Who Would've Stayed Cool Had They Not Died Before Their Time

I wonder if it would've anything at all like 'American Prayer'.

 

How’s Freddie Mercury not on this list? Especially when you consider how much praise and love he gets.

 

This is a variation on the
“What If ______ Had Not Died” thread.

Then, we’re only posting about the artists that we think would still be “cool”.

There’s some imaginative and creative answers.

 

Morrison would’ve been a kooky, possibly embarrassing ex-hippie. His whole stage and musical persona are so deeply rooted in the 60s, it’s hard to see him surviving punk and the 80s with his coolness intact.

Hendrix’s manner, the way he carried himself, was cool. Unlike Morrison, he wasn’t cool because of what he did but the way he did it. Coolness is difficult, though, because it’s both incredibly subjective and difficult to define. People who truly don’t give a s**t (I think Morrison gave a ton of s**ts) AND are very talented are cool. Image conscious though they were, Jimi and Keith Richards never struck me as really giving a s**t. Keith visibly does now, but he got 40 years of coolness in such that now the legend is cemented.

Surprised to not see Brian Jones on the list. I think he would have remained cool—he had the style, the attitude, the look, and the talent.

John was already doing some pretty uncool things by 1969, but I think there would always be a certain amount of coolness associated with being the founder of the Beatles and original Lead Beatle.

Also not mentioned: I think Keith Moon’s DGAF exuberance would have endeared him to every generation.

 

Loving Moon, I’m guessing DGAF, stands for ,
don’t give a F$&k. And I agree.
He was a league of his own.

 

And has rebounded to be even stronger than ever.

 

I could imagine him making at least a disco single, though.

 

Buddy Holly
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Marley.

 

Survival is my favorite, a tough, tough album...

 

Yes.
He was a rock and roll singer songwriter who had the most obvious influence on the Beatles style than anyone else.

 

2Pac

 

Yeah but I don't think he was cool in the same way Elvis was and other 50's artists. Especially not with those glasses.

 

Hendrix

And one other for me..Phil Lynott

 

Got to disagree regarding Marley. His coolness was already on the wane at the end of the 70s. His Pan-African naivety and Rastafarian beliefs are not what I consider “cool”. He was coming off like a reggae version of post-80s Bono. His music was great to the end and I respect his heartfelt beliefs, but cool? No.

 

Why is Jim Morrison on the list but not Elvis Presley? Dr. J. aren't you from Memphis?

 

Z A P P A !!!

 

Not on the list:

 

I picked Otis, Nick Drake and Stevie Ray. But who knows, I think lots of others like Sam Cooke, Joplin, Marley and Hendrix would have done well too.

In my opinion a sizable number were already “un-cool” when they died and passing away revived them. Being a serious drug and alcohol abuser takes a toll on your creativity.

 

He wasn't but that's why he would have stayed cool.
50s rebels and 60s hippies need to change or at middle age it's silly.
Buddy was natural.
His image would have allowed him to stay constant.

 

Jim Morrison in 2018 would be making Ted Nugent sound like a sensible voice of reason.

 

And yet, as much as I like the last two LPs it’s more often that I turn to Kaya for some uplifting, sunshine music of a morning - like today.

Then again, the posthumous 'Confrontation' is one of my favourites.

 

He’d already turned 40.

 

He was over 40 when he died. I find it almost impossible to imagine what Freddie would be like now. Also how Queen would have fared throughout the Grunge, Rave, Indie etc eras as they got older. A lot with Freddie would have depended on how his voice held up as he got older. Sadly we saw Freddie physically deteriorate due to his illness, but his singing voice barely did.

 

Eddie Cochran

 

To see Sid Vicious among some really big names makes me laugh.