[mbriant]

Quote:

Your sense of history doesn't go very far back.

Perhaps, but tragedies which occured before my lifetime don't seem quite as tragic to me personally. It's like the difference between someone you know and someone you don't know dying.

 

[SiBurning]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant Perhaps, but tragedies which occured before my lifetime don't seem quite as tragic to me personally. It's like the difference between someone you know and someone you don't know dying.

Good point. I didn't mean anything by that. Just needed an excuse to vote for none of the above.

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiBurning I once asked my band conductor what was the name of the composer that died of syphillis. He looked up, confused, for a moment, then responded "all of them". Many tragic, premature deaths for a very long time.

The only composers I know of to have died of syphilis were Schubert, Hugo Wolf and Scott Joplin, although at one time some historians believed that Beethoven's deafness might have been caused by congenital syphilis. Syphilis was a very deadly disease in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and very much feared the way aids is today. It was also the cause of death of the painter Manet and Al Capone who was so needle phobic that he refused the treatments offered him in prison.

 

[Mr.PD]

I voted Buddy Holly.
Mostly because that was the only one named that I actually liked his music. I almost voted Hendix because of his influence on future music. But I wonder how influential he would have been had he lived longer and we all could see the decline of his talent as he got older or cleaned up. It seems that a lot of those "great" artists begin to suck if they get off the drugs. Not all of them I know, but a lot do.

 

[zotjen]

I voted for Janis Joplin. I feel that there was so much untapped potential in her that the world never got to experience. I also think the position of women in the Rock industry would be somewhat different today if she hadn't died prematurely.

Quote:

For me, the biggest tragedies (they're equal) in the whole of music history are the premature death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the death of Richard Wagner.

With regard to classical music (particularly opera), I would say the biggest tragedy is all the years Verdi spent in "retirement" instead of composing, something he was obviously still very capable of doing.

 

[dgardner]

And all along I thought it was the loss of the Bridge Over Trouble Water master tapes...

 

[Homeless]

while i can understand why people would vote for lennon and hendrix etc...i wasnt around to 'feel' the situation, i do respect what they contributed to the industry as a whole, but my vote goes to curt cobain because i remember what it was like and the shock i felt when the news hit the tv.

 

[PSmith08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zotjen With regard to classical music (particularly opera), I would say the biggest tragedy is all the years Verdi spent in "retirement" instead of composing, something he was obviously still very capable of doing.

Perhaps he said all he meant to say.

 

[viator122]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus I'd like to hear from the Hendrix voters as to their reasoning. Unlike Elvis and Jim Morrison, for instance, who left behind large bodies of work (espicially Elvis), Hendrix was just coming into his own. Same could be said about Janis Joplin, I suppose, but although she had an interesting voice and so forth, she never amazed me the way Jimi did. Does this more or less sum it up for the Hendrix voters?

Well, I voted for Allman, but I think my logic was similar to the Hendrix and SRV voters. Like I said above, Elvis, Lennon and Bonham had produced large bodies of work. Had Elvis stuck around, doesn't it seem somewhat likely we would have seen him doing long-term Vegas engagements? If Lennon hadn't died, yeah, we might have gotten a Beatles reunion, but IMO playing old material during a reunion tour does not compare with the loss of material that never saw the light of day. Even Zeppelin had been around long enough to give us plenty of material before Bonham's death. SRV, Allman and Hendrix were just getting warmed up at the time of their deaths.

 

[wakeride74]

You forgot the singer of my all time favorite band!

BRADLEY NOWELL - SUBLIME

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSmith08 The death of Buddy Holly is my vote. "The day the music died." Of course, that statement is predicated on an over-romanticized view of 50s rock-n-roll, which had more in common with country/western/gospel than anything else. I do not share that view, but the death of Holly was a big cultural event.

Finally someone mentioned Buddy Holly!

Cliff Burton gets a nod for me.

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakeride74 You forgot the singer of my all time favorite band! BRADLEY NOWELL - SUBLIME

I didn't mention him for a reason - oy

 

[Blainethepain]

I second Ian Curtis. Joy Division will always be top of the list for me.

 

[Bunnyears]

None of the things on the poll. Worst tragedy was the premature death of Gustav Mahler.

 

[3DCadman]

The death of Mary Hansen of Stereolab - Hit by a truck while riding her bike.

She possessed an angelic voice which countered perfectly to Laetitia Sadier's cool lead.

Stereolab will never be completely the same without her, although Margarine Eclipse is a great album.