Which Artist's Legacy Benefits The Most From Their Death?

I'm curious what you all think... Movies, music, etc.


Van Gogh? I know as a boy when I read a small book and read on the last page that he shot himself, it turned a spark inside of me. Suicide didn't exist to me until I read that book (there was a sale if you bought three at our local supermarket; I also got Gandhi and Mozart)

Sylvia Plath was a great poet and, sadly, her suicide has engendered maybe more posthumous fame than she would have had if she were still alive.

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Michael Jackson. Before his untimely passing he was often maligned and ridiculed. Now that he's gone, he's been sanctified.

James Dean has been lionized since his death.

Music - Michael Jackson is a good one...but I would go John Lennon. I look at Paul and Ringo and how they handled the 80's and 90's and they didn't have all the character issues and mental problems John had.


Movies - Man you've got so many choices, likely Marilyn Monroe she managed to make 8 classics in 11 years, and yet she also defined a generation and helped launch the sexual revolution.


Literature - Ernest Hemingway, I feel like he became an Icon after his death and I don't know if any other american author can touch him now.

I'd add James Dean. I never cared for him, but his death did wonders for his post-career.

Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Hendrix, Keith Moon, Brian Jones, John Bonham, well, we can go on & on.

I'm a little confused by the question and the OP. I don't see how Van Gogh's death benefited his legacy as he was dead before virtually anyone knew who he was.

I can see the point with James Dean though, again, he died almost as soon as his career got started. You could argue that it benefited his legacy because it didn't give him a chance to disappoint? There's just three films (personally I don't think Giant or RWAC are great anyway and I've not seen East Of Eden) so it's a bit like Jeff Buckley. One album and no second album to disappoint the fans or critics. Forever young and frozen in time.

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I said artist
Using the dictionary: A legacy is a part of a person that lives on long after that person has passed have passed.


No one knew Van Gogh while he was alive. Sold one painting (to his brother), but now he's recognized as one of the greatest. Same thing with Dean. People start to pay attention after someone dies, especially how they died. People seem to romanticize death, and it takes on a life of it sown. But, there are some who died young and were great (I'm reading old newspapers right now online to compare retrospectively)

James Dean was plenty popular when alive. He was nominated for two Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Giant and East of Eden. He also won a Golden Globe award in 1957 for: World Film Favorite - Male...He was a big deal while alive.