Dead music gods?

Ah yes, the "27 club." Well, it's always impossible to tell what really could've happened, but the Jimi Hendrix Experience was breaking up at the time and there's speculation that so was Nirvana when Kurt died. Then there's also Cliff Burton (would Metallica have created the Black Album and become a heavy country/alt rock band in the mid 90's had he survived the bus crash?), John Bonham (what Zeppelin could've done in the 80's we'll never know), Bon Scott (would AC/DC be as legendary had the singer not drunk himself to death?), of course the list goes on but it's definitely a fascinating subject. Then there are guys like Nikki Sixx and Slash who have miraculously escaped death, what would've happened if they had actually died from their drug overdoses?