Top 10 Music Artists Who Died in the 1970s
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.
Jimi Hendrix (born November 27, 1942 - September 18, 1970) was an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter.
Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music". Hendrix is consistently ranked on lists of musicians who died too soon.
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.
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American singer, songwriter, and poet best remembered as the lead singer of the Doors.
Louis Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American trumpeter, composer and singer who was one of the most influential figures in jazz.
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician, known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. A singular talent who passed almost unnoticed during his brief lifetime, his work has posthumously achieved wider notice and recognition.
John Beverly, born John Simon Ritchie, later named Sid Vicious, was an English musician, most famous as the bass guitarist of the influential punk rock band the Sex Pistols, and notorious for his arrest for the alleged murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen.
Howard Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician, and co-founder and leader of the Allman Brothers Band until his death in a motorcycle crash in 1971, when he was 24 years old. Died at the age of 24 in a motorcycle accident. His guitar playing will stand the test of time.
Keith John Moon was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour. His drumming continues to be praised by critics and musicians. I'm surprised he's not on this list already.
Marc Bolan, born Mark Feld (30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English singer-songwriter, musician, guitarist, and poet. He was best known as the lead singer of the glam rock band T. Rex. Bolan was one of the first pioneers of the glam rock movement of the 1970s. He died at age 29 in a car accident in September 1977, a fortnight before his 30th birthday. He died at the age of 29 in a car accident.
Freddie King was an American blues guitarist and singer. He has been described as one of the "Three Kings" of electric blues guitar, along with Albert King and B.B. King. He died of a heart attack at age 42. Of the "Three Kings" of blues music, he's definitely my favorite.
He died from congestive heart failure in 1976. I love his voice; it's raw, gritty, and the quintessential essence of what a blues singer should sound like.
Keith Relf was an English musician, well known as the lead singer for the psychedelic band The Yardbirds. He died from being electrocuted by his guitar, which wasn't properly grounded. He was 33; he still had a life in front of him.
Ronald Wayne "Ronnie" Van Zant was an American lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and a founding member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He, Steve and Cassie Gaines, and two of the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd's road crew infamously died in a plane crash.
He died from accidental acute barbiturate intoxication. Many people believe his death was a suicide, but there is no definite proof. Irregardless, he still left us at too young an age.
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 - March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. He died from a stroke in 1965. Hugely influential- he was the first proper electric blues guitarist.
Terry Alan Kath was an American musician and songwriter, best known as the original guitarist, one of the lead singers and founding members of the rock band Chicago. He died after putting a gun to his head, believing it was unloaded. He was a tremendous guitarist.
Died of a heart attack the day before Christmas in 1975. He was 64. He composed the score for Vertigo, Psycho, and Twilight Zone.