Musicians Gone Too Soon

[slooroo]

Can be death related or just got out of the industry early. I'll start with some obvious ones.

Syd Barrett: I think what Pink Floyd did under the Roger Waters led era (Dark Side, The Wall) is amazing but you always have to wonder what world we'd be in if Syd stayed with Floyd and his vision stuck with the band longer. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is so trippy in a cool way. It's hard to say whether Floyd is correct that Barrett had schizophrenia or Barrett's family is correct in that he just wanted to escape from the life of a public rockstar but either way Syd left the music world so soon.

Kurt Cobain: Nevermind is one of the GOAT albums and I'm still at times amazed at how fresh and haunting Nirvana can sound even when I'm a bit tired of grunge in general. Kurt's suicide just really left aftershocks in rock music I still don't know if it's ever fully recovered from. Apparently the next Nirvana album was supposed to feature more strings and softer tones influenced by the early blues music he was listening to and it's a shame we'll never see what that would've sounded like.

John Bonham: It feels weird to think I need to list Bonham because Led Zeppelin released so many albums but I think actually Zeppelin was on the verge of transforming in so many new ways and we never got to see it completed because of Bonham's death. I don't think the changes would've pleased traditional Zeppelin fans but I still wish I could've heard it.

The Notorious BIG: I love the explosive power of Biggie's performance but I think his songwriting was only maturing as he was developing more as an artist. It's unfortunate he was killed so young because I think his greatest music yet was soon to come and now it never will.

[aimee]

John Lennon

[orange26]

Layne Staley, Chris Cornell, Kurt Cobain, Syd Barrett, Mike Alexander(Evile), Cliff Burton, Freddie Mercury, Hillel Slovak, Dave Williams(Drowning Pool), Joey Jordison, Paul Gray, etc. come to mind.

[slooroo]

Going with some more I have in mind.

Eazy E: Eazy released quite a bit of music but a good chunk of his post-NWA career involving feuding with former NWA guys like Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. Eazy finally buried the hatchet with Cube and wanted to reunite NWA for another album. On top of this Eazy had a great taste for artists. Ruthless Records would've been even bigger if Eazy kept signing great talent. Really sad the man died from AIDS.

2Pac: Pac is in a similar realm where a lot of his Death Row era mindset was dedicated to fighting East Coast rappers like Biggie. He left Death Row but he seemed intent on just feuding with Dre and Snoop too. If Pac didn't die it would've been nice to have seen some peace be brokered and maybe an older, more mature Pac could focus on writing songs similar to Dear Mama again.

Ronnie Van Zant: He was only 29 when the plane crashed and Lynryd Skynryd were on top of the world. The sad thing is I have to wonder where he would've took Skynryd from Street Survivors that had plenty of great songs. Sadly we'll never know.

Cliff Burton: 24 was crazy young. While Metallica obviously only continued to grow without him I have to wonder if Burton's presence would've kept Metallica in a more thrash oriented direction instead of the changes The Black Album made.

[slooroo]

Thought I'd keep going.

Dead: The story of Dead (and early Mayhem) in general is a nightmare. The man clearly needed help he never got and was possibly even encouraged to commit the suicide that ultimately took his life. At 22 he's become a legend in terms of metal vocalists and yet almost all of his recordings are from various live shows and not in the studio. I think Mayhem would've went in so many new directions if he lived though.

Euronymous: In the same vein Euroynmous of Mayhem was only 25 when he was killed by Varg Vikernes. Now fairly it doesn't sound like Euroymous was a nice guy in many regards but he was a very interesting guitar player and he does deserve his flowers in creating that iconic early Mayhem sound. Mayhem definitely would've evolved differently if Euroynmous was still around (or would've just broke up.)

Jimi Hendrix: I avoided going for this one right away but it's definitely noteworthy. Actually the most fascinating thing is that we won't know what Hendrix intended before he died because the last album he made is currently unreleased. There seems to be a lot of odd disagreements about what to do with the album which seems to be why we haven't heard it. Unfortunately it may be some time longer before we know what it sounds like but we know Hendrix thought it might've been some of his best work yet.