan lyrically) essentially invented Rock music. If you’re saying that Chuck Berry wasn’t playing rock music and Bob Dylan was, we have very different opinions on what rock music is. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/58 "2025-07-25T18:12:30Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > This is my take, as well. Holly was already exploring different styles and genres when he died. And let’s not forget that the tour he was on included Ritchie Valens, who was one of the earliest people introduce Latino musical styles into the rock scene in the 50s. Who knows what a few months of them hanging out together might have produced? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/59 "2025-07-25T18:13:29Z")
Chuck Berry played Rock n Roll. Dylan wrote the kind of lyrics that would set Rock apart from Rock n Roll. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263/60 "2025-07-25T18:30:07Z")
How about Mozart? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-thirty-more-years-of-music/1021263.md?page=4)