5 Near-Deaths That Almost Changed Music History.

Musicians die young all the time. It comes with the territory. Not just up and comers but some big time major musicians have been cut down in their prime....Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, SRV, Kurt Kobain just to name a couple.

However, have you ever wondered how many big time artists have come close to dying? Well, then you're in luck. There is such a list and you might be surprised on how some of the biggest names in music ALMOST met their untimely demise.

5. Aerosmith almost rented the plane that killed Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Sometime in early 1977, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry really wanted to rent one particular plane, a Convair CV-300, to use while touring that summer. Despite lots of pressure from Aerosmith's No. 1 and No. 2 in command, cooler (and likely less coke-addled) heads were called in to inspect the plane before any final decision was made. Not only was the plane itself declared unsafe, but the pilot and co-pilot were allegedly spotted passing a bottle of Jack Daniel's back and forth as the craft was being prepped for a flight. Needless to say, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were finally convinced and passed on the plane.

As the old saying goes, one man's trash is another man's seemingly reasonable means with which to travel to Baton Rouge. That's exactly where Lynyrd Skynyrd was headed just a few months later on that same plane that Aerosmith had just rejected during a rare 1970s moment of clarity. As most of us know by now, the plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed, killing several band members, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant.

4. Kurt Cobain almost died a few months after "Nevermind" was released.

I know, it's not going to blow anyone's mind to learn that, shortly after Nirvana's first performance on Saturday Night Live in January 1992, Kurt Cobain nearly died as the result of an overdose of heroin. It's probably the heroin part that takes even more sting out of the surprise. I mean, it would be one thing if he also shot himself in 1992 and just did such a terrible job that he was able to go on performing as if nothing had happened. Now that would be a story, right? Alas, this is just a dude who did lots of heroin accidentally taking too much heroin. It happens all the time.

3. Jamaican authorities tried to shoot down a plane carrying U2'S Bono in 1996

A plane carrying both Jimmy Buffett andBono was nearly shot down by Jamaican authorities who'd mistaken the craft for one used by drug smugglers. Jimmy Buffett covered the incident at length in his song "Jamaica Mistaica"

Bono released this statement following the incident:

"I don't know how we came through it. These boys were shooting all over the place. I felt as if we were in the middle of a James Bond movie -- only this was real. It was absolutely terrifying and I honestly thought we were all going to die. Thank God we were safe and sound. My only concern was for their safety. It was very scary, let me tell you. You can't believe the relief I felt when I saw the kids were OK."

2. Elvis survived a tornado that killed hundreds in 1936

In 1936, a category F-5 tornado ripped through the town of Tupelo, Mississippi, killing 233 people. Among the surviving residents was a tiny little baby Elvis Presley, born just a year earlier in 1935.

While there aren't a lot of details about how he managed to survive, it couldn't have amounted to much more than not being in the way of falling debris. Whatever the case, there's no debating how greatly music would have been affected if there was no Elvis.

In fact, I don't think it's unfair to ask if "rock 'n' roll" would have caught on at all without Elvis. Like anything else, rock music was considered a fad, and as we all know, some fads die. If Elvis didn't survive that tornado and as a result was unable to fulfill his future obligation to make rock music palatable to people, would anyone else have had star power to do it?

1. Johnny Cash fought an Ostrich in 1981 and lost.....badly.

It appears the man in black had a bit of a soft spot for exotic animals. So much so that he and wife June had something of an exotic animal sanctuary on the grounds of their Tennessee home. One night, the weather was forecast to become quite cold. So much so that some exotic wildlife would surely parish in such cold temps. Well, que Johnny Cash and a 6 foot stick. Cash tried to convince the largest bird on earth (with the largest talon's too) that a night in the shed would be beneficial. The bird disagreed and used his talon (the size of a size 13 shoe) to tear a gash from his chest to his stomach. The only thing that saved Cash that night was the fact he was wearing an over-sized belt buckle. Lucky for us!

I wonder if Justin Bieber owns ostriches.....if not, he should.

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