Here is an idea I’ve been dwelling on, rating the rock deaths (or pop -I am an equal opportunity low life) because I want you to know at a glance what we think of those who died, their age, their abilities, the way they died – all of it in one big gulp of information. I feel bad about this, not unlike the way I used to feel after reading “Celebrity Skin”.
BB King – a good run for his money – D+
The Big Bopper – Only “Chantilly Lace” but he was soooo young – B-
Davy Jones – Heart attack at 67 – C+
Elliott Smith – ABout to enter a new phase in his career, it consistently amazes how well loved he remains and a terrific, baffling death – A
Harry Nilsson – Great songwriter, great drinking buddy – B-
Buddy Holly – At the ridiculous young age of 22, the man was growing by leaps and bounds as a songwriter, he might have been the biggest of them all – A+
Janis Joplin – One of the great blues singers – A-
Jimi Hendrix – Debatably the greatest loss of all – A+
John Lennon – Perhaps the biggest rock star of all time, murdered on the streets of new York. They don’t come much bigger – A+
Johnny Cash – He was 71 years old, so a touch on the young side – B-
Keith Moon – And he took the Who with him and that’s the truth – A
Marvin Gaye – Shot to death by his father!!! – A-
Notorious BIG – This has everything, shot to dead by friends of Tupac and only on his second album and already the greatest rapper of all time – A+
Ronnie Van Zant – And the rest of his Southern Boogie Band – B+
Sam Cooke – racially charged in a world of racial charging, this guy was the poster boy for the civilized black pop star – A
Stevie Ray Vaughan – With the potential to be one of the greatest of all time, he was just gone – A-
Tupac Shakur – A mind bendingly stupid waste, and why? Because he had to be a tough guy – A