What musician that is dead do you think if alive would be the biggest contribution to music?

Question

I PERSONALLY WOULD SAY JOHN LENNON BECAUSE EVEN WITHOUT THE BEATLES HE WROTE AND SANG.I COULD NAME ALOT MORE,MARVIN GAYE,TUPAC,KURT COBAIN,ELVIS,ETC.JUST GIVE 1 IF YOU CAN!

I FORGOT OTIS REDDING!!!!!I AM SO ASHAMED HE IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE SINGER!!!!!!!

Answer 1

A lot of people clearly answered this by listing the musician(s) they liked best. The question was, what musician would be the biggest contribution to music if he were alive today? So, to be fair we have to look at which musician did the most contributing during their life and project what they would have continued to do had they not died their respective deaths.

Kurt Cobain & Nirvanna - they may have ushered in the "grunge" genre of music, but his contribution can now be seen for what it was... a depressing fad that barely lasted a decade. Since he committed suicide, it's questionable whether he was even mentally stable enough to contribute much more to music, were he alive today.

Jim Morrison - was arguably a genius. The Doors were certainly innovative, even progressive, and they bridged the gap between jazz, blues, folk music , psychodelic and rock. The problem was Morrison was cleary burning out even before he died, and admitted he was sick & tired of making music. He wanted to focus on poetry and filmmaking. Doubtful he would, or could, have contributed a lot more since he was a raging alcholic & drug addict by 30.

Jimi Hendrix - Super innovator. Blazed many new trails and no doubt would have continued had he not died choking on his own vomit from an overdose of wine and sleeping pills. Hard to predict what kind of contributions he would or could have made since we don't know how long it would have been before another bout with drugs and alcohol would have taken to kill him, but he clearly had enourmous, possibly the greatest potential to contribute.

Janis Joplin - a colorful icon who also did herself in with drugs & alcohol. Not as much of an innovator as a groundbreaker. Doubtful she would have done much more were she alive today.

Elvis - Amazing individual who literally changed the American culture and face of music. Probably contributed more to the growth of the rock & roll genre than any other person. Problem is, he too became a drug addict (prescription drugs, but drugs nonetheless) so what can we say? So, do people who become drug addicts ever recapture their past glory? Who knows, but Elvis probably had the greatest potential to make tremendous contributions, if he were alive.

John Lennon - nobody can deny the mega-status of the Beatles, and their contributions to rock & roll, but really when you really listen to the music, it's a one trick pony. Lennon himself was no great innovator when he was with the Beatles, nor, for that matter were the Beatles themselves. They were very trendy, but that doesn't mean they helped music evolve. The crud he did with Yoko Ono afterwards never caught on. His rebirth in the 70's was cut short by his death, and although the music was top 40ish and in the charts, it wasn't anything groundbreaking or earthshaking. I can't see him making major contributions if he were alive today.

Freddie Mercury - A true musican, and a far better singer than all the above artists (although Elvis was on par with Freddie in quality but not range) Amazingly talented, versatile and prolific until his death from AIDS at 45 years of age in 1991. Queen had (has) one of the longest tenures of any of the aformentioned bands/artists, and they did much to change, and change with, the face of music over two decades. Undoubtably Freddie would, were he alive now, still be contributing to music in the same prolific fashion as he did 20 years ago. I'd say he'd be tied with Jimi and Elvis as the biggest potential contributor were it not for....

Roy Orbison - Most remembered for his ballads of lost love, and within the music community he is revered for his song-writing abilities. Record producer and Orbison fan Don Was, commenting on Orbison's writing skills, said: "He defied the rules of modern composition." Songwriter Bernie Taupin, composer of many lyrics for Elton John, and others referred to Orbison as far ahead of the times, creating lyrics and music in a manner that broke with all traditions. Roy Orbison's vocal range was impressive (three octaves) and his songs were melodically and rhythmically advanced and lyrically sophisticated. Three songs written and recorded by Orbison, "Only The Lonely," "Oh, Pretty Woman," and "Crying," are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone named those three songs plus "In Dreams" on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time." In 1989, he was inducted posthumously into the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame.

So there you have it.

(PS - great question!)

Answer 2

Kurt Cobain was such a whinner! The world is better off without him! I'd say John Lennon #1 as well! I really wish Andrew Wood could have been around to create some more music aswell. He was amazing. Only did one album and never really got noticed much because he died two weeks before the album was ever released. Elvis and Marvin would be too old to do much anymore.

Answer 3

John Lennon

Answer 4

Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly was brilliant and ahead of his time. I think if he didn't die that he would have done everything the Beatles did as far as advancing recording techniques before them.

Although I'm a fan of Lennon, he's one of my favorites, I don't think he would have done a whole lot that would be ground breaking. His stuff on Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey are good, but he was not at the height of his creativity.

Kurt Cobain was a junkie loser without talent, so he shouldn't be up there. And Tupac shouldn't be on your list either, Rap is not real music.

Answer 5

Kurt Cobain

Answer 6

J.S. Bach. Hands down. No one can touch him. All the musicians that everyone has named would be nowhere without him. And it would be so interesting to see what Bach would make of all the innovations that came after him. I would love to hear Bach play some jazz, for example, because he was a great improviser. But Bach is someone who could possibly take the music we have now to another whole new level. He did it for his time, and could do it for ours also. Beethoven would be my second choice.

Answer 7

Janis Joplin... she was very clever and unlike other white people of her time was very accepted by blacks in the "Blues Community".

When she died, she had only released two albums but those 2 albums were SO influential that millions of people became fans. She started clothing trends and redefined the way we think about "beauty". She was considered to be 'the most beautiful ugly woman that ever lived'.

Janis Joplin sang lyrics by Kris Kristofferson (Me and Bobby McGee) and from the Musical Porgy & Bess (Summertime) and injected these songs with an amazing sense of woe, nostalgia and bittersweet emotion.

Janis was universally loved and respected when she hit the scene despite her penchant for Jack Daniels and hallucinogenic drugs which eventually killed her in October of 1970...

Her music lives on and continues to inspire the radical hippy blues rocker in all of us...

Answer 8

Both Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin really had it going for them! I agree with you about John Lennon..and Marvin Gaye..
Another is the singer for Sublime..he was so talented, it is a shame..

Answer 9

Lennon is a good choice. His song, Imagine, is really an anthem for an imaginary paradise that couldn't exist in the real world.

However, it would be nice if it could.

Lennon, although somewhat unsophisticated and lacking critical thinking abilities, was a genius at writing lyrics which stirred men's souls at an elementary level.

Answer 10

Elvis and John Lennon

Answer 11

Elvis or John Lennon