Music Artists Who Died Young

Jim Morrison - Vocalist, poet and songwriter for band The Doors allegedly died of a heroin overdose at age 27.

Jimi Hendrix - famous guitarist who died of sleeping pill overdose.    

Kurt Cobain - co-founder of Nirvana committed suicide in 1994.

Janis Joplin 1969

Janis Joplin - vocalist and songwriter died of heroin overdose in 1970.

Buddy Holly - pioneer of Rock and Roll (R&R) died in plane crash in 1959 with Richie Valens and the Big Bopper.

John Bonham - drummer for English band Led Zeppelin, died in 1980 after night of heavy drinking suffocating in his vomit while sleeping.

Shannon Hoon - original member of Blind Melon band, died of cocaine overdose in 1995.

Ritchie Valens - vocalist and guitar player credited as one of the pioneers of R&R, killed in plane crash with Buddy Holly and Big Bopper, 1959.

Brian Jones - songwriter, guitarist, percussionist, and original founder of English band Rolling Stones. Died shortly after leaving band in 1969 by drowning in his pool.

Cliff Burton - bass guitarist for Metallica died in bus accident in Sweden in 1986.

Eddie Cochran - R&R and Rockabilly performer in late 50s, early 60s. Killed in automobile accident at 21 years while touring in Britain.

Van Zant 1976

Ronnie Van Zant - founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd band, lead vocalist and main lyricist. Died in plane crash in 1977 along with two other band members.

Randy Rhoads - guitarist who played with Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne. Died in plane crash in 1982.     


Bradley Nowell - founded Sublime punk-ska band in California. Died of heroin overdose in 1996.

Duane Allman - co-founded The Allman Brothers Band. Killed in motorcycle accident in 1971.

Hillel Slovak (“Slim”) - first guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers in Los Angeles. Died of heroin overdose in 1988 (26-years-old).

Marc Bolan - English leader of T. Rex rock band. Died in car crash in 1977.

Cass Elliott (“Mama Cass”) - member of The Mamas & The Papas and also had successful solo vocalist career after group disbanded. Died of heart attack in her sleep in 1974.

Steve Gaines

Steve Gaines ("Okie") - guitarist and songwriter for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Southern rock band remembered for hit song Sweet Home Alabama. Died in plane crash, 1977 along with band members Ronnie Van Zant and Cassie Gaines (his sister).

Cassie Gaines - Southern Rock vocalist for Lynyrd Skynyrd band, sister to guitarist Steve Gaines. Cassie performed as a backup singer for the band. When Lynyrd Skynyrd was in need of a guitar player to replace recently departed Ed King, Cassie recommended her younger brother, Steve, who joined the band soon after in 1975.

Keith Moon - famous for his unique style and "self-destructive behavior" he as the original drummer of English rock band The Who. Was an alcoholic who died of overdose of clomethiazole. There were 32 pills in his system at time of death.

Bob Marley, 1980

Bob Marley - Jamaican vocalist and songwriter who pioneered the Reggae music genre had a distinctive vocal and lyric style. Died at age 36 in 1981 of cancer. It was the deadliest type of skin cancer, acral lentiginous melanoma, that started in his toe. Doctors advised that his toe be removed, but he opted for the nail and nail bed be removed and a skin graft instead. The cancer spread to his brain, lungs and liver when he collapsed while jogging in Central Park, NYC. His last concert took place in Pittsburgh, PA in 1980.

Otis Redding - vocalist, songwriter and record producer. Drowned after plane crashed at age 26 in 1967.

Stevie Ray Vaughan - guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and record producer who revived the Blues & Jazz genre. Died in helicopter crash while touring with Eric Clapton in 1990.

Amy Winehouse - English vocalist and songwriter known for R&B, Soul and Jazz performances. Died of alcohol poisoning at age 27 in 2011.

Hank Williams Sr., 1951

Hank Williams - Southern vocalist, songwriter and musician. Died of heart complications in 1953.

Patsy Cline, 1957

Patsy Cline - C&W vocalist who influenced later country stars, died in a plane crash in 1963.

Selena (Quintanilla-Pérez) - Latin American vocalist, songwriter, model, actress and fashion designer. Murdered by Yolanda Saldivar who embezzled funds from Selena in 1995.

Bon Scott - Australian vocalist, songwriter and instrumentalist for AC/DC. Died in 1980 of “acute alcohol poisoning” with suspicions of heroin overdose and classified as “death by misadventure”.

Sam Cooke - R&B, Pop, Blues vocalist, songwriter and civil-rights activist. Killed at age 33 of a gunshot wound to chest at a motel in Los Angeles, California.

Jim Croce, 1972

Jim Croce - Folk-Rock vocalist and songwriter. Died at age 30 in a plane crash flying to a concert in Sherman, Texas.

Robert Johnson, 1935

Robert Johnson - Blues vocalist, guitarist and songwriter who wrote Sweet Home Chicago that Blues Brothers made famous in modern times. Died at age 27 in 1938 near Greenwood, Mississippi of unknown causes. No formal examination was rendered at that time when a black man was found dead on a road side. It is suspected that congenital syphilis contributed to his death. As a traveling performer who played mostly on street corners, in juke joints, and at Saturday night dances, Johnson had little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime. Collection of his recordings was title King of the Delta Blues Singers released by Columbia in 1961.

Karen Carpenter, 1972, White House photo

Karen Carpenter - vocalist and drummer performing with her brother Richard Carpenter as The Carpenters. Died of heart complications in 1983.

Layne Staley - original lead vocalist and co-songwriter for rock band Alice in Chains. Died at age 34 in 2002 from a mixture of heroin and cocaine known as “Speedball”. Staley’s death was classified as accidental.

Andy Gibb, 1979

Andy Gibb - English vocalist and songwriter. Died at age 30 as a result of myocarditis caused by years of cocaine abuse in 1988. He was the younger brother of Bee Gees.

Sid Vicious (Simon John Ritchie) - English bassist and vocalist and member of the Sex Pistols. Died at age 21 from heroin overdose. No New York funeral home would hold a funeral or burial for Vicious because of his reputation so his remains were cremated in 1979.

Bobby Darin, 1959

Bobby Darin - vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and actor. Died at age 37 died in recovery room after complicated heart repair surgery in 1973.

Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr.) musician, vocalist, songwriter and disc jockey. Died at age 28 in a plane crash in 1959 along with Holly and Valens.

Dennis Wilson - musician, vocalist and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. Died at age 39 in 1983 by drowning at Marina Del Rey, California.

Phil Lynott - Irish musician and songwriter and founding member of Thin Lizzy. Died at age 36 of septicaemia caused by heroin dependence in 1985.

Tammi Terrell, 1968

Tammi Terrell - American recording artist and star vocalist for Motown Records in 1960s. Died in 1970 due to complications of brain cancer at only 25 years of age.

Harry Chapin - Folk and Folk Rock vocalist, songwriter and humanitarian. Died at age 38 in 1981 in a traffic collision with a sem-trailer truck outside Jericho, New York.

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole - vocalist and ukelele musician known for his Hawaiian music and Reggae. Died in 1997 of chronic respiratory and cardiac issues due to obesity weighing at one point 757 pounds at 6 feet 2 inches. His two music videos were released in 2020 on YouTube collectively receiving one billion views. A bronze bust was unveiled in 2003 at the Waianae Neighborhood Community Center on O’ahu island sculpted by Jan-Michelle Sawyer in his honor.

Dinah Washington - traditional pop music, R&B and Jazz vocalist and pianist. Cited as most popular black female recording artist of the ‘50s.  Died at age 39 of a lethal combination of secobarbital and amobarbital prescribed for her insomnia and diet in 1963.

Bolin, 1975

Tommy Bolin - Blues, Rock & Jazz guitarist and songwriter who performed with Zephyr (1969-1974), James Gang (1973-1974) and Deep Purple (1975-1976). He also performed solo. Died in 1976 due to overdose of heroin, alcohol, cocaine and barbiturates.

Eva Cassidy - vocalist and guitarist known for her interpretations of Jazz and Blues. She died of melanoma in 1996 at age 33.

Bobby Fuller - Pop and Rock vocalist, songwriter and guitarist who wrote and recorded I Fought the Law. Fuller was founder of the vocalist group Bobby Fuller Four. He died in 1966 under unusual circumstances in an automobile parked outside his Hollywood apartment. Some believe he was murdered, but on his death certificate boxes for accident and suicide were checked. His death was covered in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.

Johnny Horton - Country music, Honky Tonk and Rockabilly vocalist and guitarist during ‘50s and ‘60s, best known for his song The Battle of New Orleans.  He died in 1960 in an auto accident. Johnny Cash read Chapter 20 from the Book of John at his funeral. Cash would perform one of Horton’s songs, When It’s Springtime in Alaska (It’s Forty Below) on the Cash album Personal File and he wrote - “Johnny Horton was a good old friend of mine”. Horton was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and into the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame.

Rodgers, 1931

Jimmie Rodgers - American vocalist, songwriter and musician known for his yodeling performed Country, Blues and Jazz. He died in 1933 of a pulmonary hemorrhage brought on by tuberculosis at age 35 after spending several days of studio recordings. Elvis Presley mentioned that Rodgers was an important influence and big fan. Jerry Lee Lewis performed several Rodgers’ songs. The 1982 film Honkytonk Man, directed and starring Clint Eastwood, was loosely based upon Rodgers’ life.

Clifford Brown - trumpeter performing in Jazz & Bebop genre. Died at age 25 in 1956 in an auto accident.

Mike Bloomfield - guitarist and composer born in Chicago, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s. He died mysteriously in 1981. He was found in his car seated behind the wheel with all doors locked with empty bottle of Valium in the seat next to him. Medical examiner ruled death accidental despite not finding cause of death because no drugs were found

Eric Dolphy - American Jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. Died in 1964 dying of a diabetic coma. Hospital physicians did not know Dolphy was diabetic and stereotyping him as a junkie, assumed he had overdosed. So he was left in hospital bed for alleged drugs to “run their course” and administered detox medication. Doctors did not know that Dolphy did not smoke nor took any drugs or alcohol.

McCready, 1996

Mindy McCready - Country music vocalist from 1995 to 2013, recording five albums. Died at age 37 in 2013 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on her front porch, the same place her former boyfriend had fatally shot himself one month before.

Jimmy McCulloch - Scottish guitarist and songwriter best know for playing lead guitar and bass as a member of Paul McCartney’s Wings band. He died in 1979 of heart failure due to morphine and alcohol poisoning. He was 26.

Michelle Meldrum - hard rock guitarist was member bands Phantom Blue and Meldrum. Died at age 39 in 2008.

Kapell, 1948

William Kapell - American pianist and recording artist, killed in 1953 at age 31 in a commercial plane crash returning from a concert tour.

Jeffrey Lee Pierce - American vocalist, songwriter, guitarist and author. Founding member of The Gun Club. Died at 37 in 1996 of liver complications.

Melanie Thornton - American pop vocalist was especially popular in Europe during 1990s. Died in 2001 in the crash of Crossair Flight 3597 near Zurich, Switzerland.

Elvis Comeback Special, 1968

Elvis Presley - Elvis is included as the last person on this list of people who died before 40 because 42 is too young to die. Considered the “King of Rock-N-Roll”, or simply “the King” and was a vocalist, musician (played guitar and piano) as well as an actor as most everyone knows. His first recording was with Sun Records in 1954 and after Colonel Tom Parker became his manager, Elvis recorded first RCA single Heartbreak Hotel that was released in 1956. In that same year, Elvis acted in his first film Love Me Tender. He remains the best-selling solo music artist of all time. In 2018, Elvis was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Why it took so long remains a mystery. From 1973 to 1977 Elvis’ health began to deteriorate. He had an enlarged heart and together allegedly due to a drug habit, he died in 1977. In 1994, Elvis’ autopsy report was reopened by Joseph Davis, Miami-Dade County coroner who was interested in the case. He stated “There is nothing in any of the data that supports a death from drugs. In fact, everything points to a sudden, violent heart attack.” A meticulous dissection of the body confirmed that Elvis was chronically ill with diabetes, glaucoma, and constipation. Evidence showed his body had been weakened (and illness complicated) by a constant use of drugs. Two hospital records showed that Elvis was admitted for drug detoxification and methadone treatments. He was found dead in his bathroom and the strain of attempting to defecate compressed his abdominal aorta and shut down his heart. All of those complications were caused by long-term drug use. Elvis’ mother, Gladys Love Presley was a major influence in his life and encouraged him to use his talent at a young age. She died at young age of 46, four years older than Elvis when he died.

Linda Ronstadt, 1976

As a final entry, in this list of young artists cut down before their prime, I would like to counter the Internet hoax that Linda Ronstadt is alive and not dead as of January 2021. She retired as of 2011 due to illness.

Wikipedia entry: 

In 2011, Ronstadt was interviewed by the Arizona Daily Star and announced her retirement.^[44] In August 2013, she revealed to Alanna Nash, writing for AARP, that she has Parkinson's disease and "can no longer sing a note."^[144] Her diagnosis was subsequently re-evaluated as progressive supranuclear palsy.^[24]