Top Ten Saddest Rock Deaths

The Top Ten
1 Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, led him to both great success and initial controversy. ...read more.

He may be dead, but he will always be the king.

2 John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 - 8 December 1980) was an English singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a co-founder of the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. He was assassinated by Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980 at age 40. Lennon was characterised by the rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, writing and drawings, on film, and in interviews. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history.

I'd always avoided listening to the football game announcement of John's death until I inadvertently heard it on the radio. It gave me this weird, time travelling sensation and I was reeling for a couple hours.

The world is a different place thanks to Lennon. Imagine how much more of a difference could he have made if he were still alive today.

3 Kurt Cobain Kurt Cobain was born February 20, 1967, in Aberdeen, Washington. In 1987, he started the grunge band Nirvana, which became one of the most successful bands ever. He was a talented yet troubled grunge performer. Kurt Cobain became a rock legend in the 1990s with his band. He committed suicide at his Seattle home in 1994.
4 Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was a Scottish-born Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. He was born in Forfar and lived in Kirriemuir, Scotland, for 5 years before moving to Melbourne, Australia, ...read more.
5 Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara, 5th September 1946 - 24th November 1991) was a Zanzibari-born British singer of Indian descent, songwriter and record producer, known as the lead vocalist and songwriter of the British rock band Queen. He also became known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Before he became a singer he has been in 3 other bands (Ibex, Sour Milk Sea, and The Hectics). He died on November 24, 1991 from bronchopneumonia as a result from HIV/AIDS

Freddie was one of the best musicians ever. His announcement he had AIDs was devastating. He died from it because nobody really knew what it was at the time. There were very few medicines to cure it. Freddie's death was a alert to AIDs, and the loss of one of the worlds greatest ever musicians. Queen stuck together well, they could still have the original band today if he had not died.

I saw Bohemian Rhapsody on American Bandstand (the 1st music video by the way.) I had already loved A Night At The Opera and fell in love with that voice! Freddie Mercury was a true showman and a lover of everything life had to offer. No apologies. And I miss him still. Quoting his last video, in a whisper "I still love you! " Always crying by the time I whisper it back to him, always pausing to stare at that last look he gives us. A smile. Like he's letting us know he'll be ok. I will always wish for him to come back to life...

Freddie was one of the best musicians ever. Freddie's announcement that he had AIDs was horrible. What was even worse was when he died of it. No body at the time knew what it was, so there was very little he could take to rid himself of it. Eventually he gave up. If we had the medicines we have now then, than he might of been fine. His death made everyone aware of it.

Should be number one, because his death was the saddest tragedy in the music world, because we have lost a legend, the greatest singer of all time.

6 Bob Marley Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley was a Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist who achieved international fame and acclaim.
7 Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby, Jr. was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark warm bass-baritone voice made him one of the most popular recording artists of the pre rock and roll era.
8 Marvin Gaye Marvin Gaye (born Marvin Pentz Gay Jr.; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of hits, earning him the nicknames "Prince of Motown" and ...read more.
9 George Harrison George Harrison (1943 - 2001) was an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and music and film producer who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles.
10 Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20th, 1976 - July 20th, 2017) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor, best known for being the lead singer of Linkin Park. Before he was known for Linkin Park, Bennington was the lead singer of post-grunge act Grey Daze who was heavily inspired by Stone Temple Pilots they released two albums with Chester before his death. Wake Me and No Sun Today, a third album called Amends would be released in 2020 consisting of voice samples from Bennington. After Grey Daze dissolved, Bennington would join Linkin Parkin in 1999 formerly called Hybrid Theory, replacing former vocalist Mark Wakefield, who would go on to become Taproot's producer. Even with Bennington's ...read more.
The Contenders
11 Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison, professionally known as Roy Orbison, nicknamed Big O, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and musician, mostly known for his complex voice and for hits such as, "Oh, Pretty Woman".
12 Cliff Burton Clifford Lee "Cliff" Burton (February 10th 1962 - September 27th 1986) was an American musician, best known as the second bass guitarist for the American thrash metal band Metallica, recording three studio albums. ...read more.
13 Lemmy Kilmister Ian Fraser Kilmister, known as Lemmy, was an English musician, singer and songwriter who founded and fronted the rock band Motörhead. He was a bassist and a singer known for his raspy voice. He died in 2015 from cancer and other health problems.
14 Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known as Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted eight months, as it abruptly ended when he died (aged 17) in a plane crash, on what has become known as "The Day the Music Died", an accident that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as pilot Roger Peterson. Three albums recorded by him were released posthumously. Valens was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

He was pretty much a kid... high-school aged. That's one of the saddest deaths in rock for sure

15 Buddy Holly Buddy Holly, born Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959) was an American musician and singer-songwriter who was a central figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was a rising star when a tragic plane crash struck him down at age 22. ...read more.
16 Dimebag Darrell Darrell Lance Abbott, also known as Diamond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell, was an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of two bands, Pantera and Damageplan, alongside his brother, Vinnie Paul. Abbott died in 2004 after he was shot by a mentally unstable fan.

One of the most legendary guitarists of the 90s, and he was shot on stage in front of his fans and his brother. That's tragic

17 Randy Rhoads Randall William "Randy" Rhoads was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. He was killed in a plane crash.

March 19, 1982... a bad, bad day in Rock. Was only 25 and had the World at his hands. I cannot even fathom what he would be doing today, and how much more influential he would be.

18 Mitch Lucker Mitchell Adam "Mitch" Lucker was an American musician and lead singer for the deathcore band Suicide Silence.
19 Layne Staley Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains, which he founded with guitarist Jerry Cantrell in Seattle, Washington in 1987. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s. ...read more.
20 Sarah Harding
21 Dennis Wilson
22 Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was an English musician, the founder and the original leader of the Rolling Stones.
23 Gustavo Cerati
24 Janis Joplin Janis Joplin (1943-1970) was an American singer who rose to fame as the main singer of acid band Big Brother and the Holding Company. She was known for her eccentric hippie style and psychedelic rock music.
25 Wendy O. Williams Wendy Orlean Williams, better known as Wendy O. Williams, was an American singer, songwriter and actress.
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