Whether as a friend or fan, songwriters have long paid tribute to their dearly departed brethren in song. Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote “Empty Garden” about John Lennon. Staind have a song about Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley. And Ozzy Osbourne’s “Suicide Solution” is a tribute to AC/DC’s first frontman Bon Scott (in an eerie coincidence, Ozzy’s first guitar player Randy Rhoads wrote the riff to the song and died in a plane crash just a few years later). Here are a few songs about dead rock stars that we found in our collection, but there must be a million more. What did we miss? Leave ‘em in the comments.

Dan Bern – “Kurt” (About Kurt Cobain)
When Kurt Cobain blew out his brain | All the little girls they cried like rain | And as for me I felt the pain | But I got no T-shirts left to stain | For Kennedy and Jesse James | And Joan of Arc and Kurt Cobain | You can hear them crying down the lane | From Portland to Maryland | From Greece to Spain | And as my life drips like coffee down the drain | My eyes dry up like a rusty chain | So Kennedy and Jesse James | Will have to cry for Kurt Cobain | It’s a hard life and no one’s to blame | When God’s not on the morning train | If Cain don’t kill Abel, Abel kills Cain | And tears now shed are shed in vain | For Kennedy and Jesse James | And Joan of Arc and Kurt Cobain | There’s three new roses growing in the lane | It was a long hard winter but now there’s rain | If you want my tears tell me your name | Give me you hand let me feel your pain | But for Kennedy and Jesse James | There’s Joan af Arc and Kurt Cobain

Duncan Sheik – “A Body Goes Down” (About Jeff Buckley)
Once in a while | A man comes along | Even his failures were favorite songs | Oh to have made something so unsurpassed | As certain things fall away | So certain things last | A body goes down in the Mississippi waters | Weighted by a beauty | Afraid of its light | Notify your holy men | Console your sons and daughters | And tell me one more time | What is just | What is right | Chances are good | We spread blasphemous lies | Safe to say nobody knew what was inside | Of course there is grace | And those halos of pain | Maybe he sang what he came here to sing | A body goes down in the Mississippi waters | Weighted by a beauty | Afraid of its light | Notify your holy men | Console your sons and daughters | And tell me one more time | What is just | What is right | Speed on to the next world | Speed on to the next life | Better I’m sure by far | Orpheus driven | Treasures given | Heal the most broken of hearts | Speed on, speed on, speed on

Rhett Miller – “The Believer” (About Elliott Smith)
Activity killed you | When are you gonna find half of things that you knew in your body were wrong | I wanted to be friends with you | Now I have come to find it was mistaken | In passion nobody was wrong | And I believed you | They sat down in London | Had to be hard to be hard to keep hating yourself when these people are so well behaved | You did time in Duncanville | Part of you is living there still in a hole where the souls of the lost geared to save | And I believed you | When you said happiness | Is all you wanted | You said this is all you wanted | How I miss | We almost made it | Happiness | All of your good friends | All of the people like me keep a list of the things in this world that we trust | You are here in after referred to as someone who gave it a shot, gave it off, left the cruel world to us | And I believed you | When you said happiness | Is all you wanted | You said this is all you wanted | How I miss | We almost made it | Happiness | You won’t get nervous | You won’t come down | You won’t feel helpless | You won’t be around anymore

NOFX – “August 8th” (About Jerry Garcia)
Birds sing | There’s not a cloud in the sky | August 8th is a beautiful day | I see a bunch of hippies crying | August 8th is a beautiful day | Like waking up from a real bad dream, suddenly everything is ok | The storm has passed and the sun is shining | August 8th is a beautiful day | What’s goin’ on | What’s goin on | Is something bummin’ your scene? | There’s something wrong | There’s something wrong | I’m not trying to be mean | The air is sweet | The summer flowers bloomin’ | Nowhere in sight is there anything grey | Feelings of joy are filling the street | August 8th is a beautiful day | Like waking up from a fucked up dream | Suddenly everything’s looking good | There’s been no permanent damage done | August 8th came right when it should | What’s goin’ on | What’s goin on | Is something bummin’ your scene? | There’s something wrong | There’s something wrong | I’m not trying to be mean | Poor Jeff, poor little Timmy Turtle | Staying home on such a beautiful day

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