The date in the circle to the left is an important date in music history. On January 8, 1935, Elvis Presley was born in a shotgun house in Tupelo, Mississippi. I have written about Elvis before, so I won’t repeat myself. However, it struck me that he would be 77 years old if he had made it through the perils of fame and fortune. His health declined in the last few years, but, in the eyes of many, Elvis will be forever young. He is an icon frozen is time.
Other famous people hold the same position in culture and history. They died young and remain their youthful selves in the minds of the people who remember them. Thinking about Elvis, I began to wonder how old some of those people would be today.
Elvis Presley died at the age of 42. He would be 78 if he was still alive.
Elvis Presley’s last concert.
Marilyn Monroe died at the age of 36. She would be 86 if she was still alive.
Marilyn Monroe’s last movie.
James Dean died at the age of 24. He would be 81 if he was still alive.
James Dean’s last movie.
Jimi Hendrix died at the age of 27. He would be 70 if he was still alive.
Jimi Hendrix’s last concert.
Martin Luther King, Jr. died at the age of 39. He would be 83 if he was still alive.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last speech.
John Lennon died at the age of 40. He would be 72 if he was still alive.
John Lennon’s last performance.
I wonder how the world would have been different if they had made it to old age. We will never know. Instead, they will remain forever young.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 
And, amazingly, Keith Richards is still going!
There must be something in his genes.
It’s funny to think of how all these people would be, and how they would look if they were still around today. So much of the legend hinges on their premature deaths, the whole “live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse sort of thing.”
True. That’s a huge sacrifice to make to become an icon.