Creating My Own Musical "Supergroup"

What would they have sounded like if they'd had the opportunity to play together? What would they have added to music that we don't have now? What more would we have marveled at?

Presenting..."The What.

Keith Moon, Born: August 23, 1947. Died: September 7, 1978. Occupation: Musician and destroyer of hotel rooms and drum kits. Member of: The Who. Accomplishments: Revolutionized the way that drums were played in the genre of music called Rock and Roll. With accelerated drum rolls and cymbal crashes he forever changed the perception of a drummer from one who provided nothing but a background beat to one who played a lead instrument in the band. He did nothing half way, he was either the best or the worst at every facet of life. The funniest, the meanest, the most violent, the most peaceful. He died in the same apartment that Mama Cass Elliot did from an overdose of a prescribed medication used to prevent alcoholics from drinking. RIP



Billy Powell, Born: June 3, 1952. Died: January 28,2009. Ocupation: Musician and only keyboardist for a southern rock group. Member of: Lynyrd Skynyrd. Accomplishments: Survivor of the 1977 plane crash which took the lives of his fellow bandmates. He was the only member of the band able to attend the funeral for Ronnie Van Zant. Originally a roadie for the band he sat down following the instrument set up and played his own version of Free Bird. Ronnie Van Zant was impressed and asked him to join the band as their keyboard player. He is credited with crafting the intro to Free Bird on Skynyrds debut album. After missing an appointment for a heart check up the day before, Powell called 911 complaining of shortness of breath. When the EMT's got there he was unconscious and unresponsive with the telephone still clutched in his hand. He was pronounced dead at the scene. RIP



Cliff Burton, Born: February 10, 1962. Died: September 27, 1986. Occupation: Musician and head bangingest bass player in the history of Metal Rock. Member of: Trauma and Metallica. Accomplishments: Made heavy use of distortion and other effects most usually associalted with non-bass guitars. Was instrumental in developing the signature sound which Metallica is known for. As a classically trained pianist he used his large knowledge of theory to add to the band's sound and was able to teach Hetfield and Hammett to harmonize. He died from injuries sustained by being thrown through Metallica's tour bus window following a roll over crash. RIP.



Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born: October 3, 1954. Died: August 27, 1990. Occupation: Musician who taught himself to play by listening to the music of Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds and The Beatles. Member of: Triple Threat and Double Trouble. Accomplishments: An influential electric blues guitarists ranked number 7 in Rolling Stone Magazines top 100 Greatest Guitarists and number 3 in Classic Rock Magazines top 100 Wildest Guitarists. His signature sound was a combination of simultaneous lead and rhythm parts. He used very heavy strings on his Fender Stratocaster and tuned it a half step down from E flat to give his playing a fuller sound. He played clean and loud. After years of cocaine and alcohol addiction he suffered a near death dehydration episode. Hospitalization determined that whiskey was eating away at his stomach and cocaine had crystallized again in his intestines eating away at those. He went into rehab and successfully gave up drinking and drugs. He stayed clean and sober until his death in a helicopter crash in 1990. RIP



Bradley Delp. Born: June 12, 1951. Died: March 9, 2007. Occupation: Musician with a high vocal range and the ability to play guitar, harmonica and keyboard. Member of: Boston and Beatlejuice. Accomplishments: One of the most recognizeable voices in rock music. He is often considered to be a key influence in the rock vocal scene. Adjectives that could be used to aptly describe his voice are; golden and soaring. He lit two charcoal grills in the sealed bathroom of his New Hampshire home, pinned a suicide note to his shirt, laid his head on a silk pillow and went to sleep...permanently. RIP