Live Fast Die Young, The Rock N' Roll Heroes. 1. John Lennon (of the Beatles, Plastic Ono Band)

Age:40
Cause of Death: Murdered
John Lennon, MBE (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a founder member of the Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. With Paul McCartney, he formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century. Continue Reading

2. Eddie Cochran (the Father of Rockabilly Rock)

Age: 21
Cause of Death: Car Accident
Ray Edward 'Eddie' Cochran (October 3, 1938–April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a lasting influence on rock music. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He experimented with multitrack recording and overdubbing even on his earliest singles, and was also able to play piano, bass and drums. His image as a sharply dressed, rugged but good-looking young man with a rebellious attitude epitomized the stance of the 50s rocker, and in death he achieved an iconic status. Continue Reading

3. Ritchie Valens

Age: 18
Cause of Death: Airplane Crash
Ritchie Valens (born Richard Steven Valenzuela; May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959) was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted only eight months. During this time, he had several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which was originally a Mexican folk song. Valens transformed the song into one with a rock rhythm and beat, and it became a hit in 1958, making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and roll movement.
On February 3, 1959, on what has become known as "The Day the Music Died", Valens died in a small-plane crash in Iowa, a tragedy that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. Valens was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Continue Reading

4. Buddy Holly (Mostly with the Crickets)

Age: 22
Cause of Death: Airplane Crash

Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll. Although his success lasted only a year and a half before his death in an airplane crash, Holly is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll." His works and innovations inspired and influenced contemporary and later musicians, notably The Beatles, Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones, Don McLean, Bob Dylan, Steve Winwood, and Eric Clapton, and exerted a profound influence on popular music. Holly was one of the inaugural inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Holly No. 13 among "The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Continue Reading

5. TOMMY BOLIN (of Zephyr, James Gang And Deep Purple)

Age: 25
Cause of Death: Committed Suicide (Jumped off the Building)
 Thomas Richard "Tommy" Bolin (August 1, 1951 – December 4, 1976) was an American-born guitarist who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), The James Gang (from 1973 through 1974), and Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976); in addition to maintaining a notable solo career.
Tommy Bolin was born in Sioux City, Iowa and began playing in bands around the city as a youth ("A Patch of Blue" and others) before moving to Boulder, Colorado, in his late teens. He had played in a band called American Standard before joining Ethereal Zephyr, a band named after a train that ran between Denver and Chicago. When record companies became interested, the name was shortened to Zephyr. This band included Bolin on guitar, David Givens on bass, and Givens' wife Candy Givens on vocals. The band had begun to do larger venues, opening for more established acts such as Led Zeppelin. Their second album, entitled Going Back to Colorado, featured a new drummer, Bobby Berge, who would pop up from time to time in musician credits in album liner notes from Bolin's later projects. Continue Reading

6. MARC BOLAN (of Tyranosaurus Rex, T-Rex)

Age: 30
Cause of Death: Car Accident

Marc Bolan (pron. boe-lən; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the frontman of glam rock group T. Rex.
Bolan grew up in post-war Stoke Newington, in the borough of Hackney, East London, the son of Phyllis Winifred (née Atkins) and Simeon Feld, a lorry driver. His father was Jewish (of Russian/Polish and Irish origin) and his mother was from a Christian background. Later moving to Wimbledon, southwest London, he fell in love with the rock and roll of Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Arthur Crudup and Chuck Berry and hung around coffee bars such as the 2 I's in Soho. He appeared as an extra in an episode of the television show Orlando, dressed as a mod. At the age of nine, Bolan was given his first guitar and began a skiffle band. While at school, he played guitar in "Susie and the Hoops," a trio whose vocalist was a 12-year old Helen Shapiro. At 15, he was expelled from school for bad behaviour. Continue Reading