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In "My Generation," The Who's Roger Daltrey lays out the rock 'n roll desire to die before getting old. Daltrey's bandmate Keith Moon famously fulfilled that wish, solidifying his legendary status.

But which rock (or hip-hop) star benefited most from his untimely demise? You know, checked out after two or three albums, right when his star was brightest and it could only be rehab, alimony and Botox going forward. We offer arguments for and against some of music's most famous early exits, and encourage you to add any names that you think we've missed. But we're keeping it to only deaths under 30. So that means no Elvis, Lennon or Marley.

Check out our stats after the jump.

Jim Morrison
Pro: If he hadn't the good sense to die of a suspected heroin overdose at 27, Morrison would have probably ended up being known more for urinating in bars and drunk hiccuping during recordings than for being the dark and mystical Lizard King.

Con: He would have been better off checking out a year or two earlier, because then the public (specifically Oliver Stone) would have never even suspected that Morrison increasingly behaved less a rock shaman and more like a Sigma Nu brother.

Kurt Cobain
Pro: The first big rock star death of the MTV era came with all the hype and coverage associated with 24-hour-a-day music television and cable news, as well as sparking conspiracy theories that Cobain had been murdered. Also, by dying three years shy of 30, Cobain deftly joined rock heavyweights Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones in the Forever 27 club.

Con: Nirvana was still making good music when Cobain offed himself and Cobain supposedly wanted to go more mainstream, so who knows what commercial heights (or artistic depths) they would've reached if he had stuck around.

Tupac Shaker
Pro: All the "Tupac is alive" rumors that have been floated over the years prove he left us with just the right amount of mystery.

Con: Tupac has had more albums released after his death than before it, and most of the posthumous stuff is studio-sewed piecemeal that detracts from his legacy.

Jimi Hendrix
Pro: We'd probably think less of Jimi if he'd lived long enough to perform in the inevitable Vegas stage show featuring elaborate guitar-burning pyrotechnics. It's also rumored that he was in talks to be the fourth member of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, so perhaps his early demise did sort of make him a lucky man.

Con: It would have been best if he had lived long enough to write a will, thus avoiding the lengthy and un-groovy estate fight that now gets attached to his name.

Bradley Nowell
Pro: Sublime's lead singer overdosed a couple months before his band's major label debut became the hit of 1996. Given a hip-hop influenced ska/punk band wouldn't be long for such a bright spotlight no matter what, Nowell probably checked out at the perfect moment.

Con: Not as famous as the other contenders. (Although the fact he is as well known and revered as he is stands testament to his spectacularly timed passing.)

The Notorious B.I.G.
Pro: Biggie's first album was titled "Ready to Die," and his second – which he named before he was murdered -- was "Life after Death." To leave this world between two such prescient bookends makes a strong case for a meticulously timed untimely death.

Con: If Biggie hadn't died young, Puff Daddy would have never destroyed "Every Breath You Take" with the horrendous (and horrendously popular) Biggie tribute "I'll Be Missing You," and the world would be a better place.