Many Celebrity Deaths and more to come? Here's why, thanks to the BBC
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
Eugene, Oregon
April 24, 2016 8:09pm CST
I recalled hearing BBC talk about this after reading the post about Billy Paul by @teamfreak16.
Prince, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Doris Roberts (I Love Raymond), singer Billy Paul, Merle Haggard, Victoria Wood and more have all died this year and the BBC says that for one thing there are simply a lot more celebrities than there used to be. Before television, most celebs were movie stars. With TV, many more gained status and came in to our homes on he tube nightly.
Between January and March of 2015, there were only 5 of what the BBC calls "celebrity" deaths, From January thru March, 2016, there have been 24 and now several more in April.
BBC's Obit editor Nick Serpell says, "People who started becoming famous in the 1960s an '70s are now in their 70s and starting to die." (hmm, I am in that boat too, agewise)
This has been a sad year already with these well-known stars dying and it is certain to continue.
Odd fact: There is a website called deathlist.net lists 50 celebrities it says may die this year. (I did not look!)
Have any of your favorite celebrities died this year?
25 people like this
13 responses
@TheHorse (238388)
• Walnut Creek, California
25 Apr 16
@JamesHxstatic I had "office hours" the other day. We didn't discuss psychology at all. I showed one student some guitar chords, and another some bass runs. As Warren Zevon sang, "I'm too old to die young, but too young to die now." But I'm still really into passing what I know on to the next generation. I know I ain't getting out of this alive.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
25 Apr 16
Right, we'll never get out of this world alive.
3 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
25 Apr 16
No particular favorites of mine have passed this year but it's sobering that so many familiar faces and voices are gone.
3 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
25 Apr 16
@TheHorse I remember them well.
1 person likes this
@crossbones27 (53005)
• Mojave, California
25 Apr 16
Not yet,but Prince was respected in the Punk Rock community. There was a few people that I did not know, but had great influences on bands like Social Distortion.
3 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
25 Apr 16
From all the tributes I have heard, Prince crossed many genres. I never heard any of his music until this week.
2 people like this
@crossbones27 (53005)
• Mojave, California
25 Apr 16
@JamesHxstatic I already forgot about David Bowie who influenced Rancid,-they more or less said. to some degree and Merle Haggard,was a Social D favorite. Thanks @teamfreak16
3 people like this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
25 Apr 16
Just out of curiosity I visited that website (it's actually deathlist.net). It's really macabre to see them boasting success when somebody DOES die. I guess they've increased the odds of 'success' by stacking the list with a lot of famous people who are in their nineties, most of the rest in their eighties, and a few who are known to have been sick for some time.
2 people like this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
25 Apr 16
@JamesHxstatic Now you've put .org. It's actually .net. The other two addresses don't even exist. Thankfully it doesn't look like too many people want a site with a name like that.
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@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
25 Apr 16
How sick is that! There is no limit.
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@JudyEv (382664)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Apr 16
@JamesHxstatic And now they've put Prunella Scales on the list. She came to Ravensthorpe back in the late 70s. This is a tiny little one-horse town in the south of WA. She stayed in the motel and said she'd never been in such a tiny room. :) She performed 'An Evening with Queen Victoria' for us and the hall was packed. People came several hours drive to see her.
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@norcal (4889)
• Franklinton, North Carolina
25 Apr 16
People die every day, all the time. Famous people die the same as everyone else. Mostly the famous ones don't affect me too much. If they are someone I truly appreciated, it's nice to give them a little thought, a mental farewell. Rich or poor, famous or unknown, we are all mortal beings. None of us are getting out alive.
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
25 Apr 16
Yes, but it gets a lot of attention when there seems to be string names we all know. And the ages are in the "target" range for many.
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@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
28 Apr 16
@MediciMoor I suppose that is one way to look at it, yes.
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@jillybean1222 (6406)
•
2 May 16
I am fond of several on that list. I loved Alan Rickman in many things, but as a Harry Potter fan, he'll always be snape to me. And Prince created part of the soundtrack of my youth. Although I haven't really listened to him in years, hearing his tunes the last week or two have really brought back some fond memories.
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@JESSY3236 (22287)
• United States
27 Apr 16
David Bowie, and Prince were my favorites.
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@JudyEv (382664)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Apr 16
I was thinking this too - that all the pop star celebs are in the age range to start dying.
@teamfreak16 (43684)
• Denver, Colorado
25 Apr 16
David Bowie, Maurice White, Merle Haggard, Prince, and it's not going to end any time soon.
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