# Who's your favorite dead singer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470 "2006-06-05T13:04:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/21 "2006-06-05T15:16:56Z")
Karen Carpenter and Jim Croce. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/22 "2006-06-05T15:34:18Z")
I’ll toss a vote in fro Aaliyah. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/23 "2006-06-05T15:44:09Z")
Unfortunately lots of choices for me. I’d say: Michael Hutchence Ian Curtis Shannon Hoon Marvin Gaye Kirsty MacColl Minnie Riperton ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/24 "2006-06-05T15:49:48Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] I do miss [Vivian Stanshall.](http://www.gingergeezer.net/) [/QUOTE] plus… TUBULAR BELLS! Yeah yeah yeah, just about _any_ quote from Stanshall is going to be arcane, but there it is 🙂 To add my .02 to the list–my obligatory mention of Garcia. If you didn’t lose touring with his passing, you won’t understand why he’s on the list. (That is, he wasn’t the greatest of vocalists, but it was a great loss.) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/25 "2006-06-05T15:53:05Z")
_All_ my favorite singers are dead: Ada Jones, Billy Murray, Judy Garland, Jack Buchanan, Marlene Dietrich, the Boswell Sisters, Jack Norworth, Nora Bayes, Aileen Stanley, Frank Crumit, Bessie Smith, Cass Elliott . . . ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/26 "2006-06-05T16:24:57Z")
Michael Hutchence. _sigh_ Of course, now I have no choice but to put my INXS collection on shuffle and sulk all day. “Not that it’s any of my business, but autoerotic asphyxiation is a really undignified way to die.” [right]—Clyde Bruckman[/right] ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/27 "2006-06-05T16:41:06Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Howlin Wolf. No contest. He would eat Elvis. [/QUOTE] Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/28 "2006-06-05T16:57:48Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] Jeff Buckley [/QUOTE] Ditto. It’s almost painful to think about what he could have accomplished with that beautiful voice if he hadn’t died so young. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/29 "2006-06-05T17:08:42Z")
[QUOTE=Podkayne] Michael Hutchence. _sigh_ Of course, now I have no choice but to put my INXS collection on shuffle and sulk all day. “Not that it’s any of my business, but autoerotic asphyxiation is a really undignified way to die.” [right]—Clyde Bruckman[/right] [/QUOTE] Last time I made the rounds it sounded as if that explanation wasn’t well supported by the evidence. MH had snorted coke, called several close friends - his manager, Paula Yates (I think), and even had a row with Bob Geldof regarding Paula’s kids. I think he said something to the effect of “I can’t take this anymore” to his manager on a voice message. It sounds like he was quite depressed and possibly high. BTW, did you know that MH had lost his sense of taste? He got into a fracas with a paperazzi and hit his head on a curb. People close to him said it really affected him. Can you imagine? That had to suck. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/30 "2006-06-05T17:16:01Z")
I have been downloading alot of Peggy Lee music over the past couple of weeks, after seeing her perform on the Judy Garland Show dvd. I should add Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Ethel Merman, Eva Cassidy, Dinah Washington, Patsy Cline, Sarah Vaughn, Ray Charles, Hurt Cobain, John Lennon, George Harrison, and for some comic relief, Gilda Radner and Madeline Kahn. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/31 "2006-06-05T17:16:39Z")
Male: Otis Redding Female: Billie Holiday ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/32 "2006-06-05T17:18:51Z")
[QUOTE=supervenusfreak] I have been downloading alot of Peggy Lee music over the past couple of weeks, after seeing her perform on the Judy Garland Show dvd. I should add Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Ethel Merman, Eva Cassidy, Dinah Washington, Patsy Cline, Sarah Vaughn, Ray Charles, Hurt Cobain, John Lennon, George Harrison, and for some comic relief, Gilda Radner and Madeline Kahn. [/QUOTE] Bzzzt! Insufficiently narrowed down. You can pick no more than three. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/33 "2006-06-05T17:25:13Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Bzzzt! Insufficiently narrowed down. You can pick no more than three. [/QUOTE] Lol. :smack: Ok! Judy Garland, Eva Cassidy, and … darn it. Guess I will have to go with those two. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/34 "2006-06-05T17:38:52Z")
[QUOTE=supervenusfreak] Lol. :smack: Ok! Judy Garland, Eva Cassidy, and … darn it. Guess I will have to go with those two. 😃 [/QUOTE] God. You are _so_ gay. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/35 "2006-06-05T18:07:25Z")
I don’t want to let this thread go by without anyone mentioning Nat King Cole and Sam Cooke. Shame on you people for missing them. But that was a good call on Jeff Buckley. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/36 "2006-06-05T18:12:32Z")
Among those not already mentioned, Fats Waller. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/37 "2006-06-05T18:15:52Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] You can pick no more than three. [/QUOTE] In that case, I’ll add Warren Zevon and Kirsty McColl to my list, after Sandy Denny. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/38 "2006-06-05T18:20:15Z")
Dusty Springfield ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/39 "2006-06-05T18:31:43Z")
Voices I miss: Carl Wilson, Gene Eugene, George Harrison, Johnny Cash, and the aforementioned Freddy Mercury, John Lennon, and Roy Orbison ---
**Author:** ![Tazmanian\_Devil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@Tazmanian\_Devil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tazmanian_Devil)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470/40 "2006-06-05T18:36:46Z")
Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain and Barry White [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-dead-singer/359470.md?page=3)