I'm a fan, and have been for years. Whether one likes him or not, he spoke to a whole generation of performers/musicians/songwriters (a generation not well represented at Mudcat) and played a significant role in defining what a certain type of rock/pop music is today. You may not like him, and you may not like the music that he inspired, but that is an issue of personal taste.

As for "Hype"--overstatement is one of the unfortunate conventions of the music world--it seems to be necessary to sell seats and CD's, and the people who do the selling aren't shy about using it.

There is more to this than that, though. When a celebrity dies, particularly in a tragic or pathetic way, all our cultural and personal issues relating to death and martyrdom are pulled into the mix, and they tend to overwhelm everything else. Considering Elvis, or Michael Jackson--what's happened with Nick Drake is relatively minor.