Pete Doherty: Hoon, Cobain or Somewhere In Between?
The Smoking Gun has an interesting gallery of Pre-Prepared CNN Obituaries so that if any number of notable people die, they can have a lead story image ready to go. You have to imagine that if there is any musician out there that warrants that treatment, it has to be The Libertines' Pete Doherty. Not really because of his accomplishments, but just because everyone sees it coming, so you might as well knock it out during a slow five minutes just to be ready.
Rolling Stone has a pretty fascinating article detailing a reporter's attempts to interview Doherty. Along the way he watches him snort, smoke and shoot a wide variety of substances, gets in a car with him for some reason, and even gets a few coherent thoughts out of the man, who seems like he definitely has an intelligent mind and a not too abnormal upbringing. I am a fan of the man's music, but was wondering where people thought he might wind up in the pantheon when the inevitable happens. I see it breaking down five different ways:
1. The Shannon Hoon - as Chuck Klosterman says, the Blind Melon singer proves that dying young is not always a one way ticket to becoming a rock legend.
2. The Bradley Nowell - Sublime became and remains exceedingly popular after he died, and inspires a few "what if he were still around" moments, but nobody laments him as being a genius that died before his time
3. The Gram Parsons - I don't know much about him, but decades after his death the consensus seems to be that he was a pioneer who died too young, even if the style he pioneered, (Country-rock), never really got that big and nobody really listens to him.
4. The Jeff Buckley - Became a legend after he died, and his shortened body of work is celebrated while wondering what could have been, but you get the feeling that if he were still around he'd be considered "Just OK"
5. The Kurt Cobain - Indisputable tragedy, a legend, decried only by people who want to be contrary, even if the points they make are valid.
I feel like he'd have to release one more pretty amazing album before the KC became a possibility, but I wanted to see what everyone thought, plus I found this cool poll utility and wanted to try it out.
