I forgot - Frank Zappa, saw him, and Jeff Buckley (seperately of course).
Michael Hutchence (autoerotic asphyxiation) INXS
Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott (both od’d, I think) Pretenders
Just about everyone I’ve seen in concert is still alive, except for Johnny Cash, Gatemouth Brown, and Marty Robbins, who all died of natural causes.
I feel for my kids, who seem to have lost more of their favorites than I have, and my faves are old!
I’m sure there are several, but the only ones who jump to mind right now are the three aforementioned Ramones, and Material Issue frontman Jim Ellison (suicide).
Phil Lynott/Thin Lizzy opening for Queen and another dead guy … among many others mentioned above.
Kurt Cobain
Dave Schulthise (aka Dave Blood) of The Dead Milkmen.
Dizzy Gillespie
Maynard Ferguson
Hey, I saw both of those, too!
Freddy Mercury (Queen)
Stevie Ray Vaughn
John Entwhistle (The Who)
… but not Keith Moon, who died a few years before I saw them.
Being that I’m only 24, and grew up in a rural state with hardly any venues around, the fact that I can name one person I find amazing, but of course it was while in college. And then again, naming him a “rock star” might be a bit flattering, but I’m counting him nonetheless.
Wesley Willis.
A timely tidbit that I’ve shared on this board previously…
On Halloween Night, 1996, I saw Sublime perform in Arcata, CA when Brad Nowell was still with us.
He was 10 kinds of trashed and couldn’t finish a single song in their set.
Freddie Mercury
John Entwistle
Bobby Sheehan (Blues Traveller)
Layne Staley (Alice in Chains)
Carl Wilson (Beach Boys)
Alan Collins (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Cozy Powell (ELP)
Linda McCartney
Steve Marriot (Humble Pie)
John Panozzo (Styx)
Not exactly rock stars, but…
John Denver (plane crash)
Michael Hedges (car wreck)
Janis Joplin
John Entwhistle (but not Keith Moon, more’s the pity)
Jerry Garcia and Pig Pen
Clarence White
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Rick Danko
Jimi Hendrix
Janis Joplin
Jim Morrison (The Doors)
Keith Moon/John Entwhistle (The Who)
George Harrison (Concert for Bangladesh)
Richard Manuel/Rick Danko (The Band)
Jerry Garcia
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Phil Ochs
Mentioned previously:
Zappa
Entwistle
Not mentioned previously: Harry Chapin. My dorm at Indiana U held a reception for him after his show there, so we got to meet him in person. A heart attack would have gotten him pretty soon if the car wreck hadn’t done it first. He was raising millions to fight world hunger at the time. A truly noble man.
I’d forgotten about Cozy Powell, and speaking of drummers, also the great Pip Pyle, whom I saw with Gong.
In the non-rock category, I saw a Nina Simone concert shortly before she died. She was clearly not well.
I saw Morphine play at a street fair on June 6, 1999. Two shows later, on July 3, Mark Sandman had a heart attack on stage and died.
Here’s the rest of my list:
Ray Charles
Warren Zevon
“Lonesom Dave” Peverett (Foghat)
Rod Price "
Steve Clark (Def Leppard)
Leon Wilkeson (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Rick Danko (The Band)
Richard Manuel "
Daryl Sweet (Nazereth)
Dimebag
Several, including the Ramones, but the one that sticks with me most is:
Jeff Buckley - drowned.