NDRU said:

Ozzy Osbourne -- Rest In Peace to that poor dove, bat, & army of red ants!

Sly Stone -- Drugs cost him the original Family Stone line-up and his damn mind.

Motley Crue -- Nikki Sixx's death because of a drug overdose and still resurrected (!), Mick Mars' body is still falling apart because of the rough R&R drug lifestyle of the 80's, Vince Neil's infamous car accident cost the life of one of his friends in THAT car, Tommy Lee's problems within marriages/relationships with women, trouble with the law, getting his ass kick by Kid Rock .....may I say more?!?

TonyVanDam said:

Ozzy (god love 'im!) and Motley Crue aren't any great loss IMO (except for the poor girl's family), but Sly? Definitely a sad story.

NDRU said:

Well, to be an annoying correctionist, Mozart was far from unknown in his day, having played to kings and queens as a child with his sister, and being reknowned throughout Europe for his composing and all round musical skills until the day he died. His reknown wasn't like it is now, but Wolfgang, if not particularly rich, was definitely 'big' .

If you define 'trainwreck' as in a great talent wasted by such a stupid, pointless demise, then for me it has to be Jimi Hendrix. That man had so much left to give, even if arguably his main 'work' in showing the full possibilities of the electric guitar and volume had already established by him. He is perhaps the only 'modern' artist whose continued existence I believe might have altered the course of music history, especially in the '70s.

I would also add Charlie Parker, who died at 34 after years of drink and drug abuse, but probably more than Hendrix, he'd already made most of the mark he was destined to make.

And imo Elvis, with a good song in front of him, would always have had something good to give, and his life should not have ended the way it did. And imo he must bear the main weight of responsibility for that.

And then there's Brian Wilson, who very nearly went the same way as Elvis, but now his story , for once in rock/ pop history, seems to have a happy ending, after many 'wasted' years.

C'est le vie

NDRU said:

you forgot Courtney Love and maybe Lauren Hill?? What is wrong with Lauren? Does anyone know?

Miles said:

haha I knew someone would correct me about Mozart. I said that he was unknown but the truth was he was "buried in an unmarked grave" and that he was considered a has-been. Still he died way too young and under-appreciated.

Charlie Parker--great addition, a tragic story.

Also Brian Wilson. His story does have a happy ending, though Brian is far from healthy. He's learned to live life again to some extent, and to make music, too.

I added Elvis later, and to me that's a great trainwreck. He did decent stuff until he died, but to me the 60's were pretty much wasted years until one single night of TV which gave him a couple good years afterwards. So outside of 1968-70, only the pre army years are really, really good and that's a waste.

great points!

Miles said:

Yeah, without a doubt, that's a top contender. His skills outside of his guitar playing were just as great IMO, and he was getting better until the day he died.

An incredible loss.

Cobain, some would say good riddance, but to me he had barely started. Who knows, maybe he'd have released a bunch of shitty albums, but the two proper ones he did were among my favorites of all time. I'd like to have found out if he could have changed into something, like he once dreamed. He said once that he'd like to go from Please Please Me to Sgt Pepper.

Part of that for me is timing. I was just so into Nirvana at the time

courtney love -- forever fucked up. she reminds me of an animal with distemper. at first it's funny, and then it's sad, and then you need to put it down.

theAudience said:

For those who know the story of what went on with this group, you could call it everything that went wrong on the Apple Label.

The Macarena By Los De Rio

Anxiety said:

Anx, you're definitely knocking it out the ballpark with that one. So much for Hootie & The Blowfish.

Lauryn Hill & Dangelo

BABY HUEY.....SO MUCH PROMISE, BUT HIS WEIGHT & DRUGS DID HIM IN. HAD THE BACKING & BLESSING OF CURTIS MAYFIELD NONETHELESS

TonyVanDam said:

Actually Mick Mars has a degenerative spine disease

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...pondylitis
[Edited 2/22/08 1:35am]

woogiebear said:

Are you talking about the dude who sings 'Pop Lock & Drop It'?

Volitan said:

Correct.

DANGEROUSx said:

He's talking about this guy...

DANGEROUSx said:

NO!!!!! TRY "LISTEN TO ME" & "HARD TIMES"!!!!!

LATE 60'S/EARLY 70'S FUNK.....NOT NO "POP LOCK & DROP IT" BULLSH*T!!!!!

FuNkeNsteiN said:

YEAH.....HIM!!!!!