Aye Rory Gallagher was an excellent musician/singer not to mention guitarist. Have all the records and one of his dvds called 'Live At Cork Opera House'. It's circa his 'Defender' album era and is a must have for any fan.
Others that come to mind are;
Richey James Edwards ( songwriter/guitarist Manic Street Preachers)- has been missing since 1995 and believed to have commited suicide after his car was found abandoned on a bridge which had a reputation for suicide attempts. Richey penned a lot of the darker Manics lyrics on albums like 'The Holy Bible' & it would have been interesting to see the Manics not selling out with the atrocious 'This Is My Truth..' album.
Stevie Ray Vaughan (American blues guitarist/singer)- died in 1990 in a helicopter crash at the young age of 35. Great live performer & if he were still alive today he'd probably still be touring.
Jimi Hendrix (needs no introduction)- I know this one is rather cliche but I can't help thinking what material he would have put out in the later decades, particularly the 90s when he had matured a bit.
Andrew Wood (former lead singer of Mother Love Bone)- Early grunge band who only released one album, posthumously after his untimely death at age 24. The album was pretty good and several of the members later became a part of Pearl Jam, namely Jeff Ament & Stone Gossard.
Kurt Cobain (Nirvana frontman/songwriter/guitarist)- Now I'm not a fan of Nirvana bar a couple of songs but It would be very interesting to see just how popular Nirvana were had this man survived. I firmly believe a lot of the hype and exposure this band got was more attributed to the fact he had commited suicide rather than there being any sensationally good albums.
Criss Olivia (guitarist in american heavy metal band Savatage)- Exceptionally gifted guitarist who died at the hands of an idiotic drunk driver in 1993 who subsequently got away with an 18-month sentence for manslaughter despite have multiple convictions in the past.
James Dewar (original lead singer/bassist in Robin Trower band)- Scottish lead vocalist/bassist who performed for Trower's most popular records including 'Bridge Of Sighs' and 'For Earth Below' as a member of the original band with drummer Bill Lordan. After the last album 'Back It Up' in 1983 Dewar's became gravely ill and spent just under 20 years confined to a hospital bed where he eventually passed away in 2001. A sad ending to a great musician and powerful voice of British rock music. What's even sadder is that to this day he is still not given the recognition he deserves. I rank him up with the very best.
John Lee Hooker (legendary American blues man)- Now this man didn't die young by any means but I would have like for him to have lived for another 20 years or so just to see how many more oustanding albums he could put out in his old age. He was almost like an unstoppable machine, making some of his very best material whilst he was in his 70s!!
Jeffrey Lee Pierce (frontman/guitarist/songwriter of Gun Club/solo)- One of my favourite all time musicians. Sadly died of a brain haemorrhage at the premature age of 36. Upon his untimely death, he had planned to begin a project in which he was to indulge into a rap fusion project (the other genre slips my memory).
Jeff Healey (blind American blues guitarist)- Really sad story with this guy. He died of cancer only a couple of years back and was only 41. Great player, even forgetting the fact he was blind! Came to prominence in the early 90s and recorded a strong string of albums from then until his untimely death.
There's loads more I'd like to list but I think this is enough!!
Others that come to mind are;
Richey James Edwards ( songwriter/guitarist Manic Street Preachers)- has been missing since 1995 and believed to have commited suicide after his car was found abandoned on a bridge which had a reputation for suicide attempts. Richey penned a lot of the darker Manics lyrics on albums like 'The Holy Bible' & it would have been interesting to see the Manics not selling out with the atrocious 'This Is My Truth..' album.
Stevie Ray Vaughan (American blues guitarist/singer)- died in 1990 in a helicopter crash at the young age of 35. Great live performer & if he were still alive today he'd probably still be touring.
Jimi Hendrix (needs no introduction)- I know this one is rather cliche but I can't help thinking what material he would have put out in the later decades, particularly the 90s when he had matured a bit.
Andrew Wood (former lead singer of Mother Love Bone)- Early grunge band who only released one album, posthumously after his untimely death at age 24. The album was pretty good and several of the members later became a part of Pearl Jam, namely Jeff Ament & Stone Gossard.
Kurt Cobain (Nirvana frontman/songwriter/guitarist)- Now I'm not a fan of Nirvana bar a couple of songs but It would be very interesting to see just how popular Nirvana were had this man survived. I firmly believe a lot of the hype and exposure this band got was more attributed to the fact he had commited suicide rather than there being any sensationally good albums.
Criss Olivia (guitarist in american heavy metal band Savatage)- Exceptionally gifted guitarist who died at the hands of an idiotic drunk driver in 1993 who subsequently got away with an 18-month sentence for manslaughter despite have multiple convictions in the past.
James Dewar (original lead singer/bassist in Robin Trower band)- Scottish lead vocalist/bassist who performed for Trower's most popular records including 'Bridge Of Sighs' and 'For Earth Below' as a member of the original band with drummer Bill Lordan. After the last album 'Back It Up' in 1983 Dewar's became gravely ill and spent just under 20 years confined to a hospital bed where he eventually passed away in 2001. A sad ending to a great musician and powerful voice of British rock music. What's even sadder is that to this day he is still not given the recognition he deserves. I rank him up with the very best.
John Lee Hooker (legendary American blues man)- Now this man didn't die young by any means but I would have like for him to have lived for another 20 years or so just to see how many more oustanding albums he could put out in his old age. He was almost like an unstoppable machine, making some of his very best material whilst he was in his 70s!!
Jeffrey Lee Pierce (frontman/guitarist/songwriter of Gun Club/solo)- One of my favourite all time musicians. Sadly died of a brain haemorrhage at the premature age of 36. Upon his untimely death, he had planned to begin a project in which he was to indulge into a rap fusion project (the other genre slips my memory).
Jeff Healey (blind American blues guitarist)- Really sad story with this guy. He died of cancer only a couple of years back and was only 41. Great player, even forgetting the fact he was blind! Came to prominence in the early 90s and recorded a strong string of albums from then until his untimely death.
There's loads more I'd like to list but I think this is enough!!
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"But me and you were not to blame
Love always returns from where it came
Back to black and in the end,
It's all the same."- Terry Allen 'Back to Black' 1996[URL="http://www.last.fm/user/mirrorball95"]
http://www.last.fm/user/mirrorball95[/URL]
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKpqmg_Xug0qMXDCJ1sdvMw
Site traffic heavy, I'm YouTubing hope" - Wire- 'Blogging' 2015
"But me and you were not to blame
Love always returns from where it came
Back to black and in the end,
It's all the same."- Terry Allen 'Back to Black' 1996[URL="http://www.last.fm/user/mirrorball95"]
http://www.last.fm/user/mirrorball95[/URL]
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKpqmg_Xug0qMXDCJ1sdvMw