And now I see that Ravi Shankar is 90 years old. He wouldn’t necessarily be classified as a rock musician, but his status as a rock star is certainly viable.
Agreed.
The user NickM explains it better on this site than I could.
FWIW, not everyone in the list of Premature Deaths of Rock Stars was a rock star, or a rock musician, or even a performer.
For example, Stu Sutcliffe, the original bass player of The Beatles, was never a rock star. He left The Beatles before they had their first record, and he then enrolled in an art college. He died about a year later.
Tommy Tedesco was a very successful studio musician and composer, but never a rock star. He died at age 67, and not age 53 as indicated in the list.
Jaco Pastorius was a jazz musician, not rock.
Joe Meek was a record producer, not a performer. In the music business, yes, but not a rock star.