I agree with the whole Johnny Cash thing. CW has never been my thing so I can't really criticize him or where he stands in the genre but I never noticed such a widespread love for him, outside the core CW audiance, untill he died. Suddenly it became cool to like him after that. I bet when Willie Nelson dies I'll see the same thing. All of a sudden people will be talking about him being a legend and icon but right now he's that guy who sings 'On the Road Again' to most people.
Kurt Cobain falls into this group also I think. I was a little young when he died, 13 or 14 maybe?, but I never noticed much love for him or Nirvana outside grunge's core audiance untill his suicide. Since then they've become a rock legend and a watershed moment in its history. I think if Cobain were still alive he'd now be a has-been and footnote.
I get the same impression from people like Hendrix, Presley, and Lennon. Since I wasn't there at the time I'll admit I can never know from experience but they all seem to be built up to be bigger and better than they really were. Something about untimely deaths can elevate people to a pedestal they didn't earn I think.
That doesn't always happen though. The first example of an exeption to this I can think of is Stevie Ray Vaughan. I don't think his death did much to bolster his popularity despite the mountains of talent he had compared to the above mentioned people. Almost any American can identify a photo of Elvis or Lennon but outside his core audiance most wouldn't recoginze Vaughan.
I think any status approaching Legend in the eyes of the main stream public is based more on coolness than talent or contributions. Some legends deserve the title but probably earned it for the wrong reasons.
Of course this is all my opinion on what qualifies as good music and talent, and is purely a matter of taste.
Kurt Cobain falls into this group also I think. I was a little young when he died, 13 or 14 maybe?, but I never noticed much love for him or Nirvana outside grunge's core audiance untill his suicide. Since then they've become a rock legend and a watershed moment in its history. I think if Cobain were still alive he'd now be a has-been and footnote.
I get the same impression from people like Hendrix, Presley, and Lennon. Since I wasn't there at the time I'll admit I can never know from experience but they all seem to be built up to be bigger and better than they really were. Something about untimely deaths can elevate people to a pedestal they didn't earn I think.
That doesn't always happen though. The first example of an exeption to this I can think of is Stevie Ray Vaughan. I don't think his death did much to bolster his popularity despite the mountains of talent he had compared to the above mentioned people. Almost any American can identify a photo of Elvis or Lennon but outside his core audiance most wouldn't recoginze Vaughan.
I think any status approaching Legend in the eyes of the main stream public is based more on coolness than talent or contributions. Some legends deserve the title but probably earned it for the wrong reasons.
Of course this is all my opinion on what qualifies as good music and talent, and is purely a matter of taste.