As I alluded to earlier in this thread. The people that we consider musical "icons" will all die in our lifetime because that is just how old they are compared to how old we are. No way around that. But look at the bright side. We are of the generation that witnessed all the pro sports legends work their magic. Jordan, Payton, Gretzky, Schumacher, and on and on and on, I cannot name them all. There may be a random phenom here and there (Curry?), but regulations, political crap, and mostly $$$, all stand in the way of creating such stars these days IMHO.

My opinion is that there was a period of time arguably starting some time in the 50's, and ending at some fuzzy point in the mid-90's. During that time, these "icons" made their mark. In my mind, very few "artists" since then will be considered in the same light as those we consider "icons". Now, the younger generations may beg to differ. But they do not know $4!+! :P

It will be interesting to watch how it unfolds. Who knows. Today's teens and 20-somethings might genuinely feel a loss when Beiber croaks, or Lady Gaga buys the farm or Bruno Mars meets the reaper. It is something our generation cannot comprehend because we have had the bar set so high by "the greats".