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As a music fan, you often hear about the artists who passed away too early in the past decades like the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s. Those classic rock gods and goddesses like Jimi Henderix, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin. But the truth is, there are people who have passed away more recently that make for similar tragedies. Artists who left the Earth (and their fans) too early.
Here below, we wanted to explore the lives and deaths of four such artists. A quartet of songwriters and performers who were both incandescent and too quick to leave this plane of existence. Indeed, these are four artists who died too soon in the 2000s.
Layne Staley (August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002)
The dynamic voice and co-lead singer for the Seattle-born grunge group Alice in Chains, Staley died on April 5, 2002, after a long addiction to drugs, which he often sang about in his vulnerable and self-effacing songs. Incredibly, April 5 is also the day Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain died (though eight years earlier) and is Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready’s birthday. When he died, Staley was reported to have weighed just 80 pounds and was white as a ghost. But while alive, he was one of the greatest rock singers of all time. Like lightning that could stretch across planets.
Aaliyah (January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001)
During her brief life, Aaliyah was a comet. She was an effortless singer and pop star and her music was all over the radio and outlets like MTV. She was next, beautiful, compelling, and charismatic. Sadly, though, after shooting a music video in the Bahamas, the small plane she was on crashed and lit on fire, killing the singer and everyone else onboard. In the wake of the accident, some have said that the plane was overcrowded with passengers and equipment and that could have contributed to its demise. And an inquest after the fact showed there was one more person than allowed and 700 pounds more of cargo. Moreover, the pilot wasn’t even legally allowed to be flying. Sadly, the tragedy left the world without one of the brightest stars in music at the time.
George Harrison (February 25, 1943 – November 29, 2001)
While he lived a longer life than the others on this list, George Harrison’s passing still came far too early. For the former Beatle, his life was all about music and spirituality. Sadly, it was cut short as a result of cancer and he passed away at just 58 years old. A longtime cigarette smoker, Harrison died from the habit some two years after surviving a knife attack by an intruder in his home. Today, he is survived by the two remaining living Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
Lisa Lopes (May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002)
The Philadelphia-born rapper, songwriter and performer Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes rose to fame with her hip-hop trio TLC. A four-time Grammy Award-winner, Lopes died at just 30 years old in a car accident. She died when thrown from the car after it rolled several times (she was not wearing a seat belt and was the only one killed by the crash). It was a gruesome death (and one caught on film as a documentary crew was on hand) for someone known for such style and pizzazz. In the end she will be remembered for her group and her iconic nickname.
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Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
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