Who is the most underrated artist in music? I would have to go with Mike McCready from Pearl Jam. He is an awesome guitarist yet, you never here his name mentioned when it comes to great guitarist of our time. He can play anything, If you see Pearl Jam live, you can see what I'm talkin' about.
Jeff Buckley for sure. After releasing the promising album Grace in the mid 90's, he drowned midway through the recording of his second album. Probably the biggest loss to popular music in the last several years. He's not nearly as well known as he should be, though he's been gaining more popularity since the release of the latest posthumous compilation.
Critics remember Jeff Buckley for his idosyncratic songwriting style and his etheral four octave vocal range. Ironically, his father, Tim Buckley, was also a promising musician who met an early end.
Shadow Gallery. Great progressive metal band, but I hardly hear anything said about them.
I'm talking about them dying early in their careers, not being obscured by bigger names.
I'm talking more about Tim than Jeff. All I remember about Jeff's death is; a boat, drowning, and him being bi polar. supposedly not a suicide.
His dad, Tim, loved mixing genres and being original, which was a love/hate relationship with getting fans. Tim Buckley was ALL ABOUT going against the bigger names, and the stress led to more drug use that eventually killed him.
So yeah, i know what your talking about, but it's the causes.
I also have to mention Scott Lucas from Local H anytime I can. Local H is a two man group, Brian St. Clair being the second member. Lucas plays a guitar with both bass and lead strings on it. He writes the music, plays the lead, bass, and sings. The man is absolutley awesome, I've got to see them live a few times and the man is awe inspiring. These guys stopped worrying about radio and started touring non-stop years ago. If you get the chance, check these guys out.