Joe Strummer (25)

Joe Strummer
1952-2002
Eco-friendly Clash frontman
Cause of Death: Heart attack

Bad Timing: Strummer expired in the middle of a comeback-his new band, the Mescaleros, had great buzz, and with a Hall of Fame induction and the 25th-anniversary reissue of the Clash's London Calling on the calendar, a reunion was rumored. Since his death, his reputation has only grown.
Rebel Sell: By 2005, three Strummer documentaries and four biographies had joined the tide of Clash homages (Julien Temple is reportedly making another doc now). Astralwerks also reissued two obscurities-the soundtrack to the 1987 film Walker, and Elgin Avenue Breakdown, from Strummer's pre-Clash band the 101'ers-which were both well-received.
Still a Do-Gooder: Strummer still kicks ass as a social activist. His commitment to "carbon neutral" living (planting trees to compensate for greenhouse gases) inspired the memorial Rebel's Wood, a fan-funded seedling forest on the Isle of Skye. Meanwhile, his widow Lucinda established a memorial foundation to build affordable workspaces for musicians, although its first hoped-for renovation lost out to a Georgian mansion on the BBC's home-makeover show Restoration.