James Dean was the ultimate Hollywood heartthrob in the 50s. While his status as one of Hollywood’s hottest leading men/icons still lives, James Dean died at the very young age of 24 because of a motorcycle accident. Even though he has appeared in many films and TV series, he is mostly known for his roles in these 3 movies: Rebel Without A Cause co-starring Natalie Wood, Giant starring Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor and East of Eden.

2. Cliff Burton –Former Metallica Bassist

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Cliff Burton is a former Metallica member because he died in a horrible bus crash when the band’s tour bus had a very terrible accident in Sweden. He was only 24.

3. Steve Clark - Former Def Leppard Guitarist

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Def Leppard is one of the rock bands with the most tragedies under its belt. The band’s lead guitarist Steve died at the age of 31, in 1991 because of a complication that arose from a mix of alcohol and prescription drugs. Steve did see great success with Def Leppard, however the band got even bigger with their later albums. Even though Def Leppard is a band formed by friends, Steve had to be replaced so that the band could continue working on their dreams.

4. Rick Savage – Def Leppard Bassist

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Rick Savage is Def Leppard’s bassist and one of the founding members. Savage was considered to be the pretty boy of the band. However his status as a sex symbol got a blow when Rick suffered from Bell’s Palsy, a disease that caused Savage to go through facial paralysis. Even though he eventually mostly recovered, you can see the traces when he is tired. However Rick didn’t take it as hard as other people could have, because another band member was suffering from a much worse tragedy than losing one’s looks and Rick has commented that his namesake Rick’s, the band’s drummer’s situation helped him a lot when maintaining perspective.

5. Rick Allen

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Def Leppard’s drummer Rick Allen is unfortunately famous for being a great drummer with only one arm. A car accident caused Rick to lose one arm. Even though it got stitched afterwards, there were complications and the arm had to be removed. He didn’t want to leave the band and the band didn’t want him to leave either. So he trained his one foot to do the work of his missing arm.

6. River Phoenix

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River Phoenix was the older brother of actor Joaquin Phoenix. He started as a child actor and quickly gained himself a reputation as a very talented actor. He died at the age of 23, because of drug abuse. He died outside of the nightclub owned by Johnny Depp.

7. Heath Ledger

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Heath Ledger’s career was getting better and more diverse each year, however the critically acclaimed, young actor died in 2009. His most memorable performance is probably as The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s Batman The Dark Knight. His nomination came after his death.

8. Brittany Murphy

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Actress Brittany Murphy died in December 2009, from a cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, her husband’s death followed after 5 months.

9. Michael Jackson.

The King of Pop Michael Jackson died in 2009, due to the complications of the several medications that he was on.

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10. Natasha Richardson

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Actress Natasha Richardson, wife of actor Liam Neeson, died in 2009 due to a skiing accident. She is one of the many celebrities that died in 2009, including Michael Jackson, Brittany Murphy, Farah Fawcett and Stephen Gately.