before someone's time

Prepositional phrase

1. (idiomatic) From before one was born or old enough to be aware of the world.
   • I don't know — that was before my time
   • At thirteen, I liked a lot of music that was before my time: Louis Armstrong and Dixieland jazz, Sousa marches, and barbershop quartet singing.2007, Bobby Braddock, Down in Orburndale: A Songwriter's Youth in Old Florida, Louisiana State University Press, published 2007, →ISBN, page 55
2. (idiomatic) At a stage in one's life, development, etc. that seems premature.
   • dead before his time
   • Oh yes, and tell her to take care of herself too, and not get herself all banged up again, or she will look old before her time.1951, Johnny Cash, letter to Vivian Cash dated 3 November 1951, reprinted in Vivian Cash (with Ann Sharpsteen), I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny, Scribner (2007), page 38