'Live Fast, Die Young

In rock music, dying young has famously been described as a good career move. Dead icons often sell more CDs than they ever did when they were alive.

But do rock and pop stars really die young or simply slip from public attention and die decades later, uncelebrated? A team of public health doctors from Liverpool John Moores University put the issue to the test. They assembled a list of 1,064 famous musicians, including Elvis Presley and Eminem. Then they worked out how many had died, and at what age, comparing their mortality with that of a matched sample of ordinary citizens from the US and Europe.

We all know that rock musicians hang up their guitars early, after brief lives fuelled by drink, drugs and a resolute avoidance of five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. But, say the authors, led by Mark Bellis, in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health: “Young deaths of popular musicians receive widespread media coverage, yet relatively little attention is paid to numerous premature deaths routinely occurring in the general population.” So the general impression could be a false one.

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
“Musicians can disappear from public attention as they age and deaths in older musicians may go unnoticed, leaving a disproportionate impression of premature deaths,” they say. Of the 1,064 musicians selected, 100 had died by the end of 2005 – almost twice as many as would be expected from an average group of the same age. Deaths are highest in the early years of fame, with US and European musicians alike suffering more than three times as many as would be expected in their first five years.

Elvis Presley


A rock survivor in Europe, more than 25 years after achieving fame, has a death rate slightly higher than a contemporary with a more conventional career, the research indicated. But American musicians continue to die in greater numbers. Over the first 25 years, the risk of dying is 1.7 times higher. A disproportionate number of deaths are caused by drink or drugs. In Europe, these killed 28 per cent of the musicians who had died, with drug or alcohol-related accidents accounting for 7 per cent, and resultant chronic disorders 3.5 per cent. In the US, overdoses caused 15 per cent of deaths, chonic disorders related to abuse 10 per cent, and drink and drug accidents 3 per cent.

Jimi Hendrix
Heart disease accounted for only 3.5 per cent of European musicians’ deaths but 18 per cent among the Americans. Yet the median age of death is lower in Europe - 35 rather than 42. Europeans may start their careers younger and die early of immediate insults to the system, while Americans contract degenerative diseases.





Rock stars who died young:
Sid Vicious 21 Overdosed on heroin
Eddie Cochran 21 Car crash
Buddy Holly 22 Plane crash
Aaliyah 22 Plane crash
Ian Curtis 23 Suicide (hanging)
Tupac Shakur 25 Murdered (shot)
Janis Joplin 27 Overdosed on heroin
Kurt Cobain 27 Suicide (shot himself)
Brian Jones 27 Drowned
Jim Morrison 27 Officially recorded as a heart attack (various cases of death have been offered including drug overdose, respiratory illness and natural causes)
Jimi Hendrix 27 Believed to have asphyxiated on his own vomit after drinking wine and taking sleeping pills
Marc Bolan 29 Car crash
Jeff Buckley 30 Drowned
Patsy Cline 30 Plane crash
Karen Carpenter 32 Heart failure (due to anorexia)
Keith Moon 32 Overdosed on anti-seizure medication taken as part of an alcohol treatment programme
Elvis Presley 42 Heart attack
John Lennon 40 Murdered (shot)
Marvin Gaye 44 Shot by father during argument
Freddie Mercury 45 Aids
Frank Zappa 52 Cancer
John Entwistle 57 Overdosed on cocaine
Ian Dury 57 Cancer
George Harrison 58 Cancer
Dusty Springfield 59 Cancer

Live Fast, Die Young: 20 Great Artists that Never Reached 30

Live Fast, Die Young: 20 Great Artists that Never Reached 30

The phrase Live fast, die young and leave  a good-looking corpse, originally spoken by actor John Derek in Nicholas Ray's Knock on Any Door (1949), emphasizes how unfulfilled promises have always been fascinating and intriguing for many of us. While some great artists lived up to their full potential, sometimes through decades of fruitful careers, others have passed away long before that, leaving many of us wondering which masterpieces might have lost along with their elder years. Following are 20 great artists that enlightened our souls with their art for a short time, but signed-off to rest in peace before reaching the age of 30.


1) Jean Vigo

French film maker Jean Vigo contributed to poetic realism in film in the 1930s and influenced the French New Wave of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He died of Tuberculosis on October 5, 1934 when he was 29.

2) Egon Schiele

Austrian painter Egon Schiele is well known for his twisted body shapes repeating in many of his paintings and drawings. Schiele became one of the notable exponents of Expressionism but died of Influenza on October 31, 1918 when he was 28.

3) Janis Joplin

In 2004 American singer and songwriter Janis Joplin was ranked by the Rolling Stone magazine #46 on a list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. She was a heroin addict and died of heroin overdose on October 4, 1970 when she was 27.

4) Kurt Cobain

American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter Kurt Cobain was co-founder of the Seattle based rock band Nirvana and their leading singer. Even though there are many different versions for what really happened with that shotgun on April 5, 1994 the official version is that Cobain shot himself to death when he was 27.

5) Brian Jones

British musician Brian Jones was a founding member, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist of British rock band The Rolling Stones. Jones drowned in his own private swimming pool in Sussex, England on 3 July 1969 when he was 27.

6) Jim Morrison

American singer, poet, songwriter, writer and (frustrated) film director Jim Morrison, also known as The Lizard King and Mr. Mojo Risin', was the founder, leading singer and lyricist of the legendary rock band The Doors. Considered by many as the greatest, most charismatic and influential figure in rock history, Morrison ended up with very few friends and a heart attack while bathing in a Paris hotel room on July 3, 1971. He was 27.

7) Jimi Hendrix

American guitarist, singer and songwriter Jimi Hendrix is considered as one of the greatest and most influential guitar artists in rock music history. According to Dr. Bannister who attended the star at the time of his death Hendrix was drowned in his own vomit, almost entirely red wine served at an earlier party. The full circumstances which led to his death, however, have never been fully uncovered. Hendrix was 27.

8) Jean Harlow

American film actress Jean Harlow was one of the most prominent sex symbols of the 1930s. Also known as the Platinum Blonde and The Blonde Bombshell, Harlow starred in several films, mainly designed to showcase her magnetic sex appeal. She died of uremic poisoning and kidney failure on June 7, 1937 when she was 26.

9) Sharon Tate

American film actress and Golden Globe-nominated Sharon Tate was one of Hollywood's most promising upcoming stars even before her marriage to genius film director Roman Polański. She was murdered on August 9, 1969 by the Charles Manson gang. Tate was 26 years old and two weeks from giving birth at the time of her horrific death. This famous photo (from John Gilmore and Ron Kramer's Manson: The Unholy Trail of Charlie and the Family) shows Tate on the murder day.

10) Georg Heym

German poet Georg Heym is known for his outstanding groundbreaking expressionist poetry. He drowned in a frozen lake during a skating trip while trying to save his friend Ernst Balcke. It was January 16, 1912 and the genius poet was just 25.

11) James Dean

Double Oscar-nominated American film actor James Dean became a cultural icon following his roll as Jim Stark in Nicholas Ray's monumental film Rebel Without a Cause. He played two more pantheon rolls (Cal Trask in East of Eden and as the Jett Rink in Stevens' Giant) but was killed in a car crash accident at the age of 24. Dean was one of the most talented and original style actors Hollywood has ever seen. He was the first actor to receive an "after death" Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Actually, Dean the only actor ever received two such nominations.

12) Judy Tyler

American film actress Judy Tyler appeared in the 1957 film Bop Girl Goes Calypso but is mostly remembered for her co-starring with Elvis Presley in the movie Jailhouse Rock. After completing her part of the Presley movie filming Tyler and her husband Greg Lafayette went on a vacation. They were killed July 4, 1957 in a car accident north of Rock River, Wyoming. Tyler was only 24 when she died. She was so young she never got to watch any of her only two films.

13) River Phoenix

American film actor River Phoenix was an Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated and was listed on John Willis's Screen World, Vol. 38 as one of twelve "promising new actors of 1986". On the Halloween morning of October 31, 1993 Phoenix died of speedball (mix of heroin and cocaine) overdose outside a Hollywood night club named the Viper Room. He was 23.

14) Ian Curtis

British vocalist and lyricist Ian Curtis joined the new wave band Joy Division in 1976 and quickly became their undisputed leader. Years after his death Curtis is still a major source of inspiration and a subject for many other artists. Curtis hanged himself in his own kitchen on May 18, 1980 after watching Werner Herzog's Stroszek and listening to Iggy Pop's The Idiot. Amongst suggested reasons for his suicide are epilepsy related problems and failure of his marriage. He was 23 years old.

15) Dominique Dunne

American actress Dominique Dunne appeared in several made for television movies, television series, and films but was most known for her role as Dana (the oldest daughter) in Poltergeist (1982). Dunne was strangled into coma on November 4, 1982 by her ex-boyfriend John Thomas Sweeney after she refused to reconcile with him. Sweeney, then a popular Los Angeles chef, strangled Dunne in the driveway of her home. She died a few days later, at the age of 22.

16) Buddy Holly

American singer-songwriter and rock and roll inventor Charles Hardin Holley aka "Buddy Holly" is considered one of the most influential artists in pop music history but only lived to see about one and a half years of success. He was described as "the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll" and in 2004 ranked #13 on a list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time by the Rolling Stone magazine. He died in an airplane crash on February 3, 1959 on his way to Fargo, North Dakota. The plane took off in light snow and gusty winds at around 12:55 A.M., but crashed after only a few minutes.

17) Sid Vicious

British punk musician John Simon Ritchie also known as Sid Vicious was the bass player of the Sex Pistols and one of the most prominent prophets of the punk-rock decade. He died of heroin overdose on February 2, 1979 at the age of 21.

18) Charles Sorley

Scottish war poet Charles Sorley volunteered for military service in England during World War I and arrived at the Western Front in France as a lieutenant in May 1915. He ranked Captain at the very early age of 20 but was shot in the head by a German sniper at the Battle of Loos on October 13, 1915 and died instantly.

19) Divya Bharti

Indian film actress Divya Bharti born Divya Om Prakash Bharti was a popular Indian film actress in the early 1990s. Bharti was already a shining star in 1990 when she was just 16 years old. In 1992 she appeared in more than 14 Hindi films which was at the time a record for a newcomer to the Hindi film industry. Bharti's career was ended in April 5, 1993 when she mysteriously accidentally fell off a 5-storey apartment building in Mumbai. She was 19 when she died.

20) Tara Correa-McMullen

American actress Shalvah McMullen, better known with her stage name Tara Correa-McMullen, was mostly famous for her role as gang member Graciela Reyes on the CBS TV series Judging Amy. McMullen had just about enough time to co-star with Martin Lawrence in a first feature film - Rebound - but was murdered on October 21, 2005. She was just 16 when she died.