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SUPPORT ME ON PATREON\n\nWATCH MUSIC is not a GENRE VIDEOS and MORE\n\nWe can do this forever. Death is a constant. When a celebrity dies \u2013 especially too soon & especially one that created something we\u2019re passionate about, we feel it & never forget it. You can go back as far as Franz Schubert & Fr\xe9d\xe9ric Chopin for untimely deaths that shook the music world. Hell, you can go back way farther.\n\nEven if we\u2019re sticking with the 20th & 21stcenturies, the list is endless. From the 1950s on, there are hundreds of tragic music deaths. The first that comes to mind (by no means the actual first) is \u201cthe day the music died\u201d, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens & the Big Bopper's plane crashed. Then you have the infamous \u201c27 club\u201d, which took shape in 1970-71 with the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin & Jim Morrison, but also includes the Stones\u2019 Brian Jones from the year before, Kurt Cobain & Amy Winehouse way later, and according to the internets over 75 musicians in total, dating as far back as 1892.\n\nThen there\u2019s Elvis. The twin mega drummer losses of Keith Moon & John Bonham (both 32). The Lynyrd Skynyrd crash. Ian Curtis of Joy Division. Marvin Gaye. Freddie Mercury. Selena. Aaliyah. And on & on up to Bowie, Prince, Chris Cornell, and all the others I\u2019ve discussed in previous Death is DUMB volumes.\xa0\n\nSo what\u2019s the point of all this? Death is death & loss is loss. What matters is which deaths strike a chord with you. The reason I won\u2019t do an episode on everyone I mentioned above, let alone all the people I didn\u2019t mention, is because while all of them are tragic, only some made a difference to me. The last three for sure. The drummer deaths to some extent. The rest? Varying degrees of not quite as significant.\n\nAnd that\u2019s where John Lennon comes in. I\u2019m old enough to remember Elvis\u2019 death pretty much all the others after him. But the first loss I felt personally was Lennon. You could say he\u2019s the patron saint of Death is DUMB, if not the whole reason why. When I\u2019ve talked about any other death \u2013 Adam Schlesinger, Scott Weiland, Adam Yauch, Layne Staley \u2013 my ability to articulate what it feels like & why it matters all comes from the impact Lennon\u2019s death had on me. That immediate loss of the future, of possibility, of reunion, of renewal, of hope. The taking away of a vibrant creative and existential energy. For me, the idea of a final ending in a musical life & career all started with John. I\u2019m still not over it.\n\nAnd that\u2019s all I\u2019m saying here. No need to rehash any of his life or death or legacy. Better historians & musicologists than I have done it thoroughly. My only main point is this: we take music personally. We connect and identify with the music and musicians that move us. If that\u2019s 1959 for you, or 1970-71, or 1977, 1980, 1984, 1994, or any year before or since, it\u2019s because that\u2019s who mattered to you. And as much as we should mourn all these deaths however we feel them, the passion that makes us feel them at all is something we should celebrate.\n\nJohn\u2019s solo work has influenced me in that I always strive for personal honesty & plain-spokenness in my lyrics. I always try to achieve both a musical AND lyrical impact, no matter the genre. Take your pick of any of my songs, but you might want to start with these two:\n\nREC \u2013 \u201cSome Things Happen\u201d (from the album Parts and Labour)\nREC \u2013 \u201cLost Found\u201d (from the album Sympathy for the Weird)\n\nDid Lennon\u2019s death hit you the way it hit me? What other musical deaths have impacted you? Discuss dammit!\n\n\n--- \n\nThis episode is sponsored by \n\xb7 Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app\n\nSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/musicisnotagenre/support\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices