In short, who died b4 their time? We love their stuff now... was it loved back then, when they could appreciate it? Is their work loved even more now in their absence?

I'll start...

I mentioned River Phoenix in an earlier thread, but not in this catagory. He was brilliant. He was nominated 4 an Oscar (at age 16!) 4 his portrayal of a teen who was shuffled around from city 2 city, house 2 house because his parents were on the run from the FBI 4 their radical college ways... "Running On Empty". He was wonderful in "Stand By Me". He had such promise. I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news that he died. I was going 2 a Halloween Party and heard the news on the radio. He died of an overdose of drugs on the streets of Hollywood in front of the Viper Room, a club owned by Johnny Depp. His brother Joaquin (another Oscar nom, 4 Gladiator) phoned in the 911 call... it was so sad.

James Dean comes 2 mind almost immediately... he was a young "fresh" face in Hollywood. He died outside of Shandon, California in a single car accident. His Porsche Spyder couldn't make a turn, or he oversteered at a high rate of speed... supposedly his head was decapitated as a result. Hwy 46, is still considered an unsafe means in which 2 travel by, and sadly is a venue I must take in order 2 visit my parents!!!

John Lennon at age 40, 2 young 2 go...had so much 2 offer us.

Freddy Mercury of Queen... same reason.

Marilyn Monroe ...

Janis, Jimi, Mama Cass all 2 young...

Can u name more?

I immediately thought of River Phoenix. I think that Freddy Mercury was truly brilliant before he died. Marilyn, yes I agree.

JEFF BUCKLEY hands down

JAMIESTARR said:

OH YEAH...the top of the list. Good one, Jamie.

Tiny Tim

jim croce just really started getting there

i think lennon was realized


otis redding just evolving

June7 said:

I remember too. I was in my dorm room and my friend from accross the hall came over to tell me.

My Own Private Idaho and Stand By Me are probably my favorite movies of his. Such talent.

For a serious answer:

Buddy Holly

Minnie Ripperton... "loving you is easy cuz you're beautiful".

Nick Drake.

Beautiful damn voice, wonderful songs.

shausler said:

Agree with all three of these...

IceNine said:

Definitely!!

And this may seem an obvious one, but, what do you think about Kurt Cobain? OK, his brilliance was probably realized, but you can't help but wonder, what if...

I remember feeling at the time that his death was our generation's JFK-like defining moment. (Although I'm not sure to this day how I feel about that...) Will we all remember where we were when we heard the news?

I was working temporarily for my mom's employer. My job was to reorganize their filing system to prepare it for microfiche. I listened to headphones all day. I was listening to RadioK (local college radio station) and they kept announcing that they had big news and to stay tuned, but they had to wait til it was confirmed to announce it.

Once they did, the next song they played, which they later just chocked up to coincidence, was the Smithereen's "I'm Sick of Seattle." I don't remember the exact lyrics, but the sentiment is basically, I'm sick of grunge, I'm sick of all this stuff, blah, blah, blah. Truly bizarre radio/life moment.

Dudley Moore just popped into mind. . . . such a talented pianist . . . .

Jeff Buckley
Donny Hathaway

Selena

In all honesty, not many people had heard of her prior 2 her death, but she was huge in the latin community.

My wife had some of her cd's when she was with "Los Dinos". One time, she showed me a video of her being interviewed and saying how nice she was. I shrugged, eh, ok.

A couple years later she was murdered by the president of her fan club. Then it was national news... and of course, the movie.

I think she could have crossed over even b4 her death caused her "crossover" album 2 hit Number 1 on the pop charts... we'll never know.

Everyone who were mentioned above by the other members, plus Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Tupac, Biggie, Aaliyah, Left-Eye, Donny Hathaway, Billie Holiday, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke. Rosalind Cash, Michelle Williams, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Chris Farley (SNL alumnis). There are many others I can't think of at the moment.

yeh river phoenix came to mind first...i was in new orleans...i remember coming back to the hotel and thinkin tit was some kinda bad halloween prank or something...sad, sad, sad...

Selena would have definitely wiped the floor with Jennifer Lopez, and others. She was truly had superstar status. Multi-talented to the hilt! Minnie Ripperton was the bomb! (Her daughter is a regular on SNL).

Brandon Lee

Tupac Shakur...Not only a gifted poet, but a good actor as well. He showed much promise. One could conclude that he could have strongly been an actor with a wide range...

Bruce Lee...Just ran a thread on Bruce last week. I watched Game Of Death a few nights ago and just said to myself...}WOW". The difference betweeen him and the fake Bruce Lee was like the difference between night and day. He had it all, the moves, the charisma, the charm, the style, the humor,the facial expressions and the serious work ethnics.The work he left us was awesome...but I think had he not departed from us so soon, we would have seen some martial arts brillance raised to the 3rd power.

Brandon Lee

Sharon Tate "Valley of the Dolls" Charles Manson victim

Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens

Stevie Ray Vaughn

and the BeeGee's baby brother...Oh whats his name?

i listen to Janis now and realize that baby gurl was at the top of her game - she did it her way and didn't miss a thang..

and lets not 4get Jon-Jon (yes though not actor or singer John F. Kennedy Jr..was something special)

Stevie Ray Vaughn

I think his music was just moving into the mainstream. What a brilliant guitarist.

He could have definitely reached legendary status.

June7 said:

BOB MARLEY!
Jimi Hendrix

Neversin.

Randy Rhoads

TAFKAP ('93-'00)
[This message was edited Sat Dec 7 21:45:34 PST 2002 by origmnd]

Jeff Buckley for sure... Brilliant artist. Its very sad that he left this world at 22 years old.

Also Randy Roads, amazing guitarist...

can i add some people who are completely underrated and its just SAD...


Bette "Bathouse Betty" Midler

Alan "Hawkeye" Alda

Confederate Railroad

Ian Curtis. Not because he wasn't a genius already. He had already realized his goals. But most of the world hadn't yet. Too bad most people still don't know about him.

ScarLett said:

Andy Gibb