Not every musician can have a career like Bob Dylan, who successfully releases album after album, even in the autumn of his career. No, most musicians end up like Elvis, struggling to keep their fans interested amid a change in music style. I am not saying that most musicians end their career with a drug problem, dead on their toilets. I am talking about artists trying to keep with the musical times and suffering for it. That is why I believe some artists are fortunate to die in the prime of their career.

Jimi Hendrix (drug overdose), Jim Morrison (drug overdose), Kurt Cobain (suicide), Bradley Nowell (drug overdose), and Buddy Holly (plane crash); all musical powerhouses of their time and all dead before their time. Ian Curtis (suicide), Stevie Ray Vaughn (helicopter crash), Tupac Shakur (murdered) and Notorious BIG (murdered); all helped shape their musical genre by either taking their music back to its roots, or taking it to the next level. Their deaths were tragic for their families and fans, yet not so much for the music industry.

I bet you are all wondering: Am I this cold-hearted that I would rather see good artists die before they have to? In a way, yes, because in death all eight of the aforementioned artists created a mystery to their music. They made great music legendary because what is left to remember them by is what they created.

We will always wonder what they could have created next. Joy Division’s front man Ian Curtis revolutionized the ’80s club rock scene by blending the alternative rock styling of the time with synthesized, disco-pop sounds that flooded clubs throughout the United States and Europe at that time. His career started into the early 1980s, but ended shortly after the turn of the decade when he committed suicide. In all likelihood, Joy Division would still be around today, continually changing the music scene they embedded themselves in. Before Curtis died they had several recorded demos, which were later released on a greatest hits cd.

The same goes with Kurt Cobain and Bradley Nowell, who created new sounds and even new genres. Cobain and Nirvana brought Grunge and Alternative Rock to its major popularity, while Nowell and Sublime combined a garage punk and ska with reggae and hip-hop.

When alive, Cobain was very popular, people always looked to see what he did next, which according to his suicide note, scared him. He preferred to go out on top than fade away into obscurity and that is exactly what he did.

Nowell and Sublime were the opposite. Sublime did have a small cult following, but it wasn’t until Nowell’s drug overdose that they became hugely famous. Had these two men not died, Nirvana might not have had the influence that they have today, and Sublime might still be this garage band from Long Beach.

Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. were big in their own right. Both revolutionized hip-hop, creating a new sound straight from the streets. Both died in the climax of their careers, which may be why it was the climax of their career.

However, Tupac and Biggie’s deaths left a lasting impression on the hip-hop world, furthering their styles into the next generation of hip-hop. Had they not been killed, who knows, could you see Tupac getting hyphy, or Biggie getting crunk?

Nevertheless, I find myself wondering what would have happened to all of the other artists if they were still alive. Would Jimi Hendrix still be as good if he kept playing guitar into his 50s? Would Jim Morrison’s poetry become trite and meaningless as he got older? Fortunately for music lovers, we will never know the answer to those questions. Instead, we will further their mystery by wondering each time we listen to their albums.