Other Disqualifications:
Tupac and Biggie- Their music became more popular AFTER their death and possibly because of it. Besides, I am convinced they are alive and well somewhere in Cabo suckin' down margaritas.
Dimebag Darell-famous for being shot on stage. However his music wasn't really influential and he is more famous for how he died.
Keith Moon- Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend were really the creative heart of The Who.
Honorable mentions:
Brian Epstein- Not a musician, but he was the manager of the Beatles until his death in '66. That was when the Beatles' egos flared and they started fighting. We might have had more Beatles without his death.
Duane Allman- named #2 guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone, would he be better than Clapton if he lived? They at least would have made more music together than Layla
Aaliyah-Just on the verge of superstardom. By all accounts very hardworking and down to earth.
5. Robert Johnson-
the only member of the "Forever 27" club on my list. If you don't know him, the song "Crossroads" is by him as well as about him. His guitar skills came about so fast people thought he sold his soul to the devil for his talent. His genius is also that he never denied it. He died young after only a couple of albums and under mysterious circumstances. Blues artists of the same era made 3 times as many albums and are largely unremembered. The little but of music Johnson made influences rock legends of today.
4. Marvin Gaye- 
He had just on a Grammy for his song "Sexual Healing" before his clergyman father murdered him. Very sad.
3. Selena- 
not really my type of music, but she was just becoming a star when she died. She had a lot more music in her, and unfortunately her death has sold more J. Lo albums than her 3.
2. Bradley Nowell- 
Sublime had just signed with a major record company. He had an amazing voice and songwriting talent. I so wish we could've had a couple more albums from him and his band.
1. Buddy Holly-
He went down early in his career and the Beatles themselves attribute all their success to his influence. The "Beatles" name itself is in honor of the "crickets" who backed up Buddy Holly. Where would his career have gone if he stuck around?
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2 comments:
You need to do more research, at least on 2 claims.
Dimebag was very popular in the metal crowd, and spawned a huge number of followers. Many metal guitarists looked up to him and immitated him. He is absolutely not more famous for how he died than for being an excellent heavy metal guitarist. Whether or not his best years were past him or not is debatable. He contributed a ton and possibly already had his time, so he might not have made your list on that qualification.
Additionally, Brad Nowell and Sublime might not have contributed much more to music than they already had. Not being signed to a major record label early on didn't stop them from releasing a lot of music that became very popular. And actually, I would argue that Kurt Cobain and Nirvana had much more potential left in them than Sublime did. You can take the continuing (and undeniable) success of surviving member (of Nirvana) Dave Grohl as evidence, and base that against whoever the fuck those guys that survived in Sublime are. (I mean really, can you name anyone else in Sublime? Louie the dog doesn't count.) Also, Sublimes career picked up a lot after the attention gained from Nowells death, which might disqualify them on the same grounds as Biggie Smalls/Tupac. From wikipedia: "By the release of their Greatest Hits compilation in 1999, it had been noted that the band had released as many albums after Bradley Nowell's death as they had when Nowell was still alive."
Try bud gaugh and eric wilson as the other members of sublime? Long beach all stars and long beach short bus i think were the bands they have had (that are successful in the genre they are apart of). Sublime just barely got a chance to touch the main stream. This would be like if roger waters died right before Pink floyd's meddle hit the shelves. While it attracted mainstream attention and put pink floyd on the map it was no darkside of the moon. Bradley nowell was a much less limited song writer then kurt cobain blending several genres. It's painfully evident you care more about hype then actual musical composition.
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