
Died Too Young ⚰️
List of People Who Died Too Young ⚰️ Only The Good Die Young[song]
ADDucation’s list of people who died too young highlights men and women who achieved immortality during their short lives. We can only imagine how their lives would have unfolded if they hadn’t died too young.
- ADDucation’s list of people who died too young was compiled by Joe Connor and last updated
ADDucation Tips: Click column headings with arrows to sort stars who died too young. Reload page for original sort order. Resize your browser to full screen and/or zoom out to display as many columns as possible. Click the ➕ icon to reveal any hidden columns. Start typing in the Filter table box to find anything inside the table.
Name | Age | Date | Where | Profession/s | Circumstances in which stars died too young |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bizet, Georges | 36 | 25 Oct 1838 | Paris, France. | Classical composer | Georges Bizet died aged 36, just a few months before his final opera, Carmen, was first performed. Carmen was initially derided immoral and disreputable, but went on to gain worldwide popularity. |
Bolan, Marc aka T. Rex |
29 | 16 Sep 1977 | London, England. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Marc Bolan was frontman of the glam rock group T. Rex. Bolan died in a car crash. The Mini car, driven by his girlfriend Gloria Jones (musician, singer, songwriter), hit a fence post then a tree. Bolan died instantly. Jones survived and lives in Los Angeles, USA. |
Boleyn, Anne | 28-35 | 19 May 1536 | London, England. | Royal | Ann Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII. Despite no convincing evidence of any wrongdoing on her part the English ruler had her executed in the grounds of the Tower of London on a scaffold in front of a crowd where she was beheaded. |
Bowie, David | 67 | 10 Jan 2016 | New York, USA. | Musician, singer, songwriter, artist | David Bowie, born David Robert Jones, died of liver cancer, which had been diagnosed 18 months before his death. Although older than most of the other people on this page ADDucation believes David Bowie died too young and he was still active as a performer and artist at the time of his death. |
Cobain, Kurt | 27 | 5 Apr 1994 | Seattle, USA. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Kurt Cobain was the founder and singer of the band “Nirvana” and died too young when he shot himself in the head with a shotgun. |
Curtis, Ian | 23 | 18 May 1980 | Macclesfield, England. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Ian Curtis was the lead singer of the post-punk rock band Joy Division. Ian took his own life on the eve of their debut North American tour. He suffered from epilepsy and was fearful of an extended tour performing live in the US. |
Dean, James | 24 | 30 Sep 1955 | Los Angeles, USA. | Actor | James Dean was a popular 1950’s film star of the post WWII generations. Dean was one of the actors who died young in a car crash in his Porsche 550 Spyder. |
Duncan, Isadora | 50 | 14 Sep 1927 | Nice, France. | Dancer, choreographer | Isadora Duncan tragically died too young when the scarf she was wearing caught around the rear axle of her open car and broke her neck. |
Falco | 40 | 6 Feb 1998 | Dominican Republic. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Falco, a famous Austrian singer died in a car accident. His car was rammed by a bus. |
Fassbinder, Rainer Werner | 37 | 10 Jun 1982 | Munich, Germany. | Actor, director, producer | Famous German director Rainer Fassbinder died after taking an overdose of barbiturates and cocaine. |
Frank, Anne | 15 | Mar 1945 | Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Germany. | Child, diarist | Anne Frank was a Jewish girl, born in Frankfurt, Germany. She was hidden from the Nazis in Amsterdam until being arrested and subsequently murdered in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Anne certainly died too young, research suggests Anne Frank may have died in February 1945. |
Ché Guevara | 43 | 10 Sep 1967 | Bolivia. | Revolutionary | Ché Guevara was a freedom fighter who was executed by the Bolivian army. |
Gallagher, Rory | 47 | 14 Jun 1995 | London, England. | Musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist | Rory Gallagher was an Irish guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was an alcoholic and died shortly after a liver transplant. |
Hendrix, Jimi | 27 | 18 Sep 1970 | London, England. | Musician, singer | Jimi Hendrix was a gifted guitarist. He suffocated on his own vomit after taking sleeping pills and alcohol. |
Houston, Whitney | 48 | 11 Feb 2012 | Beverly Hills, USA. | Musician, singer | Whitney Houston was one of the most successful singers of all time. She drowned in a bathtub under the influence of drugs. |
Hutchence, Michael | 37 | 22 Nov 1997 | Sydney, Australia. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Michael Hutchence, lead singer of the rock band INXS, was found hanged with a belt at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Sydney, Australia. The autopsy report concluded Hutchence death was suicide while suffering depression and under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. |
Jackson, Michael | 50 | 25 Jun 2009 | Los Angeles, USA. | Musician, singer, songwriter, dancer | Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop“, died of cardiac arrest in the home of his personal physician, Conrad Murray. The heart failure was induced by the effects of drug misuse. |
Jesus of Nazareth aka Jesus Christ | 30-33 | 30-33 AD | Jerusalem. | Prophet | Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem on the orders of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect. |
Jobs, Steve | 56 | 5 Oct 2011 | Palo Alto, USA. | Inventor, designer, businessman | Steve Jobs, the visionary Apple co-founder and also NeXT and Pixar, died from complications of Pancreatic cancer at this home in Palo Alto, California, USA. Steve Job’s final words were:
|
Jones, Brian | 27 | 3 July 1969 | Hartfield, England. | Musician, guitarist | Brian Jones, lead guitarist and founder member of the Rolling Stones, drowned in a swimming pool. It was never proven if it was an accident or murder. |
Joplin, Janis | 27 | 10 Apr 1970 | Los Angeles, USA. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Janis Joplin took a heroin overdose and died in her hotel room. |
Kelly, Grace | 52 | 13 Sep 1982 | Monaco, Italy. | Actor, royal | Grace Kelly, American actress and Princess of Monaco, crashed her car down a slope. Her daughter Stephanie survived the accident. |
Ledger, Heath | 28 | 22 Jan 2008 | New York, USA. | Actor | Heath Ledger, the Australian actor joins other actors who died tragically after taking a lethal drug cocktail. |
Lee, Brandon | 28 | 31 Mar 1993 | North Carolina, USA. | Martial artist | Lee Brandon was a martial artist who died accidentally during the filming of the movie “The Crow” when part of a dummy bullet hit him fatally. |
Lee, Bruce | 32 | 20 Jul 1973 | Cowloon Tong, Hong Kong. | Martial artist | Bruce Lee was found unresponsive in bed, following a headache at the home of actress Betty Ting Pei, by movie director Raymond Chow. Bruce Lee died of an acute cerebral edema caused by either a reaction to meprobamate in Equagesic painkiller or as a result of heatstroke caused by over-exertion. Autopsy report concluded “death by misadventure”. |
Lennon, John | 40 | 9 Oct 1940 | Liverpool, England. | Musician, singer, songwriter | John Lennon was a founder member of “The Beatles”. John was shot in the back four times at the entrance to his New York apartment by Mark David Chapman who remains in jail. Ono said:
|
Mandela, Nelson | 95 | 5 Dec 2013 | Johannesburg, South Africa. | Revolutionary, politician | Nelson Mandela is the oldest person who died too young on this list. We included him as a tribute to his life’s work as a “Giant of Justice” who was ahead of his time and young at heart and was too young to die at any age. |
Mansfield, Jayne | 34 | 29 Jun 1967 | Louisiana, USA. | Actor | Jane Mansfield, the American actress joins other actresses who died too young, in her case with her husband, in a car accident. |
Marley, Bob | 36 | 11 May 1981 | Miami, USA. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Bob Marley died as a result of a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of one of his toes, diagnosed in July 1977. He was advised to have the toe amputated but, for religious reasons, that did not happen. He died less than four years later in the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami when he landed there on his way home to Jamaica from Germany. |
Mayall, Rik | 56 | 9 Jun 2014 | London, England. | Actor, comedian | Rik Mayall was an English comedian and actor famous for pioneering alternative comedy in the early ’80s was found dead in his home. He co-wrote or starred in series such as Blackadder, and The Young Ones and the films Drop Dead Fred and Guest House Paradiso. |
Mercury, Freddy | 45 | 24 Nov 1991 | London, England. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Freddy Mercury, founder and lead singer of the rock group “Queen”, died of bronchial pneumonia at his home in Kensington, London, after suffering AIDS for several years. |
Michael, George | 53 | 25 Dec 2016 | Oxford, England. | Musician, singer, songwriter | George Michael had a series of hits with Wham! together with Andrew Ridgeley from 1981, and had a successful solo career until his death, apparently of heart failure, in 2016. |
Mitchell, Margaret | 48 | 8 Nov 1949 | Atlanta, USA. | Author | Margaret Mitchell, the author of “Gone with the wind”, was run over by a drunken taxi driver, in Atlanta. USA, she died five days later in hospital without fully regaining consciousness. |
Monroe, Marilyn | 36 | 5 Aug 1962 | Los Angeles, USA. | Actor | Marilyn Monroe, famous American film actress and diva, suffered from depression. She took a lethal overdose of sleeping pills in bed at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, USA. The cause of death was acute barbiturate poisoning. |
Morrison, Jim | 27 | 7 Mar 1971 | Paris, France. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Jim Morrison The 27-year old, drug-addicted singer of the “Doors” was found dead in the bathtub at his apartment in Paris. The cause of death was heart failure. No autopsy was performed. |
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | 35 | 5 Dec 1791 | Vienna, Austria. | Musician, composer | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a musical prodigy. He was taken seriously ill, then bedridden for several months of pain and vomiting before dying of uncertain causes. |
Wallace, Christopher George Latore aka Notorious B.I.G. |
25 | 3 Sep 1997 | Los Angeles, USA. | Musician, singer, songwriter | The Notorious B.I.G., an American rapper died too young when he was shot dead in this truck at a red light in a so-called “drive-by shooting”. To date the murderer has not been identified. |
Phoenix, River | 23 | 31 Oct 1993 | Hollywood, USA. | Actor | River Phoenix, the US actor, collapsed and died too young on the sidewalk outside the West Hollywood nightclub The Viper Room nightclub on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles County, USA. The cause of death was combined drug intoxication. |
Presley, Elvis | 42 | 16 Aug 1977 | Graceland, Memphis, USA. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” died of heart failure caused by Hirschsprung’s bowel disease. |
Prince Rogers Nelson aka Prince |
57 | 21 Apr 2016 | Chanhassen, Minnesota, USA. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Prince, the popular US pop singer, was treated for flu in hospital only a week before his death. According to a press release, from the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office in Anoka County, Prince died as a result of an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a pain medication, sometimes used as a recreational drug. |
Spencer, Diana aka Diana, Princess of Wales |
36 | 31 Aug 1997 | Paris, France. | Royal | Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, died too young fleeing from paparazzi. The car she was traveling in crashed in a tunnel in Paris. Her companion Dodi Al Fayed (aged 42) and the driver Henri Paul also died in the crash. |
Reeve, Christopher | 52 | 10 Oct 2004 | Mount Kisco, NY, USA. | Actor | Christopher Reeve, famous for his role as “Superman” was paralyzed by a riding accident and later died from an infection. |
Rindt, Jochen | 28 | 9 May 1970 | Monza, Italy. | Racing driver | Due to a technical defect his Formula One car slammed into the barriers. Jochen Rindt posthumously became world champion with points he had accumulated before the accident. |
Marciano, Rocky | 45 | 31 Aug 1969 | Newton, Iowa, USA. | Boxer | Rocky Marciano “The Brockton Blockbuster” was world heavyweight boxing champion between 1952 and 1956. Marciano was a passenger in Cessna 172 light aircraft. As bad weather set in the pilot tried to land but hit a tree. Rocky Marciano aged 45, Frankie Farrell, aged 28 (a family friend), and the pilot Glenn Belz, were all killed on impact. |
Saint-Exupéry, de Antoine | 44 | 31 Jul 1944 | Mediterranean, near France. | Author, pilot, soldier | Saint- Exupéry was an excellent author, pilot and soldier. During a reconnaissance flight, the world famous author of “little prince” crashed into the sea near Marseille. |
Schiele, Egon | 28 | 31 Oct 1918 | Vienna, Austria. | Artist, painter | Egon Schiele was a famous painter and victim of “Spanish flu”. He died just three days after his wife. |
Schneider, Romy | 44 | 29 May 1982 | Paris, France. | Actor | After the accidental death of her son (he climbed over a fence, slipped and speared himself) the actress Romy Schneider took too many pills and died of a broken heart. |
Schubert, Franz | 33 | 19 Nov 1828 | Vienna, Austria. | Musician, composer | Franz Schubert was a famous composer who died with a high fever (today presumed to have been typhoid). |
Scott, Bon | 33 | 19 Feb 1980 | London, England. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Bon Scott was the lead singer of the hard rock band AC/DC. He suffocated on his own vomit. |
Senna, Ayrton | 34 | 1 May 1994 | Imola, Italy. | Racing driver | Ayrton Senna was a famous Formula One racing driver who died racing for the Williams racing team in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. |
Stuart, Mary | 44 | 8 Feb 1587 | London, England. | Royal | Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth I in 1586, after eighteen years in custody. She was beheaded on a scaffold in the grounds of Fotheringhay Castle in 1587. |
Tate, Sharon | 27 | 9 Aug 1969 | Hollywood, USA. | Actor, model | Sharon Tate was brutally murdered in her Los Angeles home by Charles Manson and his gang. Tate married Roman Ponlanski (director, writer, actor) in 1968 and was due to give birth in two weeks. Manson died in prison in 2017. |
Thornton, Melanie | 34 | 24 Nov 2001 | Zurich, Switzerland. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Melanie Thornton was an American pop singer who died in the Crossair flight 3597 which crashed, in driving snow, into a forest shortly before landing. 24 people died and 9 survived. |
Valentino, Rudolf | 26 | 23 Aug 1926 | New York City, USA. | Actor | Rudolf Valentino was one of the greatest silent film actors in history. The Italian-born actor died suddenly of pneumonia causing mass hysteria around the world (especially among his female fans). |
Vicious, Sid | 22 | 2 Feb 1979 | New York City, USA. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Sid Vicious, the punk-rock bassist of the “Sex Pistols”, died too young when he injected his “golden shot”. |
Walker, Paul | 40 | 30 Nov 2013 | Los Angeles, USA. | Actor | Paul Walker starred in the US series “Fast & Furious”. He was the passenger in a car which crashed into a tree. |
Williams, Robin McLaurin | 63 | 11 Aug 2014 | Tiburon, California, USA. | Actor, comedian | Robin Williams became famous as the alien in Mork & Mindy who went on to star in films including The World According to Garp, Dead Poets Society and Mrs Doubtfire. The most likely cause of death is asphyxiation. |
Winehouse, Amy | 27 | 23 Jul 2011 | Camden, London, England. | Musician, singer, songwriter | Amy Winehouse was an English singer who died too young of accidental alcohol poisoning. The alcohol level in her blood was 416 mg per 100 ml in her blood, a level of alcohol commonly associated with fatality, according to the Coroner, Dr Shirley Radcliffe. |
Wood, Natalie | 43 | 29 Nov 1981 | California, USA. | Actor | Natalie Wood was a famous American actress who drowned under mysterious circumstances during a sailing excursion. |
[song]Artists who recorded songs titled “Only The Good Die Young’ include Billy Joel, Iron Maiden and Queen.

Now Take ADDucation’s FREE online Died Too Soon Quiz…
More ADDucation Lists Including People That Died Too Young:
- List of Famous Battles…
- Nautical Disasters List…
- Most Famous Assassinations…
- Let us know which stars you believe died too young in the comments below and we’ll consider adding them…
Great info on famous people who died far too young!