It's a sad fact that a lot of rock stars die young. In fact, it's something of a stereotype for fans that dead artists tend to be appreciated more. Maybe it's because we tend to fetishise their potential - what was lost before their lives were tragically cut short. It even has a name: the 27 club, which addresses the strange phenomena whereby the majority of musicians who die young pass away at the age of 27.
Just think what some of these lost legends might be like if they'd lived to see the year 2018? Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and John Lennon are all good examples, and remain eternally young because of their tragic demise. So what would these icons look now? That's the question that the Sachs Media Group attempted to answer. They partnered with the photo restoration Phojoe to create a gallery showcasing what these heroes would look like in their old age. Scroll down to check them out below!
Wow, just looking at some of these pictures is making me feel really sad. If you'll excuse me, I think I need to go and listen to Nevermind for the zillionth time.
What if they were alive today? How would they look? That's what online creator Hidreley Diao asked himself before he created portraits that provide an interesting glimpse into that fantasy.
Diana, Princess of Wales. Credit: Anwar Hussein / Getty
Using the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Diao showcased a series that helps us see what would've happened if these celebrities had the opportunity to age gracefully.
Princess Diana: July 1, 1961 - August 31, 1997
The 36-year-old Princess of Wales - who became an international icon due to her activism and glamour - shocked the world when she tragically died in a car accident on August 31, 1997.
Despite her untimely death, her legacy is still being carried through charitable organizations such as the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, and the work of her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
Here's what Diana would look like if she were alive today:
Marilyn Monroe: June 1, 1926 - August 5, 1962
Monroe was an actress/singer who became one of the world's most iconic figures. She is remembered both for being a sex symbol in Hollywood and for her tragic personal and professional struggles within the industry.
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, she was one of the most marketable Hollywood stars, starring in several commercially successful films that grossed $200 million.
American actress, singer, model, and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. Credit: Sunset Boulevard / Getty
The late cultural icon sadly died at her Los Angeles home on August 5, 1962, at only 36 years old. An empty bottle of sleeping pills was found by her bed.
Here's what Monroe would look like if she were alive today:
Freddie Mercury: September 5, 1946 - November 24, 1991
The late British singer-songwriter - who was open about his bisexuality - achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen, alongside Brian May, Roger Taylor, and later John Deacon.
Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock music, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona, his impressive four-octave vocal range, and his operatic masterpiece 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.
Freddie Mercury was the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen. Credit: Pete Still / Getty
The late rockstar tragically died from AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia at his London mansion on November 24, 1991, at the age of just 45 years old.
The day before his death, on November 23, 1991, Mercury released a statement, which read: "I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV-positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private to date to protect the privacy of those around me."
"However, the time has come now for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with my doctors and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease," he added.
Here's what Mercury would look like if he were alive today:
Elvis Presley: January 8, 1935 - August 16, 1977
Presley was a popular singer widely known as the "King of Rock and Roll" and one of rock music’s prevalent performers from the mid-1950s until his death.
Throughout his remarkable career, the late icon helped popularize rock 'n' roll music in the US and won three Grammy Awards for his gospel recordings.
A major musical force, he had 18 Number 1 singles, including 'Don’t Be Cruel,' 'Good Luck Charm,' and 'Suspicious Minds,' as well as numerous gold and platinum albums.
Rock and roll musician Elvis Presley. Credit: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty
On the morning of August 16, 1977, Presley died of heart failure at the age of 42. It was later ruled that his death was related to his prescription drug abuse.
He was buried on the Graceland property, near the gravesites of his mother, father, and grandmother Minnie Mae Hood Presley.
Here's what Presley would look like if he were alive today:
Tupac Shakur: June 16, 1971 - September 13, 1996
Considered one of the most influential hip-hop icons of all time, Tupac is among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
Born in New York City to parents who were both political activists and Black Panther Party members, the late rapper's conscious rap lyrical content addressed social injustice, violence, and the marginalization of Black Americans.
Tupac Shakur. Credit: Steve Eichner / Getty
During the later part of his career, Tupac signed to Marion "Suge" Knight's label Death Row Records, and became heavily involved in the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop rivalry.
On September 7, 1996, he was shot four times by an unidentified assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas and succumbed to injuries six days later. He died at age 25.
Following his murder, rapper Notorious B.I.G. was at first considered a suspect due to their public feud but he was also murdered in another drive-by shooting six months later.
Despite his short career, the rap icon was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame in 2002 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. Rolling Stone ranked him among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and he was also awarded a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Here's what Tupac would look like if he were alive today:
Bruce Lee: November 27, 1940 - July 20, 1973
Lee was an American-born actor who was known for his martial arts skills that helped popularize martial arts films in the 1970s. He became renowned throughout the world due to the portrayal of Cantonese culture in his movies and for fighting against Asian stereotypes in the United States.
With a career spanning Hong Kong and the United States, Lee starred in feature-length Hong Kong martial arts films in the early 1970s: Lo Wei's The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury (1972), Golden Harvest's The Way of the Dragon (1972), Golden Harvest and Warner Brothers' Enter the Dragon (1973) and The Game of Death (1978).
Bruce Lee. Credit: Archive Photos / Getty
On July 20, 1973, just one month before the premiere of Enter the Dragon, Lee sadly passed away in Hong Kong, China, at the age of 32.
The official cause of his unexpected death was a brain edema discovered in an autopsy to have been caused by a strange reaction to a prescription painkiller he was reportedly taking for a back injury.
Here's what Lee would look like if he were alive today:
Michael Jackson: August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009
Known as the "King of Pop," Michael Jackson was a best-selling American singer, songwriter, and dancer.
He began his career as the lead singer of his family’s popular group, the Jackson 5, alongside brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy. The group scored four consecutive number-one pop hits with 'I Want You Back,' 'ABC,' 'The Love You Save,' and 'I’ll Be There'.
Jackson went on to embark on a solo career of extraordinary worldwide success, delivering hits from the albums Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987).
Thriller remains one of the best-selling albums in history, having sold 67 million copies worldwide and 34 million units in the United States. The album stayed on the charts for 80 weeks and spawned seven Top 10 hits, including 'Thriller,' 'Billie Jean,' 'Beat It,' 'Human Nature,' 'Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'' and 'P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).'
Michael Jackson. Credit: Phil Dent / Getty
Throughout his career, Jackson garnered 38 Grammy Award nominations and 13 wins. He was also honored with the 1993 Grammy Legend Award, his 2001 induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The late icon tragically died on June 25, 2009, at the age of 50, after suffering a cardiac arrest in his Los Angeles home. An official coroner’s report revealed the father-of-three's cause of death was acute propofol intoxication.
Here's what Jackson would look like if he were alive today:
To see more of Hidreley Diao's work, check out his Instagram page.
An artist has used AI to create images of celebrities who have passed away and has shown us what they might look like if they were still alive.
Seeing your favorite celebrity pass away can be an extremely difficult experience, especially if they had an impact on your life with their work.
Thanks to the modern technology and the incredibly talented photographer, Alper Yesiltas, we've been given a glimpse of what some celebs may have looked like, as part of his "As If Nothing Happened" photo series.
Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger tragically passed away in 2008 when he was just 28 years old. The actor had just received widespread acclaim for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight, and his career looked like it was going from strength to strength.
As per the Mirror, Ledger became plagued by insomnia and was taking prescription medication in order to combat it. Coroners reported that he died of "acute intoxication" after he took a "cocktail" of drugs. His death was ruled as an accident.
Tupac Shakur
Arguably one of the most iconic people in the music scene in the '90s, Tupac was shot and killed in 1996.
The driveby shooting was carried out by an unknown assailant who shot him four times in the chest in LA. Tupac died six days later.
His murderer remains unknown, and according to Britannica, this is due to uncooperative witnesses and police not pursuing gang-related violence.
Michael Jackson
As the king of pop, Michael Jackson's death sent shockwaves across the world as one of the most iconic voices and dancers passed suddenly.
Jackson died in 2009 at the age of 50, and as per the Sun, his death was due to an overdose of the drugs propofol and benzodiazepine following a cardiac arrest.
Jackon's physician, Dr Conrad Murray, would later be charged with involuntary manslaughter because he supplied the pop star with the medication.
Princess Diana
On 31 August 1997, the world stood still as the beloved Princess Diana was declared dead following a horrific car accident in Paris.
Fleeing from the paparazzi, her driver turned into the Pont de l'Alma tunnel and sadly, the car wouldn't come out the other end. Diana was rushed to hospital, but her life could not be saved.
The Royal Family in the UK came under intense scrutiny for their treatment of Diana, and she did not receive a state funeral, but it was still perceived that way.
She is the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry, thus meaning that her bloodline will occupy the throne for decades to come.
Paul Walker
Paul Walker was a star in the Fast and Furious movie franchise and his death came as a massive shock to millions of fans.
In 2013, Walker lost his life in a car crash and a coroner revealed that his vehicle was travelling at over 100mph (160km/h), as per the Guardian.
Ayrton Senna
Senna was one of the greatest drivers to grace the sport of Formula One. The Brazilian was set to race in the Imola Grand Prix when Roland Ratzenberger crashed into a barrier and sadly lost his life.
Senna believed that the race should be cancelled, but it went ahead anyway. The driver took to the track where he himself collided with a concrete barrier, and he died as a result of catastrophic head injuries.
The world mourned who many believed to be the great racing driver of all time, and safety measures have come on leaps and bounds in the wake of his death.
Freddie Mercury
The leading man of the band Queen, Freddie Mercury was easily one of the greatest showmen to ever take to the stage, as he had a magical ability to transfix thousands of people at once.
The singer was diagnosed with aids in 1987 and he lost his battle with the disease in 1991. His voice lives on as one of the most iconic of all time.
John Lennon
Famed for his part in the Beatles, John Lennon was one of the most influential men in music as he, alongside his bandmates, proved that English bands could break the American market.
As one of the most famous men on the planet, Lennon drew widespread attention. It was on December 8 1980, when he was 40 years old, that Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman, who was allegedly jealous of the musician's rich lifestyle.
Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse lived a troubled life as she battled addiction throughout her illustrious music career. Releasing hits such as 'Back to Black' and 'Valerie', the singer was a household name.
As per the Mirror, Winehouse lost her life in 2011 when she died from alcohol poisoning at the age of just 27.
Other work by Yesiltas includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, James Gandolfini and River Phoenix, amongst other names.
His work can be found on his Instagram page, where he has since begun a series displaying what young celebrities might look like when they get older.
Much like Harry Potter, I'm often told that I look virtually identical to my dad. It's something which has dogged my entire life, but despite how sick I am of hearing about it, I have to admit, it is true. We do look exactly alike. Now this isn't such a big deal for an unrecognisable nobody like me; but imagine how much more weird it is for a celebrity. Yup; Hollywood is populated by a fair few celebrity dynasties these days, where it seems like the whole family is famous. In that situation, it's even harder for the kids of superstars to step out of their parent's shadow.
Nowadays there are a fair few celeb-offspring walking around that are fully-grown adults in their own right; who look the spitting image of their mom and dad when they were the same age as they are now. If you don't believe me then just scroll down to take a look at some incredibly similar father-son duos. See if you can tell who's who!
So there you have it. Isn't the resemblance just uncanny? But there are disadvantages to being the child of a famous A-lister. For example, very recently, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's daughter Willow has opened up in a candid interview about the awful reality of being the child of two Hollywood superstars.
Sometimes we get so caught up in our own current affairs and tokens of pop culture that we forget about the other side of the world and that they might not be as tuned into Western culture as we are. Especially cosmopolitan metropolises like Tokyo and Seoul have birthed their own unique culture and forms of entertainment, and while they're extremely popular over there, we don't often hear about them.
Which is why it's sad only to learn about this young superstar from South Korea in light of the tragic news of his passing. Police have confirmed the death of Kim Jong-hyun, who was one of five members of the hugely popular K-Pop band SHINee. He was only 27-years-old.
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The Korean Herald reports that the young musician was found unconscious in his apartment in Seoul and was immediately taken to hospital. Police were called to the apartment after receiving a phone call from Jong-hyun's sister in the late afternoon, who said she received a number of text messages from her brother that sounded like a "last goodbye", leading her to believe he was going to commit suicide. Reports confirmed that they're treating his death as a suicide.
A statement from Gangnam police confirmed that the superstar was rushed to hospital after he was found in a state of cardiac arrest in his apartment. The statement read:
"On December 18, 2017 at 4:42PM Jonghyun’s older sister reported to Police that her brother was about to commit suicide."We went to his residence in Chungdam and discovered that he had attempted to commit suicide."Emergency responders were with us at the time so we rushed him to the Konkuk University Hospital in a state of cardiac arrest."
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Jong-hyun arrived at the hospital at 6.10pm, and it was reported that after a team at the hospital performed CPR, he couldn't be revived and was pronounced dead. SHINee's label S.M. Entertainment and none of Jong-hyun's family members have released statements regarding his death so far.
The young star recently admitted to suffering from a deep depression, which he attributed partly to his insomnia. He helped form the band in 2008 for which he showed off skills as a singer and a dancer, and he was always heavily involved in songwriting and production for the group. The band had several number one hits in South Korean charts, and they also became popular in Japan. Just this year, SHINee released their fifth album titled Five and spent a good part of the year touring it around the country.
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The group was loved for their expertly choreographed dance routines and lively performances, and have sometimes been referred to as the "Princes of K-Pop". In a solo effort, Jong-hyun recently performed a couple of shows at the SK Olympic Handball Stadium in Seoul Olympic Park on December 9 and 10, not even two weeks ago.
It's devastating news for fans, but also tragic for anyone else to hear of this young talent having his life end so soon. RIP.
While 2017 wasn't exactly an easy year for many of us to make it through, 2016 had its own infamy for one terrible reason. The amount of celebrity deaths that year were astounding, with artists who had changed the lives of millions across the world being taken from us too soon.
We lost the likes of David Bowie, Prince, Mohamed Ali, Alan Rickman, George Michael and Carrie Fisher. It's never easy to hear news like this, especially when it comes as a shock, given the young ages of some of the departed. Except, apparently, one website predicted 12 of these celebrity deaths in advance.
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The website is called The DeathList and has been around since 1987. The site guesses which celebrities, world leaders and other public figures will pass away in the coming year, and it seems to be getting higher numbers each year. In 2017 it managed to guess 17 correctly, predicting the deaths of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, British TV legend Bruce Forsyth, actress Liz Dawn, Ian Brady and boxer Jake LaMotta.
Now they've released their list for 2018, which has some worried for their favourite celebrities.
The only real rules for nomination is that the chosen nominees must be famous enough that their death is expected to be reported by the UK media, and that they limit themselves to allowing 25 candidates to reappear from the previous year's list.
Now that the new year has arrived, their 2018 list is here, giving us a dark look into a possible future. According to The DeathList, which is 50 people long, we will likely see the deaths of Sean Connery, The Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood, footballer Paul Gascoigne, Olivia Newton-John, Dick Van Dyke, Prince Philip and Professor Steven Hawking, just to name a few.
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Among the politicians they expect won't be with us for long, they have listed Bob Dole, Henry Kissinger, and former presidents Jimmy Carter and George Bush Sr.
Above the list, the website states that:
"Below you will find a list of 50 celebrities which our expert committee has selected with the expectation they will die during 2018""In 2017, years of promise were realised when the list smashed the previous record, chalking up an astonishing 17 successes. Does this suggest there will now be some lean years ahead for DeathList? Or has the DeathList forum become such a powerful resource now that we could see the record surpassed again in 2018?"
You can see how this has been seen in poor taste by many, as turning the lives of strangers into a game of odds is disrespectful to say the least.
It seems like the whole thing is in jest from the website's description of Prince Philip being "casual racist", they do seem to take their success ratio pretty seriously. Even if we may ourselves expect some to leave us soon, making a list out of it seems a little strange, especially when you're bragging about the 'successes' of the previous year.
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