BlindLoop

5 Musicians Who Died too Early

October 27, 2010 Media

Readers , kindly consider , this list is based on author’s personal opinion and the word “early” does not refer to the age but the fact that we never had enough of following musicians and they have much more what world has seen.

Micheal  Jackson

On the top spot in our list is heart throb of millions,The King of Pop Micheal Joseph Jackson.Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His contribution to dance , pop and music industry is priceless. He died at the age of 50 when carried to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center by 911. His death was caused by cardiac arrest but sparked many controversies. Finally Los Angeles County Coroner declared Jackson’s death a homicide caused by the combination of drugs in his body. Before his death, Jackson reportedly had been administered propofol, along with two anti-anxiety benzodiazepines: lorazepam and midazolam. Law enforcement officials investigated Jackson’s personal physician, who told investigators that he had been trying to wean him off propofol.

Jackson’s saw immense fame, popularity and stardom that no one else has ever seen in music industry. He was an international star with fans all over the globe.His total lifetime earnings from royalties on his solo recordings and music videos, revenue from concerts and endorsements have been estimated at $500 million; some analysts have speculated that his music catalog holdings could be worth billions of dollars.This speculation however is contradicted by financial documents obtained by the Associated Press, which showed that as of March 31, 2007, Jackson’s 50 percent stake in the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog (his most prized asset) was worth $390.6 million and Michael Jackson’s net worth was $236 million.Billboard has estimated that Jackson has generated at least $1 billion in revenue in the year following his death.

Like every star his career was no short of controversies, Jackson was accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old child, Jordan Chandler. But later on dispute was settled outside the court.

Kurt Cobain

This American born song-writer, musician, artist and off course lead singer of band Nirvana died at the young age of 27. Cobain was at the height of his career when he was found dead of a shotgun wound to the head with a suicide note.

Cobain established Nirvana in 1985, and changed Seatle music scene forever.”Smells Like Teen Spirit” from their second album Nevermind(1991) gave the band astonishing success and recognition.1994 was toughest year for Cobain, he struggled with heroine addiction, depression and illness, his public image had a great setback , he always blamed public for misinterpreting his music and message behind it.

Cobain was of the opinion that “Music comes first, lyrics come second” and believed that melody is the real soul of the song. He often yelled at fans and journalists who tried to extract meanings from his lyrics. Once he wrote “Why in the hell do journalists insist on coming up with a second-rate Freudian evaluation of my lyrics, when 90 percent of the time they’ve transcribed them incorrectly?”

Since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, sold over twenty-five million albums in the US alone, and over fifty million worldwide. That’s quite an achievement. His death sparked many controversies , few still believe that he was murdered.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Known as the King of Qawali, this Pakistan born singer made millions of fans throughout the world in no time. Khan’s specialty was off course Qawali but his idea of fusion between Qawali and western music rocked the world.

Khan teamed with Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ in 1985, with Canadian musician Michael Brook on the albums Mustt Mustt (1990) and Night Song (1996), and with Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder in 1995 on two songs for the soundtrack to Dead Man Walking. He also contributed to the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers.

Peter Gabriel’s Real World label later released five albums of Nusrat’s traditional Qawwali, together with some of his experimental work which included the albums Mustt Mustt and Star Rise. Nusrat provided vocals for The Prayer Cycle, which was put together by Jonathan Elias, but died before the vocals could be completed. Alanis Morissette was brought in to sing with his unfinished vocals. Nusrat also collabrated with Michael Brook to create music for the song ‘Sweet Pain’ used in the movie Any Given Sunday. He also performed traditional Qawwali before international audiences at several WOMAD world music festivals and the single Dam Mast Qalandar was remixed by electronic trip hop group Massive Attack in 1998.
His album Intoxicated Spirit was nominated for a Grammy award in 1997 for best traditional folk album. Nusrat Fateh Ali khan died at the age of 48 in Lahore Pakistan.

Aaliyah

She was an American singer, recording artist and actress. At very young age she appeared on a TV show Star Search and won hearts of millions , at the age of 12 she signed with Jive Records and Blackground Records and launched her first album Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number. The album sold three million copies in the United States and was a massive hit. Her second album One in a Million sold 3.7 million copies in US and over 8 million copies world wide.

Aaliyah also appeared in movies like Romeo Must Die and her song Try Again earned her Grammy award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocalist.She released her third and final album, Aaliyah, in 2001. On August 25, 2001, Aaliyah was killed in an airplane crash in The Bahamas after filming the music video for the single Rock the Boat.

John Lennon

He was founding member of The Beatles;one of the most successful bands of 20th century. The Beatles released many hit albums like The Red, The Blue, Anthology 1 ,Anthology 2 ,Beatles For Sale ,Free As A Bird etc but their most successful album was Abbey Road. After immense success The Beatles was dissolved and Lennon started his solo career. Lennon gave many hits like Mother , How Do You Sleep? etc.

He was a great critic of Vietnam war and became a social activist , through his music he always promoted peace.At around 10:50 pm on 8 December 1980, soon after Lennon and Ono returned to the Dakota, the New York apartment building where they lived, Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times at the entrance to the building. Lennon was 40 at that time.

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