Which musician would have achieved more had they not died prematurely?
Which musician would have achieved more had they not died prematurely? 19 votes
3 votes
7 votes
3 votes
2 votes
1 vote
3 votes
Comments
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John Lennon
I forgot Tupac
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Marvin Gaye
I don’t know the careers of everyone listed but in polls like this, I tend to vote for those who did t have a huge catalog of music. I voted for Marvin in spite of that.
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Jim Morrison
And Biggie. But there could be an entire category to rappers dying prematurely.
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Jimi Hendrix
Its Hendrix. Lennon wasn't that young when he died.
It's pretty hard to say what direction guys would've gone though.
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Buddy Holly
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Jim Morrison
@RaceBannon beat me to the punch but I was going to say the most glaring omissions here are Buddy Holly and Otis Redding.
Harrison doesn't deserve to be on the list. He was a spent force artistically by the early 70s and had a few nice come back tracks in the late 80s produced by Jeff Lynne but still noting special. He was retired by the time of his death basically.
Same for Lennon. He was done artistically by the lost weekend and Double Fantasy was a pleasant comeback in 1980 but doubt he had much left in the tank. Maybe there would have been a reunion tour or not. But in terms of great future Lennon material I'm not buying it.
Hendrix was slipping a bit by the time of his death and hadn't released any new studio LP's since 1968.
Jim is the clear choice. He went out on top with L.A. Woman being some of the Door's very best work.
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Jimi Hendrix
I lean more towards Jimi, with Cobain a close 2nd…IFL'ed the Lizard King, but he was so fucking out of control when they hit, I can't visualize what a straight Jim would be like, writing and performing. From what I've read, Jimi was dissatisfied with what he was doing, and looking to branch out at the time of his demise. He had dipped his toes into so many genres (Psychedelic, R&B, blues, funk, soul), I feel it would have been really interesting to see which direction(s) he went.
Kurt the same, with his alleged fondness for pop music.
I concur with Yella's take on George and John.
WATBS, it has to be someone from Club 27 or younger for me. There aren't too many second-acts in R&R, they either burn out or fade away…
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Jim Morrison
Argh forgot about Buddy Holly. He would be my #2 vote after Jim in the non-rapper division, despite his vote for Sideshow Bob.
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Buddy wrote and produced
Would have been interesting
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Jim Morrison
Ritchie Valens is an interesting consideration too since he was only 17
