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10 Most Tragic Music Icon Deaths

Posted Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:16pm PDT by Robert of the Radish in The Y! Music Playlist Blog

Every death is a tragedy, but in the world of music when an icon dies too young, it sends reverberations throughout the whole world. We saw it this week with the death of Michael Jackson at the age of 50. Those who have reached the pinnacle of success in the music business always see an outpouring of sympathy when they die because of the sheer number of fans they leave behind. But there is more to it. It also reminds us all that life is short and all the money and fame in the world won't stop death. In the most tragic cases it also proves that money and fame cannot buy happiness. To the contrary, sometimes the star simply cannot deal with the trappings of fame and self-destructs. For this playlist I've selected what I feel are the 10 most tragic music icon deaths. These are all artists who have reached millions of people with their music, but died much too young under tragic circumstances.

May they all rest in peace and may their deaths remind the stars of the future that they too are only human.

10 Most Tragic Music Icon Deaths 

   1. Don't Be Cruel - Elvis Presley   

   2. That'll Be The Day - Buddy Holly   

   3. (Just Like) Starting Over - John Lennon   

   4. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) - Michael Jackson   

   5. Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix   

   6. Riders On The Storm - The Doors(Jim Morrison) 

   7. Piece Of My Heart - Janis Joplin   

   8. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana(Kurt Cobain) 

   9. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye   

   10. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd(Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines)

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219 Comments

121. VanishaT -
Where is Aaliyah on your list? She was at the peak of her success and then she suddenly died in a plane crash. Are you crazy for leaving her off?

122. Yahoo! Music User -
MJ should be number one, he is the number selling artist of all time. Miss you Michael, R.I.P

123. Schultzy -
Ian Curtis was most tragic by far...

124. Samantha -
Freddie Mercury, Richie Valens, Dimebag Darrell they were like totally awesome! There are more...any death whether from illness or sudden death is just tragic because they were all gone too soon!

125. KimberlyW -
The dude that wrote this article is smokin some good stuff. Michael Jackson's death rocked the world. How many of the people on this list has that sort of impact? He needs to pay more attention to the who's who of the world. Aaliyah should definitely be on here because hers was a very tragic death.

126. Poochie -
Well the list is labled 'TOP 10' but it should have said 'TOP 10 AMERICANS' instead because Bob Marley paved the way for reggae music world wide and in my book and alot of other Jamaicans, He is an ICON. So next time whenever you are posting a list please specify weather it's NATIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL.

127. shauna -
i believe that these are not the only people that should be known as the greatest icons but micheal was tha king of pop and he will never be forgotten in this world,everyone look up to him as well as biggie,2pac,aaliyah,lefteye,o.d.b,jam master jay,and many more because of there music and wat it met so rest in peace to all and mi respects go out to all of there familes

128. jerry b -
Duane Allman!!!!!!!!!

129. Cooper Metz -
In a reply to comment #8:
These are musical artists! Jesus was not a musician. Also people mourn by going to church, dumb ass. There is no church of Michael Jackson.

130. Yahoo! Music User -
They left out so many people (obviously) so they should make room for some of them by taking off Michael Jackson. Yeah he was a great musician but he was a creeper, perv, petafile, child molester and that shouldn't be celebrated and comemerated.

131. Coach Ball -
Your list sucks!

132. Yahoo! Music User -
Elvis was a child molester so I guess we should take him off the list. Elvis and Priscilla met in 1959 at a party in Bad Nauheim, Germany during his stay in the army. She was 14 at the time, while he was 24. They quickly began a romantic relationship and were frequently together until Elvis left Germany in 1960. It wasn't long until Priscilla was moved into Graceland to live with Elvis.

133. Neal -
Stevie Ray Vaughan? Jeff Buckley? Randy Rhoades? Bon Scott? Nick Drake? Keith Moon? John Bonham? Duane Allman?

This list is severely lacking.

134. Yahoo! Music User -
I go along with Franko, Sam Cook needs to be on this list and I also think that Laura Brannigan should be on the list. She was a great singer, maybe not an icon but

135. Yahoo! Music User -
What about Florence Ballard from the "iconic" Supremes?

136. Connie -
Thank you for this top ten. I enjoyed it very much. Christ's death was a tragedy of great magnitude. It ended up being a gift of great magnitude. Because of him all our fallen and talented peple have given us gifts, no matter there genre. I thank Him and them for thier great gifts.

137. Yahoo! Music User -
How are you not going to include Tupac Shakur. That is a tragic death because we still don"t know who killed him. He influenced many people just like the names on Your list.

138. Edwin -
Aaliyah and Left Eye of TLC were no Icons. When the history of the music of the 20th Century is spoken of thousands of years from now they will say the names of Micheal Jackson and Elvis Presley.

139. Yahoo! Music User -
Oh Yeah Tupac's song would be "So Many Tears" off of the "Me Against the World" Album

140. Yahoo! Music User -
What about Selena? So young, so talented.
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