When I heard of Amy Winehouse's death early this afternoon, I immediately thought of Janis Joplin, who died in 1970, also at the age of 27.
(The Daily Mail has the latest on Winehouse's passing along with some photos taken earlier this month).
There are others who died at 27.
Other talented celebrities who left this world, too soon, before the age of 30. The list is too long.
Jim Morrison, 27, 12/8/43-7/3/71
Jesse Belvin, 27, 12/15/32-2/6/60
River Phoenix, 23, 8/23/70-10-31-93
Freddie Prinze, 22, 6/22-54-1/29/77
Ritchie Valens, 17, 5/13/41-2/3/59
Heath Ledger, 28, 4/4/1979-1/22/2008
Aaliyah, 22, 1/16/79-8/25/01
Kurt Cobain, 27, 2/20/67-4/5/94
James Dean, 24, 2/8/31-9/30/55
Jean Harlow, 26, 3/3/11-6/7/37
Jimi Hendrix, 27,11/27/42- 9/18/70
Buddy Holly, 22, 9/7/36-2/3/59
Frankie Lymon, 25, 9/30/42-2/27/68
Otis Redding, 26, 9/9/41-12/10/67
Selena, 23, 4/16/71-3/31/95
Sharon Tate, 26, 1/24/43-8/9/69
Hank Williams, 29, 9/17/23-1/1/53
Tupac Shakur, 25, 6/16/71-9/13/96
"Gone too soon?" What, in your considered opinion, is the correct age for someone to 'go?' Should their lives be extended based on their marginal contributions to societal entertainment? I'd suggest that Amy's death will provide far more of an object lesson for her followers than any marginal entertainment value she would have provided for another 50 years.
ReplyDeleteOr, is 77 too young to go, as well?
Well, I'm certainly younger than you old fella. Emotionally for me it ranks right up there with waking up to the news of John Lennon's murder.
ReplyDeleteOn the level of John Lennon? Some of the names being thrown around are ridiculous. She was a heroin addict with a very small body of work. And what the hell is Aaliyah's name doing above?!
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 11:55pm:
ReplyDeleteI'll answer all your questions.
The person who made the John Lennon comment wasn't comparing the work of Lennon to Winehouse...what he said was "Emotionally for me it ranks right up there with waking up to the news of John Lennon's murder." You should take a refresher course in reading comprehension.
Number two, sure she had substance abuse issues. Many artists do. But that doesn't diminish the quality of her work. Oliver Stone was a heavy coke user when he wrote the script for "Scarface."
And yes, her body of work was small. You'll find that true of all artists who die young. What a concept!
Aliyah's name is on here because she died young.
Any other questions?