Since the time when stars first became icons in the media, their comings and goings have become entertainment for the world. With their lives thrown in front of the camera, their deaths would be no different.

From the time the news of a star's death is released, it is an ongoing marathon commemorating their life and investigating the cause of their death.

The most recent loss the media has experienced was the death of Heath Ledger, the actor who has been seen in films such as “The Patriot” and was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the film “Brokeback Mountain.” His life came to an end Jan. 22 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

James Dean was the original rebel. In his short-lived career he acted in only four films. But he never got to experience the successes of the films “Giant” and “Rebel Without a Cause.” Along with acting, Dean also enjoyed racing cars, but on the way to one of his races in 1955 he died in a head-on collision. He was only 24.

Both these actors had their lives cut short. Only seeing into their twenties, their ends were tragic. But is it really celebrities who meet their end sooner than the average person?

'Live fast and die young' has been the motto for many rock stars over the years, but can today's stars really live up to this motto? A study done by Prof. Mark Bellis and Prof. John Ashton for the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health proved that musicians were the celebrity group most likely to die young. After reviewing 1,050 American and European musicians from 1956 to 1999, Bellis and Ashton concluded that the average death was 42 for Americans and 35 for European musicians.

When an average person’s death is around 75 years of age, could it really be a celebrity’s lifestyle that cuts their life span to about 40?

In “The World Almanac and Book of Facts” published in 1997, drug overdose was surprisingly ranked second on the list following heart attacks. Following close behind was suicide and various accidents.

Kurt Cobain, the main man of the grunge band Nirvana, only made it to the age of 27. Made iconic by their song “Smells like teen spirit,” the band helped pave the way out of 80s glam rock and into the 90s alternative scene. But in 1994, Cobain committed suicide in his home.

Sid Vicious, the bass player for the Sex Pistols, was the poster boy of punk. His life revolved around anarchy, violence and apathy. Vicious was hospitalized for an attempted suicide;  after being released from the hospital, he was arrested for assault. While in jail, Vicious slowly escaped his heroin addiction, but after his release in 1979 he obtained heroin from his mother and overdosed at the age of 21.

Janis Joplin was a highly accomplished artist, making No. 46 on the Rolling Stone’s 2004 list of the 50 greatest artists of all time. But Joplin didn’t always feel this way. She was said to be deeply concerned about how the public would receive her. To overcome her nerves, she turned to drugs and alcohol. In 1970, the artist died in her Los Angeles hotel room from a heroin overdose accelerated by alcohol. She was only 27.

For Cobain, Vicious and Joplin, their lives and the way they came to meet the end were affected by the public. All three were involved in heavy drug use to cope with their public. Both Vicious and Joplin died from heavy drug use. Although Cobain died of suicide, he had extreme amounts of heroin in his system at the time.

But stars do not always have to be young in order to die before their time. Natalie Wood, Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe are perfect examples.

Wood, who played Maria in the musical “West Side Story,” died at the age of 43 when she fell off a yacht near Catalina Island and drowned.

Garland was made a legend by her role as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” but suffered from drug and alcohol problems for most of her career. It was an accidental drug overdose that stole the life of Garland at age 47.

At 36, Monroe died of a drug overdose. Made popular by her sex appeal, she acted in films such as “Some Like it Hot” and “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” It was after her death that her following really began.

Death can sometimes seem timely even in a person's youth. In the 1960s, the world experienced the music of The Doors and their front man, Jim Morrison. Although Morrison died young, he seemed ready to go. Even before his artistic career began, Morrison fantasized about what death was like; in a way, he looked forward to experiencing his own death. Morrison died at the age of 27 of heart failure.

Ever since people began to become infatuated by celebrities, those celebrities have had to cope with their fame. Many turned to drug and alcohol use, which would eventually lead to their deaths. Whether at the age of 21 or 47, their end could still be too soon, but for few it was just the right time.