Tuesday’s Top Ten: Gone but not Forgotten Male Vocalists

My music account keeps reminding me of the wonderful artists we’ve lost. Tom Petty, Prince, and David Bowie in the last two years. John Denver and Freddie Mercury have been gone a long time, but it doesn’t make it any easier.

I love how music ties itself to our memories, and yet, the older I get, the more I hate it.

Here are my top ten favorite male vocalists who are no longer with us:

10. Michael Jackson. Lemur loves the guy. I have to admit, he was a big piece of my childhood. Not like that – he was acquitted.

9. Kurt Cobain. I hated this guy when he was alive. Well. I probably hated him at least ten years after he died, until I read his suicide note. I talked about it here. So, so sorry this troubled, talented man didn’t find the help he needed. (In my defense, I was young and stupid. I’ve tried to grow as a human being in the last twelve years. Tried.)

8. Shannon Hoon. Blind Melon could have been so much more. “No Rain” is still one of my all-time favorites.

7. Chris Cornell. “Black Hole Sun” is on that list, too.

6. Tom Petty. I’m still in shock. Wildflowers is one of my favorite albums of all time. I nearly died for it.

5. Johnny Cash. From “Folsom Prison Blues,” “A Boy Named Sue,” and “Walk the Line,” to “Ghost Riders in the Sky” and “Hurt,” no one tells a story like Johnny Cash.

4. David Bowie. I will always dance to David Bowie in my dreams. With Heath Ledger. Because, dreams.

3. John Denver. Muppets Christmas, y’all – it’s that time of year again. This song (all of them, really) makes me smile, every time.

2. Prince. I was too young to appreciate Prince in his prime. The first time I heard, “Act your age, not your shoe size,” my shoe size was probably higher than my age. Thanks to Prince, we will always party like it’s 1999, lust after little red Corvettes, and dream of diamonds and pearls.

1. Freddie Mercury. Who else could it be? This guy is the music “Love of My Life.” (I’m still running Freddie Days – check it out for ten more days!)

This list is very specific to the tunes of my childhood and teens. I know I’ve left off some favorites. Who do you wish was still making music?