# Who will be our living musical legend now that Ray Charles & Johnny Cash are gone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720 "2004-06-10T21:59:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/41 "2004-06-11T14:09:17Z")
**Tony Bennet** ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/42 "2004-06-11T14:16:22Z")
> [@Hometownboy](#): > > All Music Guide says about [Emmylou Harris]: "With the exception of Neil Young, no other mainstream star established a similarly large body of work as consistently iconoclastic, eclectic, or daring… Speaking of which… **Neil Young** Also, since Mick Jagger got a mention, you also have to give props to the guy responsible for all those great Rolling Stones guitar licks: **Keith Richards** > [@adam yax](#): > > Shouldn’t a living legend still be making music of a decent quality? I would disqualify Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis because they only seem to capitalize on what they did 50 years ago. While you may have a point with regard to Little Richard, **Jerry Lee Lewis** had a long career in Country Music after scandal killed his Rock and Roll career. Moreover, he has been touring forever (though ill health has interfered in recent years). Don’t disqualify the Killer!! Little Richard has become a self-parody, but his early work was so amazing I think you have to cut him some slack. Give a listen to the Rhino Records collection of his early stuff and it will really open your ears. Chuck Berry is often credited with inventing rock’n’ roll, but if you listen to Little Richard’s _contemporaneous_ recordings, I think you’d have to at least give him credit as co-creator. An aside: Isn’t it odd that the guys who lived the hardest lives, did the most drugs and drank the most liquor are the ones still kicking around? (Keith Richards, George Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dylan…) I mean, who would have thought Jerry Lee Lewis would be the last member of Sun Records’ “million dollar quartet” still alive? ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/43 "2004-06-11T14:21:29Z")
I’m surprised James Brown hasn’t come up yet. Thing is, the man is now completely insane. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/44 "2004-06-11T14:24:21Z")
There’s also Tina Turner…very sane, and still very cool. ---
**Author:** ![DWToml815](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DWToml815](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWToml815)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/45 "2004-06-11T14:36:37Z")
What??? Noone nominated John Tesch? ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/46 "2004-06-11T14:41:13Z")
How about these two: \*\*Merle Haggard Lou Reed\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/47 "2004-06-11T14:41:31Z")
> [@vanilla](#): > > Yes!!! Well, they’re one of my favorite groups, too, but I think the OP is looking for specific people. How about Wayne Newton? He’s played a Bond villain! Elton John, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/48 "2004-06-11T14:42:05Z")
I vote for Willie Nelson, followed closely by BB King. Reminds me of the song by George Jones - “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?” _Who’s gonna give their heart and soul to get to me and you? Lord, I wonder, who’s gonna fill their shoes?_ ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/49 "2004-06-11T16:46:27Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > [Sonny Rollins](http://members.tripod.com/~hardbop/rollins.html) is still around. He’ll always be _my_ living musical legend. > > Until he, uh, dies. “Too many notes!” 😃 My vote for a jazz legend would be **Oscar Peterson** , who is also still performing at 80+ years. Close contenders would be **Ellis Marsalis** , who has spawned one of the most amazing jazz families ever, and **Dave Brubeck** , who educated a lot of Americans (including me) about the joys of jazz. In the blues arena, **BB King** is still knocking them dead in concerts around the country and is one of the last of the old-time blues artists. **John Lee Hooker** inspired a lot of garage bands with his boogie-blues style, and would be a close contender. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/50 "2004-06-11T17:34:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > **John Lee Hooker** inspired a lot of garage bands with his boogie-blues style, and would be a close contender. John Lee died on June 12, 2001. Les Paul is certainly a musical legend, and he still does his thing once a week at the Iridium in New York City. He’ll be 89 next month. Can’t believe I forgot about him. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/51 "2004-06-11T17:46:50Z")
Oooh **Tina Turner** …most excellent nomination. Except she hasn’t had a good album, AFAIK, in yeears, but she has a voice…that voice…and stage presence and legs…and hair… Ok, she can be nominated. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/52 "2004-06-11T18:10:59Z")
**spoke-** and I are on the same wavelength (we _are_ fellow Georgians!), because my first thoughts were Jerry Lee Lewis and Bob Dylan. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/53 "2004-06-11T18:25:27Z")
Dylan…I mean, the man is a legend, truly. But for the past ten years or so he seems to be the poster-boy for the “Shadows of Their Former Selves” club. I think he really has killed a few too many brain cells, and now I just don’t know what to think of him. The bizzarro element of seeing him in that Victoria’s Secret advert really shook me to my foundations. Truly a “w.t._f_.” moment if ever there were. It’s impossible to deny the enormity of his contribution, and the fact he is still alive. But has he entered the James Brown Society of Demented Celebrities? Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Willie Nelson,…these folks (among a few others mentioned), both alive and dead, kept not only performing, but being _relevant_ (as well as coherent) to this very year. I look at the current crop of music “icons”, and I don’t see them lasting beyond 2010. I’m glad to say I was alive during the tail-end of the golden age of pop. But what the future holds, I just don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/54 "2004-06-11T18:59:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “Too many notes!” 😃 > > My vote for a jazz legend would be **Oscar Peterson** , who is also still performing at 80+ years. Close contenders would be **Ellis Marsalis** , who has spawned one of the most amazing jazz families ever, and **Dave Brubeck** , who educated a lot of Americans (including me) about the joys of jazz. > > In the blues arena, **BB King** is still knocking them dead in concerts around the country and is one of the last of the old-time blues artists. **John Lee Hooker** inspired a lot of garage bands with his boogie-blues style, and would be a close contender. Ahh, but Ornette Coleman is still alive. The influence he’s had on every bit of jazz since then is enormous . . . ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/55 "2004-06-11T18:59:18Z")
I’m going to have to go with **B.B. King**. His influence is so immense that it can’t be ignored. Every rock or blues guitarist from SRV to Jeff Beck to Flea is influenced by him. He’s been recording for more than 50 years and hasn’t slipped a bit. Have you listened to _Completely Well_ lately? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/56 "2004-06-11T20:51:29Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > **Ellis Marsalis** , who has spawned one of the most amazing jazz families ever You’re putting me on. If I had a frickin’ Time Machine, the first thing I’d do would be travel fifty years into the past, and have Ellis Marsalis neutered. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/57 "2004-06-11T20:57:55Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Oooh **Tina Turner** …most excellent nomination. Let’s not forget about Ike. While he may be insane, strung-out, a wifebeater and or megalomaniacal or some combination of all of the above, he really was one of the founders of rock’n’roll and a fantastic composer/performer in the early days. Also still around (though I’m sure not for much longer) from the Elvis and before days: Artie Shaw, Earl Scruggs, Buck Owens (way more influential than his _Hee-Haw_ fame might imply), and Quincy Jones. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/58 "2004-06-11T21:06:33Z")
A couple more: **Ralph Stanley** **John Fogerty** , maybe? The man churned out a lot of great songs. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/59 "2004-06-11T22:04:08Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > You’re putting me on. > > If I had a frickin’ Time Machine, the first thing I’d do would be travel fifty years into the past, and have Ellis Marsalis neutered. Sacrilege! But I know where you’re coming from on that, and agree to some extent. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720/60 "2004-06-11T22:19:35Z")
Willie Nelson. When Johnny and Ray died, my reaction was somber reflection and a twinge of sadness. When Willie dies, it’s going to be like losing a \*family member.\*I don’t even want to think about it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-our-living-musical-legend-now-that-ray-charles-johnny-cash-are-gone/249720.md?page=4)