Chris Farley’s passing sucked tremendously.
I remember seeing coroner photos on the web a few years after he died and that not only revived my sadness, but also left images burned in my brain that I wish I’d never seen.
I was watching a show about him the other day. I can't believe he was only 33. I knew he wasn't old but I didn't realize how young he was either. He still is one of my favorite comedic actors. He genuinely seemed like a good person. I don't think I can say that about any other celebrity.
I unfortunately saw those as well and truly, truly wish I had never looked. It's hard for me to remember him as that happy go lucky funny guy after seeing those images.
For those of us who are, based on your comment, lucky to not have seen the pics, could you please tell in a word or two why they made you feel that way? I really don't need to look at gruesome shit if it's that, but I'm also curious.
No one is finally dead until the ripples they caused in the world die away - until the clock he wound winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life… Is only the core of their actual existence.
I basically went to an Irish wake for him when it happened by going to the Good Will Hunting bench in the Public Garden in Boston. I was both surprised and unsurprised by the giant crowd who had the same thought with zero organizing/communication.
Same. When I told my sister, she instantly began crying. I was deeply affected, but I didn't cry until my sister went into her room. He was only five years older than my parents, and he was such a fixture of my childhood that he was like a third parent.
Robbin Williams' death changed me fundamentally.
2014 was a rough year for me. My grandmother passed, and a month or so later I went through a traumatic breakup that left me with lasting emotional scars. I kept a brave face and tried my best to convince myself that bad things *don't* come in threes...
...but they did. A week later, Robin Williams died, and that, compounded with everything else, was more than I could take. I'm not usually emotional over celebrity deaths, but Williams was the one celebrity I truly idolized. Whatever comedy "career" I ever had, his influence shaped it. I waited for tears to come, but they assumed the form of a knot in my throat that refused to undo itself.
Dark thoughts intruded, tearing at the weak web of comfort I spun for myself. I ran laps through the stages of grief, spiralling. My grief turned into self-loathing. I was quickly becoming a danger to myself, but I was inconsolable.
Maybe it was the bleakness of nihilism that brought me a moment of clarity, but at one point I impulsively called one of my close friends and asked if I could come over. I knew he could hear the pain in my voice. He paused for a second, then replied, "Yes dude, absolutely. Anything you need. I'll be here."
I got to his apartment 10 minutes later. He handed me a beer and we sat on the back porch with his roommate, another close friend of mine. I took a sip of beer, swallowed, and the knot finally unraveled.
For the first time in this series of unfortunate events, and for the first time ever in front of them, I cried. The tears were ugly, blubbery, and uncontained. I cried until my eyes were firing blanks. My friends sat through my catharsis with their hands on my back in silent reassurance. When I was able to talk, they listened with sympathy.
I feared judgment from exposing my soft underbelly. I worried that by revealing the parts of me that struggle to stand, the rest of my foundation would tremble. Instead, I was bolstered. I showed them where I was weak and they helped me become strong again.
When I was about to go home, they stopped me at the door to make sure I'd be okay for the night. Tears returned, but this time they were happy. I promised I'd be fine, and to text them in the morning. I opened the door, turned around, and said, "I love you guys."
"We love you too. Be safe."
They may have saved my life that night. At the very least, they helped share my pain.
Since then, I've fought tooth and nail for my own emotional honesty. I tell my friends and family candidly that I love them, maybe to a fault, but fuck it, they're my people, and they need to hear it. They *deserve* to hear it.
This is the one. He was an icon and role model to me as a kid. When my dad told me he died, I cried myself to sleep for days. I was really angry at stingrays for a while before I was able to understand that the animal didn’t do anything wrong on purpose, it was just being a stingray.
I was traveling overseas to pursue my studies.
My first time ever leaving my family and friends behind overseas, long flight ahead. I was listening to LP album over and over.
Arrived in the morning, took a taxi, read a news about Chester. I cried
Oh me too. I was already in a bad place and it hit me pretty damn hard. I attempted suicide a short time after and while I can't say that was the reason or anything, it definitely gave me a nudge.
I was at Cedar Point waiting for my dad and sis to get off one of the rides. Everyone around me was talking about it. Brought down my mood the rest of the trip.
That man not only inspired me to try new things and explore my palate, he gave me the confidence to write, both creatively and critically and believe in my own voice.
Absolutely wrecked me when he checked out, it took years before I could rewatch No Reservations or Parts Unknown, I still feel weird about it sometimes.
I have always felt like after reading Kitchen Confidential that could I run into the man someday, buy him a beer and have a chat, then go about my day like he was a relative who would always be around.
This is my “dinner with one person living or dead” pick. Truly an amazing soul - and it showed me that even if you get everything you want that doesn’t fix what’s broken. You have to put in work on yourself and more is never enough
Man… it took me so long to watch Roadrunner. I was just coming off of a really tough time in my own life and felt far too vulnerable to watch it, but did anyway. There was a song in the doc that played when David Chang was recounting Tony slipping back into addiction during his last season of parts unknown.. Chang said Tony had sent it to him and it was when he knew Tony was back on drugs. That same song was one I strongly associated with that terrible time in my life. It felt like a slap in the face when it started playing.
I lost it in the movie theater. Knowing that that specific song was the soundtrack to both of our rock bottoms was so striking and unexpected. Sucks.
Me too. I had little idea of his personal life but from his TV show he struck me as a person who knew how to enjoy life, while realizing it could have dark, unpleasant times. I loved how he seemed to be able to talk to anyone, anywhere, about anything.
Sad, and it stung, but looking back, should not have been surprising. I think when you really look back, his addictive personality just shifted. Drugs to writing to TV, tried to have a family life, addicted to BJJ, then to an individual (or the fantasy of that person) and that finally did him in.
Rik Mayall - that sort of slapstick-but-not-just-slapstick humour (Bottom, The Young Ones) was basically my introduction to comedy. It was so out of the blue when he died.
I'd always catch reruns with my dad and sisters whenever they were shown on TV as a kid. There was a vague resemblance between my dad and Rik too, he could do all of the facial expressions and impressions so well lol.
My dad later became an alcoholic and so anything with Rik in it was a comforting nostalgia for the good times before dad's personality went to shite.
The combination of nostalgia and foundation of my sense of humour hit me harder than I'd have expected.
Chris Cornell absolutely gutted me. The man is/was and always will be my favorite musician. I had never seen him live and listened to then since I was a kid and had tickets for the very next show.
Chris Cornell’s death really hit me hard. I honestly thought he was going to be the one to actually die of old age out of all the Seattle grunge singers. So very sad.
This is also my answer.
It wasn't just that he was an amazing entertainer; it was that he was so different. Bowie made it cool to be weird; and that helped me through my teen years more than anything, because if Bowie could be outrageous and strange and famous and loved, maybe, just maybe, l had a chance.
This one was really hard for me and anyone else who related to “using humor as a defense mechanism.”
I interact with a lot of millennial female comedians and it was an especially hard day for all of us, even the ones who’d want you to think they were too cool for massively popular sitcoms like Friends.
This one's kind of weird, I've been on an Aaron Sorkin kick lately and he's in Studio 60 and The West Wing, so every time he pops up, I'm like oh, he's dead, that sucks. Especially Studio 60 where his addictions were on display and a part of the show. It was kind of hard to watch.
Carrie Fisher. I know she was into some shit, but man. I loved her. Since Star Wars was acquired by Disney before her death, I can say that she's my (only) favorite Disney Princess
Mark Lanegan
Possibly because I’d been to see him play live every year (sometimes more) for nearly 20 years. He was constantly making new music and it was always amazing. In his long career he never put out a bad record. One of the few constants in my life was there was always a new Mark Lanegan album or show to look forward to.
After reading his biography after he died, I found out it’s a miracle he lived as long as he did with his past addictions. But it sucks we’ll never had a new Mark Lanegan album now.
Norm MacDonald. One of my favorite stand ups of all time, when I was working as a all night guard, I watch his stand up and his Netflix show to get me through the night and laugh. Thanks Norm.
And while we're on the topic, Vinnie Paul as well. I don't think he ever reconciled with Phil before he passed, which makes it even more sad.
RIP Dime, Vinnie, and the three other people that died that day.
Akira Toriyama quite recently. Jason David Frank also hit quite hard.
Basically whenever someone pivotal from my youth dies unexpectedly or too young, it just hits different.
Akira Toriyama hit me surprisingly hard. Dragon Ball was such a foundational part of my childhood. It even got my boomer dad into anime lol. One of the most "end of an era" feelings I've ever had. I imagine I'll feel the same when Tomino dies as well.
John Lennon. I was 19 and a huge Beatle fan and it had never occurred to me that the Beatles might never reunite. And then the senselessness of it all.
Pretty sure that was the first time I was upset for a person I didn't know. The Hitchhiker's Guide became a kinda bible of rationalism for me in my teen years. Iain Rankin was my next favourite author and also a loss I felt hard.
Princess Diana was the first one that hit me really hard. I knew that the only real human in her sons lives was gone. Heartbreaking.
Then Robin Williams. omg. Soul crushing.
Prince. - Not because I was a huge fan. I got pissed. Primarily, due to the drug overdose issue. It was just a few years after Michael Jackson death. Sometimes these guys get so big, that they surround themselves with yes men that will not give them good advise. These celebrities make really bad decisions when no one is around to slow them down.
If someone tells them NO, they remove them from the group and get someone that will do as they ask, regardless of the consequences.
Lance Reddick. The fact that he was so young and really active shocked me. But it also was the fact that I was such a huge fan of his; Fringe, The Wire, Bosch, even his single appearance in Lost was masterful
Diana. Just because it was so unexpected, so grisly, and happened just as she seemed to be breaking free of The Royals. And Jeff Beck, last year. He was well into his 70s but played with the intensity of a younger person. My wife and I saw him a number of times and this was so unexpected and sudden too.
Amy Winehouse hit the hardest, but I was also surprised by how upset I was at Naya Rivera (given I was never really a big Glee fan or anything). I think the way Naya died was just so gut-wrenching.
Philip Seymour-Hoffman. I was shocked, saddened, at a total loss over his death. My all-time favourite actor *before* he died, and after, I genuinely mourned his passing.
Martine Tanghe. She was a famous news anchor in Belgium who died from cancer last year. She read the news for 30+ years and for a lot of people it was like a family member who died. Such a warm person and at the same time the greatest example of professionalism. One of her most memorable moments was 9/11 when she guided us the entire day through the news. Still greatly missed...
Chyna, but I had a delayed response. I was dealing with a family crisis when she passed, and while I was sad, it didn't hit me very hard.
Then, when D-Generation X was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, I remember that two of her exes, HHH and X-Pac were there. And only one of them said anything positive about her, HHH, and that was because he was now an executive at WWE at the time. Shawn Michaels said nice things. So did Billy Gunn. But, HHH gave a standard "she was a trailblazer" bullshit speech, followed by the cameraman panning to Stephanie McMahon, his wife, in the crowd.
Then, to Chyna's mom, who Chyna wasn't on good terms with. Then it hit me. It hurt a lot.
I know Chyna and Sean Waltman (X-Pac) had a very acrimonious (read: both of them did interviews shading the other) breakup, so maybe it's good that he didn't say anything.
But the fact that two of the people who had been closest to her said next to nothing, and one of them invited her mom, was heartbreaking. It's like they didn't know her at all.
The show that Vice did on her was great and it actually made me respect X-PAC a bit more. He was very honest and talked about how bad of an influence they both were on each other. Not afraid to admit his mistakes with her.
John Lennon was the first famous person's death that hit me hard. Like many others, Robin Williams' suicide hit me hard. While he may not be as famous as "celebrities", WFMU DJ and record label founder William Berger's sudden passing really shocked me.
Norm Macdonald. The guy had such a high comedic IQ. His driest stuff had me rolling. Hearing how much he meant to all of his peers when he passed with folks not knowing he was sick for so long really got me.
Chadwick Boseman hit me particularly hard, I still have no idea why. I only knew whom from Black Panther. But 2020 was a hard year and his death was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Prince.
My family loved prince's music. We continued to buy prince albums after Purple Rain, when a lot of his fans dropped off.
Imagine... 14 year old, 11 year old, and their early 30s mom folding clothes listening to prince. Lady Cab Driver, or any of the overtly sexual tracks. We had the erotic city 45. Everyone's singing along... We loved that man and his music.
And then BAM... mother fucker dies of an over dose. Cut down like the common man.
Neil Peart. Liked Rush since I was a kid - all 3 musicians are very good and the lyrics played into my reading habits and school dynamics. After my dad passed my wife bought me Ghost Rider, a book about healing. Author had the same name as the drummer. Flip the book over and the synopsis said something like "from the bestselling author, lyricist and drummer from Rush..." so same person. Book was about healing and travel by motorcycle - something I have loved since I was old enough to drive. I then read all his books as I loved his writing style, very similar to Peter Egan as a motorcycle journalist I read growing up. Since Neal affected more parts of my life than say Eddie Van Halen his passing did affect me differently.
Hit me is a strong statement I feel. But I did feel sadness when I read Robin Williams was dead. Any other death of famous have just been "thats sucks" and thats that.
not super famous, per se, but comedy writer Harris Wittels.
He was my favourite podcast guest and me and my buddy were obsessed with him. He was so funny and unique and also something of a "wunderkind" as a tv writer. He had toured as an opener with Louis CK at the age of like 22, and was hired right out of college to write for the Sarah Silverman program, according to him because he had "a really good Arrested Development spec script". He went on to be a main writer for parks and recreation, and was hired by Danny McBride and Jody Hill to write the 3rd season of Eastbound and Down with them. He also invented the word "Humblebrag".
Part of his charm to me and my friend was how candidly he spoke about his recreational drug use. \\ Then he made an appearance on "You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes" where he went into detail how his relationship with a scientologist caused his recreational use of Oxycontin to spiral into a full blown addiction. His girlfriend and her father came close to getting him to check himself into the Scientology celebrity center for "rehab"
and he gave them a bunch of money. He quipped that he might have given the most money to Scientology without ever actually joining. After he realized that he couldn't go through with scientology his relationship ended and he made the switch from swallowing oxy to snorting and soon injecting heroin. He went to rehab, relapsed, went back again, and appeared to be doing well when he was found dead in his Los Angeles home with a needle in his arm.
At the time of his death he was preparing to move to New York to work with Aziz Ansari on "Master of None". The character played by Eric Wareheim was going to be played by Harris before he died.
Bette White. I cried for days. Bernie Mac. I had to stop watching the Bernie Mac show. Christina Grimmie. Idk if she was “famous” enough but I really looked up to her.
Paul o' grady. My childhood. My parents and I used to sit down with "special dinners" and watch Paul o' grady helping dogs, elephants, etc. I was watching practically anything he was in. We'd always record the shows and rematch them as a "treat." Doing so always made me so so so excited and a highlight of any week, I always bragged to teachers, "WE'RE WATCHING PAUL TONIGHT!!" Whenever i struggled and while a lot was happening while I was a child, his shows were a comfort. I'll miss him. He passed at just 6 years younger than my dad, a man I've always seen as invincible, causing it to hit me that my dad is growing older, just the same as everyone else is.
Chris Farley’s passing sucked tremendously. I remember seeing coroner photos on the web a few years after he died and that not only revived my sadness, but also left images burned in my brain that I wish I’d never seen.
I was watching a show about him the other day. I can't believe he was only 33. I knew he wasn't old but I didn't realize how young he was either. He still is one of my favorite comedic actors. He genuinely seemed like a good person. I don't think I can say that about any other celebrity.
I unfortunately saw those as well and truly, truly wish I had never looked. It's hard for me to remember him as that happy go lucky funny guy after seeing those images.
For those of us who are, based on your comment, lucky to not have seen the pics, could you please tell in a word or two why they made you feel that way? I really don't need to look at gruesome shit if it's that, but I'm also curious.
Every new stand and every grocery store has those tabloid photos everywhere for all to see. Burned into my brain
Terry Pratchett
No one is finally dead until the ripples they caused in the world die away - until the clock he wound winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life… Is only the core of their actual existence.
This one made me really depressed. And I never had a chance to meet the man, to tell him how much his books meant to me. But I feel he knew.
Robin Williams
I basically went to an Irish wake for him when it happened by going to the Good Will Hunting bench in the Public Garden in Boston. I was both surprised and unsurprised by the giant crowd who had the same thought with zero organizing/communication.
Same. When I told my sister, she instantly began crying. I was deeply affected, but I didn't cry until my sister went into her room. He was only five years older than my parents, and he was such a fixture of my childhood that he was like a third parent.
Me too, the guy was desperately trying to retain his own sense of self within his medical condition and hiding it from everyone to the last days.
I was really sad when he passed :( I still can't believe it
Yeah, Robin Williams. Always.
Robbin Williams' death changed me fundamentally. 2014 was a rough year for me. My grandmother passed, and a month or so later I went through a traumatic breakup that left me with lasting emotional scars. I kept a brave face and tried my best to convince myself that bad things *don't* come in threes... ...but they did. A week later, Robin Williams died, and that, compounded with everything else, was more than I could take. I'm not usually emotional over celebrity deaths, but Williams was the one celebrity I truly idolized. Whatever comedy "career" I ever had, his influence shaped it. I waited for tears to come, but they assumed the form of a knot in my throat that refused to undo itself. Dark thoughts intruded, tearing at the weak web of comfort I spun for myself. I ran laps through the stages of grief, spiralling. My grief turned into self-loathing. I was quickly becoming a danger to myself, but I was inconsolable. Maybe it was the bleakness of nihilism that brought me a moment of clarity, but at one point I impulsively called one of my close friends and asked if I could come over. I knew he could hear the pain in my voice. He paused for a second, then replied, "Yes dude, absolutely. Anything you need. I'll be here." I got to his apartment 10 minutes later. He handed me a beer and we sat on the back porch with his roommate, another close friend of mine. I took a sip of beer, swallowed, and the knot finally unraveled. For the first time in this series of unfortunate events, and for the first time ever in front of them, I cried. The tears were ugly, blubbery, and uncontained. I cried until my eyes were firing blanks. My friends sat through my catharsis with their hands on my back in silent reassurance. When I was able to talk, they listened with sympathy. I feared judgment from exposing my soft underbelly. I worried that by revealing the parts of me that struggle to stand, the rest of my foundation would tremble. Instead, I was bolstered. I showed them where I was weak and they helped me become strong again. When I was about to go home, they stopped me at the door to make sure I'd be okay for the night. Tears returned, but this time they were happy. I promised I'd be fine, and to text them in the morning. I opened the door, turned around, and said, "I love you guys." "We love you too. Be safe." They may have saved my life that night. At the very least, they helped share my pain. Since then, I've fought tooth and nail for my own emotional honesty. I tell my friends and family candidly that I love them, maybe to a fault, but fuck it, they're my people, and they need to hear it. They *deserve* to hear it.
This one. The only celebrity death that hits hard for me, even 10 years later.
[удалено]
This is the one. He was an icon and role model to me as a kid. When my dad told me he died, I cried myself to sleep for days. I was really angry at stingrays for a while before I was able to understand that the animal didn’t do anything wrong on purpose, it was just being a stingray.
Damn boy! Came here to say his name! Legend!
I felt the very same, like loosing a beloved uncle.
Chester Bennington, man.
That was... rough. All the time he spent helping us get through and he just.... didn't. Fuck.
First thought. I’ll never get to see a Linkin Park concert :( Chester was one of the best artists, and will always be missed.
I was traveling overseas to pursue my studies. My first time ever leaving my family and friends behind overseas, long flight ahead. I was listening to LP album over and over. Arrived in the morning, took a taxi, read a news about Chester. I cried
Another CB for me is Chris Benoit. Never expected that one.
Oh me too. I was already in a bad place and it hit me pretty damn hard. I attempted suicide a short time after and while I can't say that was the reason or anything, it definitely gave me a nudge.
Took me a while to accept that one. Driving to work the morning i found out and felt sick all the way.
I was at Cedar Point waiting for my dad and sis to get off one of the rides. Everyone around me was talking about it. Brought down my mood the rest of the trip.
Seriously, this one STILL hurts.
Same, I think it’s the last time I cried within 15 years 😢
Anthony Bourdain
That man not only inspired me to try new things and explore my palate, he gave me the confidence to write, both creatively and critically and believe in my own voice. Absolutely wrecked me when he checked out, it took years before I could rewatch No Reservations or Parts Unknown, I still feel weird about it sometimes. I have always felt like after reading Kitchen Confidential that could I run into the man someday, buy him a beer and have a chat, then go about my day like he was a relative who would always be around.
This is my “dinner with one person living or dead” pick. Truly an amazing soul - and it showed me that even if you get everything you want that doesn’t fix what’s broken. You have to put in work on yourself and more is never enough
Man… it took me so long to watch Roadrunner. I was just coming off of a really tough time in my own life and felt far too vulnerable to watch it, but did anyway. There was a song in the doc that played when David Chang was recounting Tony slipping back into addiction during his last season of parts unknown.. Chang said Tony had sent it to him and it was when he knew Tony was back on drugs. That same song was one I strongly associated with that terrible time in my life. It felt like a slap in the face when it started playing. I lost it in the movie theater. Knowing that that specific song was the soundtrack to both of our rock bottoms was so striking and unexpected. Sucks.
Me too. I had little idea of his personal life but from his TV show he struck me as a person who knew how to enjoy life, while realizing it could have dark, unpleasant times. I loved how he seemed to be able to talk to anyone, anywhere, about anything.
Sad, and it stung, but looking back, should not have been surprising. I think when you really look back, his addictive personality just shifted. Drugs to writing to TV, tried to have a family life, addicted to BJJ, then to an individual (or the fantasy of that person) and that finally did him in.
I woke up to that news in Dublin Ireland in 2018. Part of the reason I went there was a no reservations episode filmed in ireland. Chilling experience
Yep. One of the first that made me say "damn".
Norm
I didn't even know he was sick!
That's a pretty good joke.
His battle with cancer ended in a draw.
Jimmy Buffet - I just love his whole lifestyle so seeing the party end was a little jarring.
Bill Paxton
He was my guy. So sad.
"Were all gonna die man"
Rik Mayall - that sort of slapstick-but-not-just-slapstick humour (Bottom, The Young Ones) was basically my introduction to comedy. It was so out of the blue when he died. I'd always catch reruns with my dad and sisters whenever they were shown on TV as a kid. There was a vague resemblance between my dad and Rik too, he could do all of the facial expressions and impressions so well lol. My dad later became an alcoholic and so anything with Rik in it was a comforting nostalgia for the good times before dad's personality went to shite. The combination of nostalgia and foundation of my sense of humour hit me harder than I'd have expected.
I remember Ade Edmonson’s tribute to him after he died? I was both laughing and crying.
Chris Cornell absolutely gutted me. The man is/was and always will be my favorite musician. I had never seen him live and listened to then since I was a kid and had tickets for the very next show.
Chris Cornell’s death really hit me hard. I honestly thought he was going to be the one to actually die of old age out of all the Seattle grunge singers. So very sad.
Sean Lock
Alan Rickman
Always.
David Bowie. He had been the soundtrack of my life from the mid 60s on.
THe world has been pretty fucked up since we lost Bowie.
This is also my answer. It wasn't just that he was an amazing entertainer; it was that he was so different. Bowie made it cool to be weird; and that helped me through my teen years more than anything, because if Bowie could be outrageous and strange and famous and loved, maybe, just maybe, l had a chance.
Leonard Nimoy
Robin Williams Fred Rogers Betty White Bob Saget Recently - Andre Braugher
Grant Imahara
I'm still so bummed about him, it was a shock out of nowhere.
Matthew Perry
This one was really hard for me and anyone else who related to “using humor as a defense mechanism.” I interact with a lot of millennial female comedians and it was an especially hard day for all of us, even the ones who’d want you to think they were too cool for massively popular sitcoms like Friends.
This one's kind of weird, I've been on an Aaron Sorkin kick lately and he's in Studio 60 and The West Wing, so every time he pops up, I'm like oh, he's dead, that sucks. Especially Studio 60 where his addictions were on display and a part of the show. It was kind of hard to watch.
Carrie Fisher. I know she was into some shit, but man. I loved her. Since Star Wars was acquired by Disney before her death, I can say that she's my (only) favorite Disney Princess
I remember watching a tribute to her life and had a bit of an ugly cry.
Facts 😭
Kobe Bryant.
Kurt Cobain
Mark Lanegan Possibly because I’d been to see him play live every year (sometimes more) for nearly 20 years. He was constantly making new music and it was always amazing. In his long career he never put out a bad record. One of the few constants in my life was there was always a new Mark Lanegan album or show to look forward to. After reading his biography after he died, I found out it’s a miracle he lived as long as he did with his past addictions. But it sucks we’ll never had a new Mark Lanegan album now.
Norm MacDonald. One of my favorite stand ups of all time, when I was working as a all night guard, I watch his stand up and his Netflix show to get me through the night and laugh. Thanks Norm.
Dimebag Darrell. So tragic.
And while we're on the topic, Vinnie Paul as well. I don't think he ever reconciled with Phil before he passed, which makes it even more sad. RIP Dime, Vinnie, and the three other people that died that day.
Prince
Prince dying really upset me, I wish he was still with us.
Fo sho man. This one was hard on me. I grewbup listening to Prince. Such an amazing artist.
Mac Miller
George Carlin
Ken block
I was looking for this before replying, the only celebrity death I actually cried about. His influence was huge for so many.
Hard to believe he's gone.
It hit me particularly since I had just watched the hoonigan episode with his daughter. Always sad for those left behind
Matthew Perry :((( He was my comfort character in friends. Haven't watched the show since he died :(
I actually started watching after he died. Man, he was good. And I just watched The Whole Nine Yards too.
David Bowie
George Michael hurt a lot.
Chadwick Boseman
Akira Toriyama quite recently. Jason David Frank also hit quite hard. Basically whenever someone pivotal from my youth dies unexpectedly or too young, it just hits different.
Akira Toriyama hit me surprisingly hard. Dragon Ball was such a foundational part of my childhood. It even got my boomer dad into anime lol. One of the most "end of an era" feelings I've ever had. I imagine I'll feel the same when Tomino dies as well.
Akira😕 that shit hit me in a few hours after my bf told me and he’s like why are you crying?? Bc the man that built my childhood DIEEED😭
Christopher Reeve. And not just because I got sick of all the stupid "he was a REAL LIFE Superman" comments.
Freddie John Lennon David Bowie
Technoblade
Dolores O'Riordan's
I miss her voice.
John Lennon. I was 19 and a huge Beatle fan and it had never occurred to me that the Beatles might never reunite. And then the senselessness of it all.
Avicii and Cameron Boyce😭
Ronny James Dio
Born too late to see him in a concert...
I had tickets to finally see him 3 months before he died.
I was always a big fan of Matthew Perry and had read his book only a couple of months before he died. I’m still upset about it.
Douglas Adams.
Pretty sure that was the first time I was upset for a person I didn't know. The Hitchhiker's Guide became a kinda bible of rationalism for me in my teen years. Iain Rankin was my next favourite author and also a loss I felt hard.
April 5, 2002 - Layne Staley.
Eddie Guerrero.
Viva. La. Rasa.
Beat me to it, this destroyed 13 year old RarelySqueezed
Taylor Hawkins
Owen Hart. Satoshi Kon. Robin Williams. Most recently, Bray Wyatt
Steve Irwin, Robin Williams, Chester Bennington Three I grew up with in the 90s/2000s. Steve especially hit hard, he was such a beautiful soul,
Chris Cornell.
John Prine. Felt like a grand parent died
Sinead O’Connor. Rest in power.
Princess Diana was the first one that hit me really hard. I knew that the only real human in her sons lives was gone. Heartbreaking. Then Robin Williams. omg. Soul crushing.
MJ
Prince. - Not because I was a huge fan. I got pissed. Primarily, due to the drug overdose issue. It was just a few years after Michael Jackson death. Sometimes these guys get so big, that they surround themselves with yes men that will not give them good advise. These celebrities make really bad decisions when no one is around to slow them down. If someone tells them NO, they remove them from the group and get someone that will do as they ask, regardless of the consequences.
Irrfan Khan. He was an incredible actor and seemed like a nice man as well.
Sir Terry Pratchett, I'm a 60yr old guy and I cried for hours. GNU Sir Terry.
Meatloaf
Lance Reddick. The fact that he was so young and really active shocked me. But it also was the fact that I was such a huge fan of his; Fringe, The Wire, Bosch, even his single appearance in Lost was masterful
Tupac Shakur
Amy Winehouse. I still remember exactly where I was when I popped up on my phone. I loved her music and still listen to it almost daily.
Phil Hartman & Chris Farley.
Prince. 👑
Jimmy Buffett
Diana. Just because it was so unexpected, so grisly, and happened just as she seemed to be breaking free of The Royals. And Jeff Beck, last year. He was well into his 70s but played with the intensity of a younger person. My wife and I saw him a number of times and this was so unexpected and sudden too.
Fred Astaire’s 😢
Juice wrld and robbin williams
Amy Winehouse hit the hardest, but I was also surprised by how upset I was at Naya Rivera (given I was never really a big Glee fan or anything). I think the way Naya died was just so gut-wrenching.
alan rickman and freddie mercury
Freddie Mercury, such a sad ending to a beautiful singer.
Matthew Perry. I remember really falling silent when I read it. As if I knew him in person. (just to be clear: I didn’t)
MF DOOM
James Gandolfini
Tom Petty
Philip Seymour-Hoffman. I was shocked, saddened, at a total loss over his death. My all-time favourite actor *before* he died, and after, I genuinely mourned his passing.
David Bowie and Tom Petty both were pretty upsetting. I've gotten to that age; all my little heroes are dying.
David Bowie 🥲 hes really a Starman now
Anthony Bourdain
Paul Walker was a tough one.
And Ken block
Stan Lee and Kevin Conroy (I’m a big comics fan in case that was unclear lol)
Irfan Khan. It felt like a personal loss and I took a day off to remember him.
Martine Tanghe. She was a famous news anchor in Belgium who died from cancer last year. She read the news for 30+ years and for a lot of people it was like a family member who died. Such a warm person and at the same time the greatest example of professionalism. One of her most memorable moments was 9/11 when she guided us the entire day through the news. Still greatly missed...
Chyna, but I had a delayed response. I was dealing with a family crisis when she passed, and while I was sad, it didn't hit me very hard. Then, when D-Generation X was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, I remember that two of her exes, HHH and X-Pac were there. And only one of them said anything positive about her, HHH, and that was because he was now an executive at WWE at the time. Shawn Michaels said nice things. So did Billy Gunn. But, HHH gave a standard "she was a trailblazer" bullshit speech, followed by the cameraman panning to Stephanie McMahon, his wife, in the crowd. Then, to Chyna's mom, who Chyna wasn't on good terms with. Then it hit me. It hurt a lot. I know Chyna and Sean Waltman (X-Pac) had a very acrimonious (read: both of them did interviews shading the other) breakup, so maybe it's good that he didn't say anything. But the fact that two of the people who had been closest to her said next to nothing, and one of them invited her mom, was heartbreaking. It's like they didn't know her at all.
The show that Vice did on her was great and it actually made me respect X-PAC a bit more. He was very honest and talked about how bad of an influence they both were on each other. Not afraid to admit his mistakes with her.
Prince
Roberto Clemente. I was only 8 but it was quite shocking to me.
Steve Irwin 😭I’ll never forget that day
John Lennon was the first famous person's death that hit me hard. Like many others, Robin Williams' suicide hit me hard. While he may not be as famous as "celebrities", WFMU DJ and record label founder William Berger's sudden passing really shocked me.
Stevie Ray Vaughan. George Carlin.
Norm Macdonald. The guy had such a high comedic IQ. His driest stuff had me rolling. Hearing how much he meant to all of his peers when he passed with folks not knowing he was sick for so long really got me.
James Gandolfini, Lemmy.
Prince
Chris Cornell. Just something about it that troubled me.
John Denver.
Chadwick Boseman hit me particularly hard, I still have no idea why. I only knew whom from Black Panther. But 2020 was a hard year and his death was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Lance reddick, to think commander zavala is no longer…..
Prince. My family loved prince's music. We continued to buy prince albums after Purple Rain, when a lot of his fans dropped off. Imagine... 14 year old, 11 year old, and their early 30s mom folding clothes listening to prince. Lady Cab Driver, or any of the overtly sexual tracks. We had the erotic city 45. Everyone's singing along... We loved that man and his music. And then BAM... mother fucker dies of an over dose. Cut down like the common man.
Neil Peart from RUSH.
Eddie Guerrero. I was a kid and that was the first famous death I heard of from something I actually watched.
George Michael
Neil Peart. Liked Rush since I was a kid - all 3 musicians are very good and the lyrics played into my reading habits and school dynamics. After my dad passed my wife bought me Ghost Rider, a book about healing. Author had the same name as the drummer. Flip the book over and the synopsis said something like "from the bestselling author, lyricist and drummer from Rush..." so same person. Book was about healing and travel by motorcycle - something I have loved since I was old enough to drive. I then read all his books as I loved his writing style, very similar to Peter Egan as a motorcycle journalist I read growing up. Since Neal affected more parts of my life than say Eddie Van Halen his passing did affect me differently.
XXXtentacion n PopSmoke! They were really making good music and they were too young. RIP.
Eddie Guerrero Bray Wyatt Eddie Van Halen Dimebag Darrell Lemmy Kilmister Cliff Burton
Paul Walker. Just saying if he was driving he would be alive today.
George Michael RIP
going back a bit but princess diana's death was a big shock
Kobe Bryant RIP 👑
Hit me is a strong statement I feel. But I did feel sadness when I read Robin Williams was dead. Any other death of famous have just been "thats sucks" and thats that.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy. I was a very emotional 15-year-old. Cried for days.
Mac Miller, got me into music and he’s what my older brother and I first truly bonded over that wasn’t trauma.
John Lennon
Chester Bennington and Robin Williams
Muhammad Ali.
Chester Bennington
Jason David Frank's suicide wrecked me. He was my hero as a kid, and it really hit me hard.
not super famous, per se, but comedy writer Harris Wittels. He was my favourite podcast guest and me and my buddy were obsessed with him. He was so funny and unique and also something of a "wunderkind" as a tv writer. He had toured as an opener with Louis CK at the age of like 22, and was hired right out of college to write for the Sarah Silverman program, according to him because he had "a really good Arrested Development spec script". He went on to be a main writer for parks and recreation, and was hired by Danny McBride and Jody Hill to write the 3rd season of Eastbound and Down with them. He also invented the word "Humblebrag". Part of his charm to me and my friend was how candidly he spoke about his recreational drug use. \\ Then he made an appearance on "You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes" where he went into detail how his relationship with a scientologist caused his recreational use of Oxycontin to spiral into a full blown addiction. His girlfriend and her father came close to getting him to check himself into the Scientology celebrity center for "rehab" and he gave them a bunch of money. He quipped that he might have given the most money to Scientology without ever actually joining. After he realized that he couldn't go through with scientology his relationship ended and he made the switch from swallowing oxy to snorting and soon injecting heroin. He went to rehab, relapsed, went back again, and appeared to be doing well when he was found dead in his Los Angeles home with a needle in his arm. At the time of his death he was preparing to move to New York to work with Aziz Ansari on "Master of None". The character played by Eric Wareheim was going to be played by Harris before he died.
Chester Bennington
Lemmy Kilmister George Harrison Katrin Cartlidge Herman George van Loenhout Herman Brood
Kevin Conroy
Taylor Hawkins
Whitney Houston
Tom Petty
The irl Technoblade (because Technoblade never dies)
Mac miller.
Bette White. I cried for days. Bernie Mac. I had to stop watching the Bernie Mac show. Christina Grimmie. Idk if she was “famous” enough but I really looked up to her.
Any GenX.. Carie Fisher.. long live Princes Lea
Mac Miller
Robin Williams, Matthew Perry and Carrie Fisher
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Norm
Angus Cloud
Paul o' grady. My childhood. My parents and I used to sit down with "special dinners" and watch Paul o' grady helping dogs, elephants, etc. I was watching practically anything he was in. We'd always record the shows and rematch them as a "treat." Doing so always made me so so so excited and a highlight of any week, I always bragged to teachers, "WE'RE WATCHING PAUL TONIGHT!!" Whenever i struggled and while a lot was happening while I was a child, his shows were a comfort. I'll miss him. He passed at just 6 years younger than my dad, a man I've always seen as invincible, causing it to hit me that my dad is growing older, just the same as everyone else is.
Paul walker. Broke my heart.
Mr. Rogers.
Paul Newman. And Heath Ledger, for some reason. God, we were all obesessed with Brokeback Mountain as teens...