Although this spastic and charismatic front man's resume is as short as his promising life (he committed suicide at the tender age of 23), the strength of Ian Curtis's legacy, inspiration, and influence is enormous.
Joy Division forged a different kind of melancholy noise in a sea of upbeat pop and their music is still fresh and vibrant and some of the best New Wave created. They were just beginning to experience fame when Curtis hung himself, in an appropriately depressing setting: Iggy Pop's The Idiot playing and Werner Herzog's Stroszek in the VCR.
Fans and friends were devastated by the loss, and his band refused to continue on as Joy Division, but instead changed their name to New Order. Take a look at these live clips to see what an amazing performer he was.
But what do you think?