# Which entertainer's legacy would have benefited most from an early death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2013, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601 "2013-01-09T08:06:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/61 "2015-08-22T23:59:28Z")
(This zombie still has some life in it.) R.E.M. after Automatic for the People. ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/62 "2015-08-23T00:02:23Z")
Gotta second Bill Cosby. WE HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU BILL!!! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/63 "2015-08-23T00:11:01Z")
As much as I love Electric Light Orchestra, **Roy Orbison** should have passed before Jeff Lynne got his mitts on him. **George Harrison** –same reason. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/64 "2015-08-23T00:18:21Z")
I disagree with the guy above who said “Sting”. I like practically all of Sting’s stuff. How about Michael Jordan, before he joined the Wizards? ---
**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:** [August 23, 2015, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/65 "2015-08-23T01:01:02Z")
Tom Clancy if he had died in 1993 instead of 2013. His early books were great. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/66 "2015-08-23T01:51:48Z")
Ronald Reagan ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/67 "2015-08-23T02:14:14Z")
Eric Clapton would still be God if he died in 1970 ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/68 "2015-08-23T03:14:47Z")
Neil Young in 1977: Just after he sang “It’s better to burn out than it is to rust.” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/69 "2015-08-23T04:57:03Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > (This zombie still has some life in it.) > > R.E.M. after Automatic for the People. You do know that Bill Berry almost died twice when he was in the band - Rocky Mountain spotted fever in 1989 (yes, it was from a bizarre gardening accident) and an onstage brain aneurysm in 1995 (the drummer exploded onstage). He left the band in 1997; the group itself disbanded in 2011 and Berry himself just turned 57 last month. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/70 "2015-08-23T04:58:11Z")
How about Nirvana? Oh, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/71 "2015-08-23T06:09:03Z")
Sinatra after his collaboration with Jobim. Ozzie after Sabotage. Pryor after his second standup film. PeeWee before masturbating and of course Hitler before invading the USSR 😛 And really have to disagree about Sting. Watch that 1985 film…its awesome. Check out the live vid for Burn for You. Its amazing thank you Omar Hakim…I’d link but I’m on my phone. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/72 "2015-08-23T11:03:01Z")
I missed this thread the first time around, it’s an interesting topic. I’d suggest Peter Frampton in the mid 70’s. Not that he’s done anything to tarnish his reputation that I’m aware of, but I sure thought he’d do more than he has. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/73 "2015-08-23T11:25:54Z")
Eddie Wilson. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/74 "2015-08-23T13:24:24Z")
**God** , after creating the Earth & Adam and Eve - think of all the squabbling that wouldn’t have happened. (just kidding **God** , I love your work, past and present and what you’re working on for the future) ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/75 "2015-08-23T13:31:55Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > If the members of U2 died after finishing _Achtung Baby_. > [@handsomeharry](#): > > I know I’m dreaming. > > If I am interpreting this dream correctly, there is actually somebody on here, besides me, who doesn’t love all of the crap that they’ve putting out for the last 20 years? Count me in as well. I can actually take or leave _Achtung Baby_ myself, but I recognize it’s a great, important album. > [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Anytime after the last episode where Theo graduated from college to about 4 years ago. Absolutely. It’s easy to forget how kind of revered Cosby was right up until the dam broke. I remember other comedians talking about seeing him touring standup (well, usually sit-down at that point, but still) in 2012 or so, when he was still doing shows, and talking about how he’s still got it, he’s a legend, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/76 "2015-08-23T16:33:45Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Woody Allen prior to Soon-Yi. I don’t care, what he did ruined his reputation. You wish \*death \*on Woody Allen? A bit harsh, don’t you think? OK, I know, that’s not at all what you said. And I am sorry, but this whole thing has been grating on me for a while. Not picking on you in particular, it was just the last straw. Can we all just ease off the poor guy a bit? My problem with Woody is that for some reason he thinks that he has to make a movie every year. That leads to a lot of forgettable movies. Woody, how about taking your time on a really good one instead? But I suppose that it’s his end of the agreement that he made with the Devil, back when he negotiated for the inspiration to make\* Annie Hall\* and _Manhattan_. > [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Bob Dylan. Don’t hit me. I won’t hit you, I was thinking the same thing. Another deal with the Devil situation. Didn’t Bob get the inspiration for his early career as part of a deal, where in return he pledged to tour constantly for the next five hundred years? I believe that I’ve heard him say something to that effect in interviews. Sometimes I make up an imaginary version of the world to improve on the real one, where Bob doesn’t die in that crash in 1966, but retires, and becomes a recluse in some unknown location. Many years later, maybe just about now, he sends one letter. Probably to some unknown scholar at some university, who has written a book of analysis of his music. He invites the scholar to come visit him. Just before the dude arrives, Bob dies from old age. It turns out that this whole time, he has been making music. He had left instructions to have it all destroyed, and his wife (who turns out to be Joni Mitchell, who in this version went missing in the seventies, and joined Bob in his hideout) and a crew of Oompa Loompas that he has been keeping around, destroy it all in a fire. It was mostly crap, but no one ever gets to know. Well, they destroy almost all of it. The scholar manages to pull one album out from the blaze: _Blood on the Tracks_. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/77 "2015-08-23T16:43:14Z")
The Rolling Stones, after Exile on Main St. Woody Allen right after Love and Death. But it could have been any time after Bananas. Woody was a comedian. Ever since he thought he was obligated to be an artist he has been a failure at it. The movies aren’t even funny anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/78 "2015-08-23T16:47:04Z")
BTW, I actually have a theory that it wasn’t the Devil in either of those cases, but Loki, pretending to be the Devil. Loki seems more like the kind of guy of who would trick the muses out of a bag of divine inspiration in a bet, and then make deals for it with a bunch of poor artists and performers, just for the shits and giggles. … Wait, there’s a movie script in here somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/79 "2015-08-25T00:59:42Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > My problem with Woody is that for some reason he thinks that he has to make a movie every year. That leads to a lot of forgettable movies. Woody, how about taking your time on a really good one instead? Au contraire. even a so-called “bad” Woody Allen film is better than most of the stuff that gets put out there. I am extremely grateful he puts out one a year, and he has many, many really good ones. > [@drad\_dog](#): > > Woody Allen right after Love and Death. But it could have been any time after Bananas. Woody was a comedian. Ever since he thought he was obligated to be an artist he has been a failure at it. The movies aren’t even funny anymore. :dubious: Of course, I’m the guy who found _Interiors_ to be a load of giggles. Not to derail this into a Woody Allen thread. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601/80 "2015-08-25T01:13:19Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I missed this thread the first time around, it’s an interesting topic. > > I’d suggest Peter Frampton in the mid 70’s. Not that he’s done anything to tarnish his reputation that I’m aware of, but I sure thought he’d do more than he has. Peter Frampton is still a monster on guitar. I have a fairly recent live DVD of his (granted, it is heavy on his greatest hits) but he can still rip on guitar and sing well enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-entertainers-legacy-would-have-benefited-most-from-an-early-death/646601.md?page=5)