Roy Orbison. Not sure if he counts as “rock star” exactly, but I love his voice so much.
Ian Curtis, hands down
Seconded on Kirsty. One additional mitigating factor is that Kirsty gave her life to save her child from an idiot in a speedboat barreling down upon her and her children in an area clearly marked for diving. I’m literally in tears as I write this at the injustice of her death and the selflessness of her act. She was a great performer, a wonderful singer and (again IMO) one of the top 10 pop songwriters of the past 50 years, up there with Elvis Costello and the Beatles.
Elvis Presley.
Freddie Mercury.
Bon Scott.
Never mind, it was tasteless.
Ian Curtis
otherwise
Adrian Borland
otherwise
Marc Boland
You know, Stephen King had a short story about this: “You Know They Got a Hell of a Band”. It did a good job of illustrating rock and roll’s creepy side.
He’d have been my choice if Jim was otherwise indisposed.
Koxinga: That is one of my fave SK shorts.
Allen Woody, bass
Tommy Bolin, electric gtr
Keith Godchaux, keys
Jimmie Spheeris, vox and piano
Jeff Porcaro, drums
All of these guys should be mentioned, and look, they could be a band!
No one suggested Sandy Denny? She can sit in with us.
Within the spirit of the OP, then Elvis or Freddie.
If we can forget the “one night only” part, then Jim Morrison, because I think when he died he was just maturing out of the “bad teenage poetry” phase and getting into some good, bluesy stuff. As an older guy, he’d have been mellow and interesting (I’m not a diehard Doors fan either).
If we can forget the “rock” part, then Johnny Cash, of course.
Definitely John Lennon. The others are rock stars, Lennon was a rock god.
I wouldn’t bring back any of the rockers who died of drug related deaths. First because they had a hand in their own deaths. Whatever cosmic pain that drew them to repeatedly stick the proverbial needle in their arm would still be present upon their resurrection, so best to leave them in peace. Second is that by dying young, they sealed their place in rock mythology and I wouldn’t want to deny them that. So rock on in the afterlife, Elvis, Janis, Jimmy, Kurt, Keith, Mama Cass, Jim, etc.
I’d have to pick **Otis Redding ** because he was young, talented, and in the prime of his career when his plane went down. He had that bluesy southern sound about him that’s timeless. And, face it, few of the black forerunners of rock ever got their due.
Three guitar greats—SRV, Rory Gallagher and Mick Ronson.
Kurt Cobain for sure.
I’m not a huge Lennon fan by himself, but would love to see the Beatles come back from the dead.
Robert Johnson would be on the list, too, but I’m not sure if this is about people who would still be alive today if they didn’t die young. Besides, he wasn’t quite ‘rock’. Yet.
Duane Allman - his guitar contiues to send shivers up my spine. Imagine if he had another 35 years to perfect his craft!
Freddie Mercury
Marvin Gaye
If it’s just for one show I guess I’ll pick Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, a very underestimated band.
If it was for a longer period of time, I guess Kurt Cobain would be my pick, but a Blind Melon concert would be neater…
It’s rough to just pick one. I’d have to go with Stevie Ray Vaughn. Or Freddie Mercury.
If soul, gospel and country are fair game, then either Ray Charles or Johnny Cash – who didn’t do soul, but was making some of his best music right at the end.
What, no votes for James Brown? He remained active, and was probably still capable of making some good new music.
Robert Nesta Marley