Most of those listed so far are pretty good.
One I haven’t seen so far is Jim Morrison. I think it’s hard to say what he would have accomplished had he lived longer. He’s probably be playing Vegas now.
Imagine The Rolling Stones breaking up in 1974 after It’s Only Rock and Roll. Would we have been any worse off? And I liked Some Girls!
I can’t believe I’m the first to bring up Marc Bolan (T. Rex), who died in a car crash at age 30. Would he have navigated a genius career like his contemporary/rival Bowie, or would he have flamed out into 80s irrelevance? I’d like to think the former - Bolan was a brilliant songwriter and proficient in many styles.
Jeff Buckley was awfully talented!
…as was Judee Sill.
Came in to mention him! He could have further changed the face of metal, had he lived. The plan was for him to finish out the tour with Ozzy, then go to a music academy (he’d already been accepted) and study classical guitar, then re-join Ozzy and apply his new skills to songwriting.
Also Selena. With her and Rhoads, one almost wonders if some negative force, that didn’t like Latinos or metal, was trying to suppress them. And I hadn’t known that Croce was planning to retire, but that hits me even harder – I would love to read a story he wrote!
As for Zevon, c’mon. I am and was a die-hard fan, but he cheated death so many times, I can’t have the same sense of unfairness that I have with many of these others, like SRV.
And since someone brought up actors, I think Rudolph Valentino was lucky, in a way. Very likely, he would have been one of the silent-movie stars who could. not. make the transition to talkies. And I greatly miss River Phoenix…but where would Leo DiCaprio be if they had co-existed?
Thinking about Freddy Mercury. He was still going strong even towards the end.
I don’t think cheating death or a sense of unfairness should enter into the question, although it could very well factor into someone’s motivation to name an artist. And to be fair, I did withdraw my admittedly careless nomination of Zevon when it was pointed out to me, and properly so, that even had he lived longer, in his midfifites he probably had most his best work behind him. (Although I do think he could have produced some more worthwhile music.)
Not a bad suggestion, and I think it’s the most recent death in the thread.
First mention of James Dean, who died at 24.
It is interesting to consider where Bruce Lee’s career would have went had he not died young. So many different possibilities.
More action movies? Definitely.
It’s interesting to think if he would gotten involved with mixed martial arts and even started something like UFC decades earlier.
And Antonio Inoki in Japan would have offered him millions to get involved with professional wrestling there. I mean Inoki paid Muhammad Ali millions just for one match.
I would go with his daddy.
Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention was only 31 when she died and…what a voice.
In the same tier as Karen Carpenter and Patsy Cline (already mentioned and definitely in the running) She was the sort of singer who would have kept enchanting for years I’m sure.
Lots of good suggestions.
All time, it would be hard to beat Mozart. And I’d suggest George Gershwin is pretty close. Both were prolific, they strongly influenced the future of music, and their compositions have stood the test of time.
Modern music, my vote is with Buddy Holly. He was a terribly talented, creative, and prolific at a time his area of music was growing by leaps and bounds. Died at 23. I wonder whether anyone else else had as many songs that have stood the test of time, performed over such a brief career.
Moreover, unlike some of the others suggested- like SRV - BH was active and successful in mainstream music, rather than a giant in some subset. I LOVE guitar oriented blues. But I’m not sure how many future “hits” he would’ve enjoyed - at least on the way the general public would define “hit.”
A short step below Buddy I would place Hank Williams and Jim Croce. Both were veritable hit making machines. Hard to imagine how many more hits they woulda generated if they had lasted 10-20 more years to reach the age of 40 or 50! The only reason I put them slightly below Buddy, is because I don’t think either was quite as transformative in their influence on popular music. Hank was country pop, Jim was folk pop.
Sam Cooke, Otis Redding - wow! Again, my mind kinda locks up trying to imagine what those 2 woulda given us if they lasted an additional decade.
And Robert Johnson? Sometimes I go back and forth as to how important he was. He was FAR from the only guitarist playing that sort of music at the time. The recording industry as a whole took a dive in the early 30s, and his recordings came as it began to climb back. Add in the mystery of his early death. At times I wonder if his fame is in part due to his brief flight, and how he would be viewed had he lasted longer.
Folk like Jimi/Janis/Morrison - I have a hard time imagining them independent of their self abuse. Almost hard to imagine what a 40 yr old Jimi or Janis woulda been like. I don’t know why, but for some reason I place them yet another step down. They were products of their specific times. How would they have adapted?
Interesting question.
I would add Zevon. He went a long time without great output because of his drinking, but a few years before his death he got clean and sober, and his output went up and got better. His last album was the first one to win him a Grammy. I think he had a seriously good third act left in him as he conquered his demons.
I was looking forward to him writing about old age as he got old. It would have made the process more interesting, at least.
I think if that plane hadn’t crashed, today we would think of Lynyrd Skynyrd as one of the greatest American rock bands of all time.
Second for Harry Chapin. I wish he were with us today.
Good one.
Look again, he’s been mentioned at least twice.