If you could prevent ONE musicians death

I think Lennon comes up in these discussions because he was a global personality who was a big part of many people's life, and he was taken from us brutally.
Musically he'd been coasting for years and then not done any for 5 years and had just released a fairly bland AOR album that had a couple of great songs. There's no guarantee he would have delivered any more masterpieces, maybe he'd just have chugged along and lived on past merits like McCartney, with a core fanbase buying anything on compulsion.

 

I think it's a very interesting premise for a thread, but in a way it shows how narrowly people think of the question.

Generally the answers have been predicated on the idea that the musician recorded good music so it would nice to have more of it, but there has to be more to this than our greed as listeners. The best reason I've heard so far is whoever it was who said that Lennon had a young son. That would be a reason to argue for Sandy Denny, who left a baby daughter when she died, or for Kurt Cobain.

Another factor: suicides unexpectedly decreased after Kurt Cobain's death. If you save him, it's fair to infer that other lives will have to be sacrificed in his place. By contrast, there was a 10% increase in suicides after the death of Marilyn Monroe and - since she was also a singer - we might be able to do a lot of good to many others by saving her.

 

Good post. I picked Hendrix as he was still developing at amazing speed when he died, as opposed to Lennon who hadn't really done any groundbreaking work after POB (I do love that record tho) and was pretty much coasting (IMO of course) after 71.

To bring up the impact on the musician's immediate family tho is something I'd never really thought about, and it's a really touching point. Good stuff, Sordel.

 

Three for me:

Hendrix...Isle Of Wight Festival and then back to New York.
Zappa...talk to the doctors in the early 80’s and have them check for prostate cancer...early detection!!!!!!!
Skynyrd...obviously would either get them a NEW plane w/new pilots or get them a state of the art tour bus, before the start of that tour.

 

Nice choice but I'd redeem my favourite Mother...

 

Since the question isn't "If you could have prevented...": I'll say Bob Dylan--one of the last vestiges of reason in this world.

 

If it was up to me, I'd convince Otis Redding to drive himself and the Bar-Kays by bus to that next gig...

 

Actually, most of America felt like the world was going to hell from 1975-80, and in retrospect that doesn't seem too far off. Of course, as we learned, it could indeed get worse still. But putting that aside, some artists have a power and significance far beyond the specific records (or movies or paintings or whatever) they produce.

Hendrix was a stratospherically great guitarist. But you ask me whose work -- and mere presence on the planet -- might have done more good for humanity in the years that followed his death, it's Lennon by a mile.

 

JL

 

Paul is indeed Dead. Died in 1966. It’s obvious to anyone paying attention.

 

Not much to add considering everyone's pretty much been mentioned but:
I'd have stopped Buddy Holly from chartering a plane, saving 3 musicians

OR

I'd stop Sam Cooke from picking up a thieving part-time call girl at the bar that night, stopping the chain of events leading to his untimely demise

 

As much as I love Queen and still have not gotten over Yes with out Chris Squire,my pick would have to be Keith Emerson.It saddens me that he was so worried about his letting his fans down,that he took his own life.
I mean,what hurts more?Finding out that one of your favorite musicians can no longer play as well as he used to,or finding out that one of your favorite musicians killed himself?

 

I think John Lennon had a lot of great music left in him and I would have loved to have seen him through the 80s and 90s as a solo artist navigate those tricky waters but also for an inevitable reunion with The Beatles and divorce with Yoko.

Next on the list would be:
Shannon Noon from Blind Melon
Bob Marley who died too young

I don’t really feel as much loss for the other usual suspects....Cobain, Hendrix, Buddy Holly, Joplin, MJ, Prince etc.

 

My own?

 

Sam Cooke. He was driving through the parking lot of the Hacienda Motel where a known prostitute had just run off with most of his clothes. He was almost to the street when, for some reason, he stopped his car in the motel's driveway, put it in park, and went into the motel manager's office, accusing her of harboring the girl. A scuffle ensued and the manager shot him. His car was still in park, idling in the driveway, as he bled to death on the office floor. Had he just kept driving....

 

George Michael...great singer and composer...extremely talented and generous person.

 

Jimi Hendrix

 

Sam Cooke is a great choice.... what a tragedy.

 

Who's the artist? That painting's quite nice.

 

Otis Redding

He had way more great music ahead of him than behind him.

 

Not an easy one. There are so many transcendent musicians who died at what was not just their prime, but what seemed to be the early phase of their prime. That's why I'm not choosing John Lennon, because he already had a huge body of work and probably most of his best work.

Gun to my head, probably Jimi Hendrix. I think he was primed to go many different directions.

Glad to see lots of support for Otis Redding too.

 

John Lennon. Tragic end to an amazing human being.

 

no way is that a fair trade

 

Prince
Maurice White
Piotr Grudzinski
John Bonham
John Entwistle

...sorry, I tried for only one.