what celebrity's/musician's death had the biggest impact on you?
i remember when i was 6 in 1977 seeing people bawl their eyes out when elvis died... i guess for me it was the tragic and sudden deaths of randy rhodes and cliff burton...and gord downie with brain cancer.
Rusty Hamer was a couple of years older than me so I more or less grew up with him. He played the original smart-alecky kid on early TV on The Danny Thomas Show (or Make Room For Daddy). He committed suicide at the age of 42 in 1990.
I remember that when Chris Farley died it affected me pretty hard, but when Princess Diana died... I sobbed, much to my own surprise. I guess in that moment I realized what an absolute beautiful spirit that had just exited the world.
I dig a few Tragically Hip songs but for me it was another Canadian, Neil Peart. EVH is a close second. Prince rounds out the top three that have jerked a tear out of me.
Three of my four musical heroes have passed now. Dave Brockie, Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman. all three hit me pretty hard. All I gotta say is Weird Al better stay in good health
Hideto Matsumoto, although I learned about it almost 20 years after he died. He had great potential and died right at the beginning of a great shift in his musical career that seemed pretty promising. Stupid and pointless death. Even if the public will probably never learn what exactly happened.
@Punches The only deceased celebrity personality, that I met in person and not in the autograph line was Owen Hart. WWF was in town at the Wisconsin Center Arena in 1998. Me and some friends were at a Denny's and who just so happens to walk in. Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith of the British Bulldogs.
Sadly Owen Hart had that falling accident about a year later. 🫡
Edit- Okay, so apparently Davey Boy passed in 2002 a little bit later.
@Punches Lol I remember that commercial 🤣. But yeah, those dudes were over-proportional fucking huge. I would've like to have seen the servers get around them.
@ExperienceDLT i saw him with soundgarden in 1992 at lollapalooza....damn that was a great festival,,,,,chili peppers, pearl jam , ministry also played
@England66 I recall this too, mostly remember it because I was watching Monday Night Football on some dinky b&w TV my parents let me have in my bedroom, when Howard Cosell announced it.
@Ferise1 cobain was another one. i saw him live 3 months before he died. it was kinda weird because he really didn't engage the crowd, i guess he was in full swing depression. it was a small venue (3500 people) and we could all here some chick yell out "say something" ...his response was "what do you want me to say.....you guys rock?"