15 Legends That Passed Away Too Young
There’s quite a few actors and musicians that have died while in their youthful prime. Others, have passed before their ability and/or genius was fully realized. In any case, they are now immortalized for their accomplishments in their arts, perhaps more so because of their untimely passing. The following is a list of the most memorable examples of young legends away too early.
Jean Harlow 1911-1937
The original blond bombshell, Jean Harlow stared in 36 movies from the age of 18 until her death at 26. Her official cause of death was due to complications of uremic poisoning. In her short but tragic life she was married three times, and was working on a fourth when she died. Harlow was known to be the most beautiful actress when film was transitioning from silent to “talkies,” she is also credited as being the main inspiration for Marilyn Monroe.
James Dean 1931-1955
Though James Dean only starred in three movies, he became a Hollywood Icon following his death at the age of 24. His handsome face and debonair demeanor continue to be used as inspiration for young actors looking to break into the business. Though his career was short, his iconic image remains a mainstay in the immortal Hollywood landscape.
Buddy Holly 1936-1959
Buddy Holly died in a plane crash at the young age of 23. Unfortunately for Holly, Gary Busey stared as Buddy in a lack luster Hollywood biopic in 1978. Though the film was subpar, from Weezer to Rogue Wave, Buddy Holly’s musical influence can still be felt in today’s rock music scene.
Marilyn Monroe 1926-1962
Many believe Marilyn Monroe to be the most glamorous movie star ever; her iconic looks have inspired generations of dark haired girls to go platinum blond. Tragically she died at the age of 36, but from Madonna to Gwen Stefani, Marilyn Monroe will forever inspire the perception of beauty in the celebrity mainstream.
Jimi Hendrix 1942-1970
Jimi Hendrix created iconic guitar licks that are still inspire musicians from all genres of music. His most famous works continue to be used in television shows and hit movies. For as much as Hendrix loved music, his love for psychedelic drugs got the best of him in 1970, at the young age of 28. Many wonder what he kind of musician he could have grown into if he only had the chance.
Jim Morrison 1945-1971
Jim Morrison’s is one of the most well known vocalists of all time. And as a result, his grave is still visited and decorated by thousands of fans each year. To this day it is still unknown to what caused Morrison’s death at age 26; but regardless, his artistry has left an undeniable impact on the world of music and poetry for the past 40 years.
Bruce Lee 1940-1973
For all of Bruce Lee’s accomplishments in Hollywood and around the world, the only thing that is marked on his grave is, “Founder of Jeet Kune Do.” After staring in numerous martial arts films, tragically Bruce Lee died at the early age of 33 – an age younger than action stars of today. In any case, he is the most popular martial arts icon in the Western Hemisphere – and maybe the world – and, he continues to inspire the young and old through his unique artistic style.
John Belushi 1949-1982
The inscription reads on one of John Belushi’s headstones, “I may be gone, but Rock and Roll lives on.” In John’s short 33 years he left an unforgettable impression on the world of comedy. His legacy still remains on college campuses around the world, and he continues to remain a college poster mainstay through his infamous and iconic role in in Animal House.
Eazy-E 1963-1995
If James Brown is the “God Father of Soul” then Eazy-E would be considered the “God Father of Gangster Rap.” Eric “Eazy-E” Wright died at the early age of 31 due to complications with the AIDS virus. He was buried in an 18k gold casket at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, Ca. Fans continue to visit his site and pour 40 ounce bottles of malt liquor in appreciation of his artistic legacy.
Kurt Cobain 1967-1994
Kurt Cobain single-handedly changed the face of rock music when Nirvana’s Nevermind was released in 1991. His quick rise to prominence proved difficult to handle, and as an escape Cobain found a fleeting serenity in heroin. Towards the end of his life, while his records were reaching # on the charts, we was consistently in and out of rehab. In early 1994 he tragically committed suicide. Though he died at the age of 27, his influence continues to be felt in the alternative music scene today.
Bradely Nowell 1968-1996
Known for his beautiful voice and reggae beats, Bradley Nowell died at age 28 from a heroin overdose before his band received the notoriety they deserved. Sublime’s popular brand of ska, punk, and hip hop were known for being ahead of its time. Since his untimely passing, Bradley’s post-mortem proceeds have gone on to support the wife and son he left behind.
Tupac Shakur 1971-1996
Arguably the greatest hip-hop star ever, Tupac Shakur was tragically gunned down on the Las Vegas strip in 1996 at the age of 25. Recently Tupac’s memorial statue was unveiled at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, 9 years after his death at Stone Mountain in Atlanta Georgia. Through his center for the arts, his legacy of activism and art will continue and remain an inspiration for many years to come.
Jeff Buckley 1966-1997
Jeff Buckley died at the age of 30 after a tragic drowning accident in Memphis, Tennessee . Buckley and Tupac Shakur have something in common, they both have released, as much, if not more music after their tragic and untimely deaths. Interesting enough Buckley’s grave resides at the Memphis Zoo in Memphis, Tennessee. His memorial marker overlooks the Sumatran Tigers, and continues to be visited each year by adoring fans that leave flowers and gifts in his memory.
Chris Farley 1964-1997
Not only did Chris Farley use his quick wit to entertain the masses, but he used physical comedy – not to mention, his comedic physical apperaance – as well. Through entertaining, Fariley was able to make being overweight funny and even use it to generate huge laughs. After his stint on Saturday Night Live, Farley made an easy transition into film. After he gained huge success at the box office, Farley developed a cocaine problem that eventually got the best of him in 1997 at age 33.
Heath ledger 1979-2008
Heath Ledger is perhaps known as Generation Y’s greatest actors. Unfortunately he passed away at the young age 28, shortly before the merit of his performance in The Dark Knight was realized. Fortunately, he has left the world an impressive film reel that catalog this actor’s great talent. Recently his talent was realized by the academy and he was posthumously given an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor by his portrayal as the Joker.
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On April 9th 2009, alex wrote:
this information is really inaccurate
jim morrison and jimi hendrix died at the age of 27
they are both part of something called 27forever along with janis joplin
also jim morrison was not an actor
we was a poet and a front man for one of the greatest american rock bands
and he dies of a drug overdose in paris
On April 9th 2009, Goomboss wrote:
Why don’t you get your facts straight. Saying that Hendrix’s death was due to his love of psychadelic drugs getting the best of him is just careless, mainstream rumor mongering on your part.
On April 9th 2009, JB wrote:
Article says Jim Morrison was 26 when he passed. Born December 8, 1943; Died July 3, 1971. This makes Jim 27.
Jimi Hendrix-November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970 also 27 not 28.
How many more mixed facts are there in this? Factual mistakes can take a potentially great article and make it poor. Credibility/ethos is lost.
On April 9th 2009, Adam wrote:
First off, psychedelics heavily influenced Hendrix music, but ODing on LSD or Mushrooms is ridiculously difficult and it was sleeping pills and alcohol that got to him. Marijuana and acid are extremely safe compared to even wine.
Second, “Jim Morrison’s is one of the most well known actors of all time.” So we couldn’t have proper grammar *or* information here? Jim Morrison, yeah certainly a famous actor.
There’s a number of other grammatical and general errors throughout this article and it makes me wonder if whoever wrote it didn’t take a second to proofread it after it was done. Very poorly written.
On April 9th 2009, ANGER wrote:
Hendrix was 27, Jim Morrison wasn’t an actor, and how could you not include John Lennon.
On April 9th 2009, screaming at a wall wrote:
jim morrison and jimi hendrix both died at 27. and janis joplin should have been on that list!
On April 9th 2009, ANGER wrote:
Oh yeah, Morrison was 27 too.
On April 9th 2009, smashed ass wrote:
Good article. However, this particular list has been done to death, (no pun intended.) I’d personally like to see other people listed – such as Darby Crash, Randy Rhodes, Glenn Quinn, River Phoenix, JFK Jr., John Kennedy O’Toole, even GG Allin! Just my $.02. Thanks!
On April 9th 2009, Jon C wrote:
“Jim Morrison’s is one of the most well known actors of all time.”
Wrong, so very wrong.
On April 9th 2009, riley wrote:
just wondering why john lennon is not on this list, get back to me please !
On April 9th 2009, Jon Parker wrote:
Good list. Plus you had the good sense not to list Shannon Hoon.
On April 9th 2009, andrew wrote:
john bonham is not on this list? are you kidding me?
On April 9th 2009, somany wrote:
so many mistakes in ur writing… for Christ’s sake capitalize Heath Ledger’s name appropriately!
On April 9th 2009, Jon wrote:
I’m no doors fan but i’m pretty sure jim morrison wasn’t an actor he was a singer in a very overrated band.
On April 9th 2009, Paul wrote:
No SRV? Now that is tragic.
On April 9th 2009, Jay wrote:
Just wanted to let all the fine people at Pop Crunch know that I will never visit your site again because of your use of pop-ups with audio. Thanks, but no thanks.
On April 9th 2009, Jason R wrote:
No Stevie Ray Vaughn???!!!!???
On April 9th 2009, Travis Wright wrote:
yeah… Jim Morrison was one of the worlds most famous actors.
*rolleyes.
On April 9th 2009, Anonymous wrote:
Stevie Ray Vaughan deserves to be on this list more so then some of the others. He is probably one of the most underrated people ever to exist.
On April 9th 2009, curt wrote:
they made it sound like hindrex died from an overdose of a “psychedelic drug”.. he died from taking a pain killer and drinking.. if the girl he was with that night would have kept him awake theres a good chance hed still be here.
On April 9th 2009, gary wrote:
ummm… where is Alexander Hamilton on this list? Damn you Aaron Burr!!!
On April 9th 2009, pat wrote:
Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix were both 27 when they died, along with Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, and Brian Jones(founding member of the Rolling Stones) all of whom are part of the “27 club.”
get your facts straight.
also…
Keith Moon(The Who) arguably the greatest drummer of all time died at 32. I already mentioned Brian Jones and Janis Joplin. John Bonham(Led Zeppelin) was also 32. Ronnie van Zandt(Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist) died in a plane crash at 29. Bon Scott(AC/DC vocalist) was 33. and of course John Lennon, and while he was 40, he was still at the peak of his solo career and was a global icon.
On April 9th 2009, lisa wrote:
buddy was 22
On April 9th 2009, Alex wrote:
The Notorious B.I.G was 24 years old when he passed. A rival of Tupac’s in both life and after death, he changed the direction of hip-hop for years to come. His impeccable flow,unique delivery, and word play put him up for “greatest lyricist of all time” with a gentleman named Rakim. A classic album in Ready to Die. He deserves mention here.
On April 9th 2009, Paige wrote:
Where is River Phoenix?? This list could be intriguing if you dig deeper for your legends… You also need to check your facts…
On April 9th 2009, enter fake name here wrote:
umm…Bob Marley
hello
On April 10th 2009, anon wrote:
no biggie???
On April 10th 2009, Ryan wrote:
How can you not include Biggie here, he did and could have continued revolutionizing east coast gangster rap for a long time.
On April 10th 2009, Dan Phillips wrote:
Terry Kath, of Chicago (1946-1978).
Duh.
(c;
On April 10th 2009, Alexis wrote:
Pat and other of the commenters here should rewrite this article. They DO know their facts.
On April 10th 2009, Unexploded wrote:
Not a bad list, despite the glaring absence of Bill Hicks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_hicks
On April 10th 2009, Bateman wrote:
Notorious BIG not on the list? Insulting, he was better than 2pac.
On April 10th 2009, justgroovy wrote:
Why don’t you make this the “Infinite List of People Who Died Too Soon”, and just say they all were talented at something and they had celebrated some birthday within the 12 months preceding their death and that at least one reader of popcrunch.com missed them. That way all these people writing these pissed off comments could be satisfied and they can go back to painting their Easter Eggs and get their blood pressure back under control…jeez!!
On April 10th 2009, horrible post wrote:
let me guess, you had five minutes to write this so making sure you got your facts right were out of the question? ……. poor taste…..
On April 10th 2009, Down North wrote:
Jimi Hendrix did not die because of psychedelics, he died from an overdose of sleeping pills and possible chemical reaction w/ alcohol. To say that psychedelics “got the best of him” is misleading and bad reporting. If anything his “love” for psychedelics influenced his sonic sounds and was a reshaping of his life. An overdose of sleeping pills is no way “psychedelic”.
On April 10th 2009, Tish wrote:
What about Aaliyah, at age 22?
On April 11th 2009, lisa wrote:
brandon lee ( bruce lee’s son)
ian curtis of joy division
and gram parsons all should’ve been on that list
but i suppose there are so many young talented people all over the world who had never had the chance in life that have died that should’ve been on this list
On April 11th 2009, gabe wrote:
Bruce Lee? What about BRANDON LEE!? Poor guy died on the set of The Crow at 28…
On April 11th 2009, Aaron Sanders wrote:
Good heavens, you need an editor. Not only is this article littered with factual errors, but the grammar and spelling are both sub-par at best. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with the actual list (except Eazy-E making the list over Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Lennon, Jim Croce, or even Elvis Presley), but the amount of mistakes smells of a rush job and detracts from the actual content. Proofread and fact-check before publishing, it will go a long way towards garnering credibility.
On April 11th 2009, Dave W. wrote:
How on Earth does this list not include Bob Marley???
On April 12th 2009, klarbus wrote:
The entertainment world is definitely not suffering without Chris Farley and John Belushi. In my opinion, neither one produced any interesting work, but then again, I really, really hate fart jokes.
As for John Lennon passing away too soon, he was 40 years old when he died. While 40 is relatively young, I don’t think it counts as “too young” at all.
On April 12th 2009, Lee wrote:
It has been said that Hendrix died at 23 and not 27 and his death was a mystery. Then again, that could be rumors as well as dying of “psychedelic drugs”.
On April 12th 2009, Uber Bitch wrote:
While I do agree that you could have taken the time to check your facts BEFORE you posted the article, I also think it had great potential to BE a good article. Everyone else needs to calm down….geez. As far as all the people that coulda shoulda woulda been on the list, it is a matter of personal opinion and if they truly listed ALL of them this article would be WAY too long. You make your own list and see how it comes out….and take a Valium while your at it.
On April 12th 2009, bryony wrote:
And better pix, please. The geeky photos of James Dean, Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison have to go.
On April 13th 2009, avisioncame wrote:
River Phoenix.
On April 13th 2009, bats wrote:
I think you forgot Stevie Ray Vaughan.
On April 13th 2009, Roger wrote:
So many inaccuracies, as cited above. The one that disturbs me the most is the description of Jimi Hendrix’s death. He died from ingesting his own vomit. The TV show CSI has even done pieces on this form of dying, wherein the body basically sucks its own vomit back into the lungs and/or trachea. A person can be saved from such a circumstance (at least from the ravages of the immediate incident) in a best-case-scenario, but all too often the artists that the American public drives into seclusion, or at least partial withdrawal from that same public, are in no position to get help at the correct moment. I’m reminded of how Eddie Money was rendered almost paralyzed, and was certainly rendered unable to walk properly for an extended period of time (months? years?), all due to his having over-indulged but, more immediately and importantly, from his having been ignored by all the jerks around him, who could otherwise have hauled him up, walked him around, and generally been there for him. Eddie fortunately survived, and without too much physical detriment (although he’s a better source of that information). My own daughter suffered a seizure at one point when much younger, and vomited in the course of the incident. She could easily have died from having accidentally swallowed her vomit, but (although alone at the time, through no one’s fault) she was simply lucky. I shudder to think about how so many people ignore their fellow humans at critical times such as those. It doesn’t take long for a person to die from asphyxiation by one means or another. All of us should elevate our knowledge of these situations, and certainly be there for our fellow humans. Much more important than getting photos of yourself partying with the [living] artist. Last comment: I totally agree with Tom Cruise that the guy who water-pistoled him was a total jerk. That water pistol could have had acid in it, or anything else. Cruise would have been justified to have clocked the guy, and showed amazing restraint.
On April 13th 2009, Eman wrote:
Beyond the factual errors, the writeups on Morrison and Hendrix are lacking in proper enthusiasm. Jim Morrison is THE prototypical rock lead singer, even 38 years after his death. Every great rock frontman since then has been, to a high degree, a JM clone.
And as far as Kurt Cobain singlehandedly changing the face of rock music with Nevermind;
that is one of those cherished musical myths that simply wont go away. It is most likely a result of the apotheosis of Cobain/Nirvana that took place after his suicide.
On April 14th 2009, Fatty wrote:
Boring. Waste of time because of the lack of Bill Hicks.
On April 14th 2009, spankimac wrote:
what about montgomery clift.john lennon.big bopper,gene vincent,billy fury?
its always the same old faces.
On April 14th 2009, spankimac wrote:
i forgot to mention syd barrett
On April 14th 2009, BertW wrote:
In addition to John Lennon, Janis Joplin and Stevie Ray Vaughn, you left John Candy off the list–and omission made glaring by the inclusion of Chris Farley. Also, of course, John Keats.
On April 15th 2009, Me wrote:
Jeff Buckey died “of a tragic drowning accident”? That is the most bizarre wording I’ve ever heard.
On April 16th 2009, cynic wrote:
i’d love to see a list honoring and crediting notable celebrities that decline to ruin their lives and gain undue martyrdom through the use of drugs and alcohol.
On April 17th 2009, Super Hot Celebrity wrote:
Bruce Lee will always be the greatest action star, he can kick any actions star ass in and out of the movies!
On April 17th 2009, innqubus wrote:
John Bonham of Led Zeppelin deserves an entry in this list.
On April 19th 2009, mistechal wrote:
The comments are more entertaining than the list.
On April 20th 2009, claude wrote:
After being made aware of the preponderance of mistakes of facts and writing errors I am totally upset because my name is not included in your list. But, ah, one problem, I am not dead yet nor am I in the “dying young” category or will I ever be!
On April 25th 2009, wolflike wrote:
Although it is a very good list, it is very incomplete.
On April 26th 2009, soni wrote:
very good list
On May 5th 2009, Michael Black wrote:
i believe Karen Carpenter should have been on this list, the woman has to be one of the greatest female vocalist of all time and was a kick ass drummer as well(rare), she died at 32 and is deeply missed by millions the world over.
respect!
On May 26th 2009, emaneff wrote:
If you don’t know of him, look up “Nick Drake”.
Good stuff .
On June 25th 2009, brocolli power wrote:
lame. how can you have the overrated heath ledger and not have janis joplin?
On June 27th 2009, Diamond wrote:
ahhhhh Hello………. you need to add the legendary Bob Marley to the list make top 16 instead of 15
On October 31st 2009, Andrew wrote:
Yeah, where is Bill Hicks? I don’t even know a couple of these people. RIP Bill Hicks, Bradley Nowell. RIP Tupac.