I just heard that guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, had he lived, would have turned 70 years old today. Wow. Jimi Hendrix, the lord and high master of the bent guitar string and all things heavy as a creaky, thinning-on-top, shriking 70 year old in need of, most likely, reading glasses, a hearing aid and — who knows — maybe even a bottle of little blue pills now and then.
But that got me to thinking; how old would other celebrities be today had they gone on living, rather than being taken from us at such an early age?
Given that, let me offer you this list of just a handful of the notables I came up with who died long before their time, and how old they might be today, had they still been moving among us.
Bet they would have rather lived a long life even if it meant no longer being young, beautiful, cool, talented etc than going out with a bang at their peak.
I wonder how many of those that passed would still be relevant as they aged, or was their best work behind them. Someone once wrote concerning the news of Elvis’s death, “good career move”. I think it is especially hard for someone in the arts to maintain the edge that made them popular. No doubt they would have continued to make some money. Or would they wind up working as a janitor as did Earl Carroll who also died recently. RIP Speedo.
True, but for every ten artists still trying to stay relevant and coming up short, there’s always a handful who still find a way to re-invent themselves and remain at least in the vacinity of the vanguard of pop culture. People like Leslie Neilsen, Betty White, Neil Young, Alan Arkin, Woody Allen, William Shatner, Alec Baldwin, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash and a few others.
On the other hand I can think of at least one rocker that looked liked he died years ago, but his guitar strumming fingers never got the message. Here is a hint, Rolling Stones. MC, save the last weekend in july for nj.