If a lot of the rock performers in famous bands didn;t die...

Let's say that on this very day, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, John Bonham, Bon Scott, and the cemetery-loads of rockstars that died prematurely are still living somehow. What would they have done? Like, for example, if Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC, was still alive, I think he would have gone solo after a few years, with the band reuniting somewhere around 1995, but Back in Black would have never been made, and Brian Johnson wouldn't be the lead singer of the band obviously. Double-edged sword. And John Bohnam, if he didn't die, maybe Zep would continue on, and I think they would have made synthesizers in the early 80's a major part of their new tracks, kinal like what Van Halen did with the album 1984. They didn't just throw synthesizers in, they had them before '84. And so did Zeppelin. But what do you think, if a lot of famous rockstars didn't die, and what would have happened to them and their bands?

I figured eventually if Keith Moon didn't die he may have ran for presendent. Of course he wouldn't have gotten in.

My guess is that they would end up much like the Rolling Stones, Metallica, and Aerosmith did: old and making shitty music.

Quite frankly they didn't die prematurely. They died at their peek and now their icons.

Hm, this is interesting. How about Freddy Mercury? Queen still performs but with a different singer, so I have a feeling he'd still be performing.

Kurt Cobain, I think that he'd have probably retired at the end of the 90s, maybe producing or something. He seems like he could have been more mentally stable if he got some help and didn't do heroin and all that.

Elvis would be either very old or naturally deceased, but until then he'd just be the guy people talk to about where rock is going and probably be in every E! rockstar documentary.

If Bonham was alive, Led Zeppelin may have kept going, I dunno though, dont know much about the band. However I get the feeling they'd do a lot of stuff recently such as retouring since everyone who knows even a quarter of thier weight in salt about rock seems to love Zep (or at least Stairway) and they would have enough new generation fans to make money, even if most of them were posers :P

Same with Jimi Hendrix, if he was still alive he would probably still be popular among the new generation. It would be interesting to see how he would have fared against society's misguided view of African Americans disliking rock and all being in to hip hop, funk, R&B or jazz. In fact that would be interesting to see how many Hendrix-inspired groups appeared if his popularity continued into today, pre-humously.

John Lennon, if he was still alive, would probably have toured with Ringo, Paul and George (until George died) in the 90s as a Beatles comeback, although the Beatles would have stayed separate and not produced anything else, just performed old stuff for thier aging fans, and plenty of new generation ones. I think John would have also continued writing music, and still be with Yoko.

George Harrison is the same as John, except he never did this because John had died. But if John hadnt died, he would have toured with the rest of the group.

Jim Morrison would still perform in concert and come out with new stuff that was mostly bad, unfortuantly, like the Rolling Stones.

Moving a bit away from rock now..

Bob Marley would still be popular and come out with some new stuff, but he would mostly produce others music, and would probably also result in a lot more contemporary reggae, especially in the 90s (although the 90s had a lot of Ska which was a partial continuation).

Tupac and Biggie, its not so much what would have happened if they stayed alive but what wouldnt have. Thier murders are one of the key factors in gangsta rap going mainstream and resulting in the medias skewed perception of hip hop as being only about killing. On one hand, the genre would begin to be heavily ostracized by critics for its alledged "questionable content" and on the other hand it would push rap into the forefront for the late 90s and 2000s where rap became a commercialized supergenre, like rock before it. I'm not saying Tupac and Biggie are the only factors, but in my opinion they are big ones.

Kurt Cobain probably would have made one more album with Nirvana and then break up the band as he was intending to do. He would have stayed out of the limelight after that, perhaps doing a a few reuinion concerts and such and maybe a solo album or two, but mostly keeping to himself.

Jimi Hendrix would have probably run out of ideas for psychodelic rock and would have done more and more blues-type stuff as he got older. I have a feeling that with such a prominent black rockstar that rap music wouldn't have been so prolific.

I dont think John Bonham living would have changed much as Led Zepplin started sucking after their first album (Houses of the Holy being the one exception). Similarly, I've never liked AC/DC so I dont see any difference there either.

If John Lennon were still alive today, I think he would still be as cool as he was back in the day, and I bet he would have eventually experimented with electronic music.

If Andrew Wood hadn't had died, there wouldn't have been Pearl Jam and we may not have ever heard of Eddie Vedder (a good thing), but Temple of the Dog would have never been (a bad thing). Also, Mother Love Bone would have kept going and if they became less glam rock and more like later grunge bands, they might be known as one of the great grunge bands like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains instead of just the band that started it all.

If Dwayne Goettel were still alive, then I don't know if Ogre would have cleaned up and Skinny Puppy, if they ever got back together, would sound just as strange and dark as they did in the late 80s instead of electronic numetal.

If Lane Staley hadn't have died I think Alice in Chains would be making an album now or would have released one recently. It would have been just as good as their last album, possibly better.

If John Balance hadn't died, Coil wouldn't have broken up. :(

EDIT: heh, wacky had the same idea as me...

insertwackynamehere said:

Kurt Cobain, He seems like he could have been more mentally stable if he got some help and didn't do heroin and all that.

and he never would've made the music he did and no one would've given a shit.

Nirvana was what it was because of kurt and his problems.

As for staley and AiC. They were pretty much broken up well before that time and I don't know why they'd release another album.

I wonder what Pink Floyd would have been like if Syd Barrett wouldn't have gone off his gourd. Of course he did lead a life to old age but didn't do much else in the music industry. Pink Floyd was able to three out four albums commemorating this guy and further filled their pockets with his name. And of course Walters hit the bank with his movie.

I also wonder where Metallica would be if Cliff never died. Probably the same.

I wonder how much different it would be if Diamond Darrell was still around. I guess his new band Damageplan would just keep making music and stuff.

according to a show i saw, it said that Kurt coundn't take the pressure anymore so he killed himself, or something like that. i never knew much about the background of Nirvana, so i'm not sure if this is true or not. it's just what i heard.

I don't think allot wound have changed if Dimebag still had a head but maybe they would have gotten Pantera back together. Nah.

Buddy Holly would have led a musical Renaissance in the early 1960s and toured with just about everyone before retiring to become a great and respected producer. Then in the late 1980s he could have been the sixth Traveling Wilbury (who would, with Roy Orbison and George Harrison still around as well, be on their sixth or seventh album by now)...

Yeah, I only wonder about the ones who died before they reached their peaks. Buddy Holly is one, but for me Jeff Buckley comes to mind. There's a guy who had so much untapped potential, and it's a damn shame he only released one album before he died.

Quast said:

and he never would've made the music he did and no one would've given a shit.

Nirvana was what it was because of kurt and his problems.

Kurt got big before he got the problems.

Quast said:

As for staley and AiC. They were pretty much broken up well before that time and I don't know why they'd release another album.

Well they had been talking off and on about getting back together for another album. The main reason they didn't was because of Lane Staley's drug problem. Assuming he didn't die would also quite likely assume that he quit drugs, because being an addict means you have a short lifespan.

Also, it seems that in the past few years, a lot of good bands have been getting back together and making more albums. I pretty much figure it has to do with the complete talent vaccuum that's out there in mainstream music, but I definitely see that trend. Sadly, the mainstream hasn't been paying much attention to any of these comebacks (and most of the bands weren't very mainstream to begin with, but still).

At any rate, I probably jumped the gun on tha estimate by a few years, but I think it would have come about eventually.

Shit, if Stevie Ray Vaughan hadn't died and his skill continued to progress at the same rate, his guitar playing would have been able to induce spontaneous orgasms in listeners by now.

Maybe if those guys were alive today, some of you guys would be able to construct a sentence without several horrific grammar errors. (But I doubt it)

Jesus guys what the fuck?

exp(x) said:

Shit, if Stevie Ray Vaughan hadn't died and his skill continued to progress at the same rate, his guitar playing would have been able to induce spontaneous orgasms in listeners by now.

Quite likely true.

I heard Led Zeppelin sucked live as they were always wasted and didn't have their shit together. Also, Robert Plant is a kleptomaniac who took stuff from Jethro Tull. When I saw him open for the Who he showed off a stool (he almost fell off) he stole from them who knows how many years ago and he's also suspected of stealing a touring jacket.

Danarchy said:

Well they had been talking off and on about getting back together for another album. The main reason they didn't was because of Lane Staley's drug problem.

I suppose it could've been a posibility. If he got off the junk. I just can't imagine a "clean" AiC album being that good...maybe i'm wrong though. Too bad mad season didn't just stick together either, at least for another album or two. That could've been awsome.

If they were alive, then there would be world peace, and a Gap shop in every town.

Gokuma said:

I heard Led Zeppelin sucked live as they were always wasted and didn't have their shit together.

How the West Was Won.

Maybe, MAYBE they didn't have their shit together most of the time, I couldn't say, I wasn't really aware of them back then, but Led is one of those bands I sure wish I could have seen live. Moby Dick drum solo? Good god.

I dont think John Bonham living would have changed much as Led Zepplin started sucking after their first album (Houses of the Holy being the one exception).

What the shit.

You heard me. o_o

What about Chuck Schuldiner? :(
That is, if anyone here has heard of him.

TomD666 said:

What about Chuck Schuldiner? :(
That is, if anyone here has heard of him.

Oh, quit masturbating yourself.

He'd probably still be playing with Control Denied. It was the logical progression of his sound, atleast.

Actually makes me think that Exodus would be 100x as cooler and awesome if Paul Baloff hadn't died.

Seriously.

Kurt would probably be making solo albums by now, or Foo Fighters could possibly be recording some cool stuff featuring him.

Hendrix would be too old by now to write decent new stuff, but would probably still be going strong playing his old stuff.

And if one more person disses Metallica they are going to die! St. Anger is still good, it's just . . . different. And I'm sorry, but if you've seen any of the live Metallica stuff from this year (e.g. Download Festival, as I've mentioned in several threads lately) and you still think Metallica are old and past it, you need to get your f***ing ears checked! And I don't think they'd be much better if Cliff hadn't died, because both Newstead and Trujillo have been excellent replacements.

Son, there appears to be a large pole wedged in your ass.

If he hadn't died in a car crash, lüt would have went on do do absolutely nothing for the rest of his life after recording stinkpants.

Danarchy said:

If Lane Staley hadn't have died I think Alice in Chains would be making an album now or would have released one recently. It would have been just as good as their last album, possibly better.

Well they had been talking off and on about getting back together for another album. The main reason they didn't was because of Lane Staley's drug problem. Assuming he didn't die would also quite likely assume that he quit drugs, because being an addict means you have a short lifespan.

No, they were done. Staley would have still done drugs, and he would have still been deemed "soon to die". He did die in 2002, you know, and their last full album, Unplugged (which wasn't even new material), came out six years before that. They only made a few songs since then, and Staley's eventual death wouldn't have made a big difference.
The rest of the members are still looking to do another album, just not as Alice In Chains.
If Staley for some reason got help and quit drugs, I don't think I'd want to hear them.

insertwackynamehere said:

Tupac and Biggie, its not so much what would have happened if they stayed alive but what wouldnt have.

For 2Pac, his discography would be much shorter if he were still living. For Biggie, ... aw you know he was gonna die. Ain't no "what if" for him.

Danarchy said:

If Andrew Wood hadn't had died, there wouldn't have been Pearl Jam and we may not have ever heard of Eddie Vedder (a good thing),

You're always saying you're too weak to be strong
You're harder on yourself than just about anyone

Why swim the channel just to get this far?
Halfway there, why would you turn around?

Darkness comes in waves...tell me,
Why invite it to stay?

You're one with negativity
Yes, comfort is an energy
But why let the sad song play?
heheheh...

Danarchy said:

Similarly, I've never liked AC/DC so I dont see any difference there either.

To each his own... Perhaps you think Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be?

Danarchy said:

I dont think John Bonham living would have changed much as Led Zepplin started sucking after their first album (Houses of the Holy being the one exception).

Seriously, though. What the shit.