Some time but not too much ago, I listened to Queen's concert from Wembley... I think it was from '86. It wasn't the first time either.
During that concert, they introduced their new song "Who wants to live forever?", but I hadn't remarked until then the introduction to the song.
Freddy Mercury talked about rumors of Queen breaking up and dismissed them saying they'll be together forever. That was after already embracing a solo career in '85 (I didn't remember the details - I did a little research), so the rumors were probably justified. But he was right, he remained a member of Queen to his death in '91.
The song itself was written by the guitarist Brian May for the Highlander film, but I always thought of it when Freddy sang it as a self-reflection of his own condition.
Turns out Freddy Mercury and Queen live "forever", but not in the flesh (at least Freddy).
This came to my mind recently when I heard (again) how in a few dozen years, at most, (rich) people would be able to choose "immortality", if they want to, because simply the medical system would be able to reach "longevity escape velocity", where it would give back to individuals more years than the passing of time.
Many super-rich are very much seduced by this prospect, and would probably do everything in their power to reach "immortality" this way. I delved into this topic before...
One influential super-rich that doesn't like this eventuality is Elon Musk (although I've seen him nuance his position recently on this subject). He believes "immortality" would be a major break to progress, because mentalities don't evolve well with age, there needs to be a generational shift for that to happen.
That is probably true. For example, if all the great scientists of the past were still alive to defend their work, would new theories come out as easily? Of course, they could have created more since then, but they would have built on their own theories, in many cases, isn't it? What if a better theory is killed because it contradicts their own assumptions, deductions, or biases?
Anyway, I believe the thrive to immortality is simply... egocentric. If someone deserves to be remembered after many years, they will be. They don't need to be around to collect the gratitude of the people.