Well all the Ramones are now gone, i mean all the 4, they should be still here they weren't that old, even Keith Richards is still here. It's sad.
Lou Reed. I'm still shocked that he's passed on. I mean, he's Lou effin' REED! And I didn't realize how great he truly was until after he died, but when he did, it really hit me. One of music's smartest and most innovative people is gone.
My mother was devastated by John's death. My father still doesn't seem to be completely over Jimi's death. At least the music will live on forever.
Johnny Cash. I still haven't been able to listen to his final recordings. I'm not sure I could handle it.
Lennon. His murder seemed so arbitrary and pointless and inexplicable. I remember so vividly where I was when I heard the news - what I was doing, how cold it was, how dim the light was, and I remember thinking, "why, why, why would anyone want to do harm to a man who makes beautiful music for us all?" Many other artist's deaths were very sad in their own way, but this one hit me the hardest. Those who died from disease or drugs or their own hand seem to be part of the course of life - unfortunate perhaps, but inevitable. But John's murder shocked me to acknowledge how cruel and random life can be. I was naive.
I wasn't a Beatles fan but when I heard of Lennons death, it was a pretty big shock and I still have the old Time and Newsweek mags from that week with cover stories. Probably the few that *did* affect me in a more personal way was Randy Rhoad's death - I was a pretty big fan at the time and ranked him right up in my top 5 guitarists under Eddie Van Halen. Stevie Ray Vaughan specifically because he was my soon-to-be ex-girlfriend's favorite musician (we had seen him barely a year before with BB King opening) and our last night out together before completely breaking up was sharing drinks in memory the night we heard he'd been killed in the copter crash. Stuart Adamson's (Big Country, Skids) death was pretty sad as I was following their website in late 2001 and their manager had posted there that Adamson had gone "missing." About a week later his body was discovered, a victim of suicide. Easily the strongest impact though was Stiv Bator, because I had hung out and socialized with him a number of times between '85 - '87. After The Lords Of The New Church absconded to the UK and Europe in disarray in '88 - '89, it seemed like he disappeared off the face of the Earth until I heard about his passing in the Summer of '90 in a issue of Kerrang! magazine of all places. Ironically, his death from being hit by a car in Paris was almost anti-climactic considering he was by a long stretch the biggest hardcore substance abuser I have ever personally known and figured he'd someday be an OD casualty.
Joe Strummer, because it was so unexpected. But I also have to say John Lennon. December 8, 1980 was a terrible, terrible night.
I was re-reading this thread. One of the members of the band teaches at the Oak Park School of Rock, and I was asked to shoot a concert by Chase Revisited. As many of the original players as possible were assembled, along with Eric Miyashiro for a series of concerts at Reggie's in Chicago. I was totally unfamiliar with Chase before this year, but came away totally impressed. These guys are no spring chickens, but damn they could play!
Man, I forget sometimes how much these guys really rocked. Horns never looked or sounded so cool, as well.
To this point.....Lennon. Shocking, sad, senseless. What a monumental loss. 2nd to that: Bonham hit me on a more personal level. I was a teenage Zep fanatic with a deposit (gift of my grandmother) on tickets for the tour supporting ITTOD. It would never be. I couldn't believe it. I wore a dark suit to school the next day. 3rd: Elvis.....my dad was devastated. I became an Elvis fan through my father that year.
Kurt Cobain. I can't stand Nirvana's music since that day. I was a big fan since Bleach and can barely bring myself to even listen to that although I've maybe circled back to 2 or 3 songs but literally maybe 3 or 4 plays in all these years and that was maybe a few months back...and anything after Bleach I don't think I've listened to since then. My wife got me the Bleach and rare tracks box set and I've never even opened it..she doesn't know but it's just collecting dust in my office. I am not personally affected by his death in that it had some sort of impact on my life...but the music just makes me sick since them. just my two bits.
Interesting that it affects you this way. I can see it, but it just affects me differently. I took them for granted when he was living. I saw them about a year before his death, here in Portland. I remember getting pissed at Kurt's harsh comments onstage, regarding Axl Rose and GnR. I sort of boycotted them after that. A year later....tragedy, and many years later I'm a fan of the music more than at any other time.
John Lennon. I was in my final undergraduate year at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, and had been a huge fan since I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan (my first 45rpm was "She Loves You" on Swan records). I had bought Double Fantasy the week it was released, and was so excited to have him making music again. That such a senseless act of violence could end his life so suddenly is tragic beyond words. In many ways, I never saw the world the same way again after that night.
John Lennon, coming right when I was at the height of my Beatles phase. Miles Davis, who'd somehow seemed ageless. Kurt Cobain, who I knew personally and who was around my age when he died
For me Jimi Hendrix. What a huge loss what would have been his next album? To me his influence on me has never left and I'm 60 in December!
