Battle of the Dead Young Rock Stars.

And before you ask, John Lennon did not qualify. We're looking at people who died before they were 35 or so.

Is this poor taste? Yes, yes it is.

Imagine what he would have done had he lived.

He seriously would have changed music.

It's rather remarkable how much of an impact on music (and instrumentation) he had in his short life.

Never mind "he seriously would have changed music", he seriously did change music!!...:)

My second choice would have been Kurt Cobain. Sure Mudhoney, the Melvins, other bands were better than Nirvana, but Nirvana gave hair rock the death knell it fully deserved.

He was starting to veer in a funk direction.

Imagine if Jimi was the king of funk, and not George Clinton?

Yes there was Band of Gypsys (and I just have to say that although Buddy Miles is a good drummer, Mitch Mitchell was much better suited to Jimi), but what about all the rumours of Jimi and Miles jamming? And there is a record out there (supposedly) with Jimi and Tony Williams Lifetime jamming together. I would have loved to have seen Jimi explore more harmonic structures.

He definitely would have done more, but he did so much for music in such a short time.

...but you forgot Jimbo.

...Don McLean is a DUer.

n/t

I was quite young when Jimi and Janis died, I don't even remember the stories.

because tht category mentioned his dad Tim Buckley - who I seriously love and still listen to him when ever I think about him. But when did Jeff Buckley die and what did he die of? Don't tell me it was an OD too?

He was 30.

Kind of like the Bruce and Brandon Lee deaths.:(

Could be wrong, though.

But being that Kurt Cobain and Nirvana really changed music for the 90's he would be my second choice....

Jimi Hendrix has to be it since I was bearly born when he died and we are still listening and being infulanced by his music, I don't know if we will say the same about Nirvana in 20 years...

:P

Still, had to go with Ian Curtis. ;)

of a 'dead' Welsh rock star?
Let's be smug.

:7

That's always made me crazy, I mean...where'd he go?? :shrug: Wish I could write a screenplay, there's a goldmine of a film in there...;)

Fans of obscure indie rock see him everywhere. I, myself swear he was tending bar in Wanaka, New Zealand. I saw him!

:)

Any of you seen "24 Hour Party People"??? Amazing look at Joy Division, and Ian Curtis too...

Wow! That was a super role, but until you mentioned it (hadn't seen the movie since it came out) I forgot that Hannett was Andy Serkis!!! How cool!!!

I'm tired of folks who think he's cool

He just doesn't figure in my mind, I guess.

Or is that an urban legend?

metallica still doesnt use busses.

So much about Morrison is so legendery, even if Jimi was a more talented musician.

Clarence White
1944-1973

Gram Parsons
1946-1973

Duane Allman
1946-1971

There's never enough space in a poll.

or are you trying to short circuit flaming?
Then I'll have to flame about that:evilgrin:

:evilgrin:

any plausible deniability at this point, but I will still deny flaming.
(I've learned my lesson well from the current pResident)

Edit-- By the way, I saw Clarence White with the Byrds a couple of months before he got killed so I had to bring his name into contention.

...what about John Bonham, dead at 32? Frankly, if it came down to an actual "battle"---you know, fisticuffs, a cage-match---Bonzo would've wiped the floor with the lot of them. Can you imagine? There they all are, all locked together in a cage. There's Morrison, whipping out his cock and waving it around, maybe pissing on someone; there's Curtis in the corner, moping and tying his noose; there's Cobain, waving away an approaching Bonzo, going, "Hey dude, lay off---my stomach's seizing up on me"; there's Hendrix, desperately trying to squirt enough lighter-fluid on his Strat, so he can use it as a weapon. But resistance is futile, because HERE COMES BONZO. The Beast---and he is enraged. Also drunk. Very drunk. Bottle of vodka in one hand (his third of the night), four sticks in the other. He breaks these twinks over his friggin' massive knees like breadsticks. Some go willingly. Buckley, hell, he's warbling "Whole Lotta Love" as the mighty Bonham drowns him with the remnants of the vodka bottle. Others put up some slight resistance. Morrison, of course, tries to poetry his way out of it: "Dig you, big drinker. Hey man, got sumthin' I gotta tell ya---Five to One Baby, one in five/No one here gets out alive---" A meaty fist into Jimbo's whiskey-paunch floors him for the last time. Sorry, Lizard King: This IS the end. Your ballroom days are over, baby... Finally, only Hendrix is left standing. Well-schooled by the U.S. military, he's used his wiles to avoid Bonzo until this, the final showdown. He aims his machine gun at the massive drummer but---oh wait! It's only a guitar! Bonzo guffaws loudly, and vomits on the burning Strat, dousing the flames.

But then, something very unexpected happens. Bonzo hesitates. He even takes a step back, and allows Jimi to pick up the now smoldering, smelly guitar. Jimi retrieves his weapon and, WITHOUT EVEN RETUNING, mind you, he plays "Little Wing," and the beauty of the song has the Great Beast Bonzo falling to his knees, weeping. Soon thereafter, the two rock gods smile warily at each other, and shake hands. Then they turn their attention to the two women in the cage, who have heretofore made themselevs as unnoticeable as possible: Karen Carpenter and Janis Joplin. The rest is history.

:yourock:

...of the death-match ping-pong tournament between Sandy Denny and Selena!

you rock.

Best. Post. of. the. Day.

or yesterday as the case may be.

gajillion years match up. :hi:

because he wasn't a star.

Turns out they weren't.

... to add to some of the outrageous claims in this thread, I have to justify my "safe" choice.

I think it will be a long time if ever before another person of the significance of Hendrix comes along.

There are lots of guitarists with incredible techical ability. There are also a few really creative guitarists with a mind broad enougth to redefine what a guitar can do. But there are only a handful who are both. :)