Any person that dies in their athletic prime has always shocked me. Jose Fernandez is probably the most recent and notable. But as a Rangers fan, Alexei Cherepanov was a WTF moment. He was a stud prospect that died on the bench in Siberia. I can never relate to actors, comedians, musicians, etc., but people that play professional sports are normal to me, just better at sports.
In addition to some already posted, the 2011 Lokomotiv KHL team plane crash. So many former NHLers from my childhood.
I was in Latin class the morning after it happened, and I thought my teacher was gonna go off himself. He was still youngish, and it crushed him. Just told us to get out of there b/c no way we were having class. It was just so out of the blue.
I feel pretty disconnected from celebrity deaths but Bourdain and Robin Williams got to me. I think it was because they felt relatable, and opened up more than you usually get from most celebrities.
Bourdain is the only one. On top of that we were flying to Vienna a few days before he died and there was a guy on our flight from Montreal to Paris that looked a lot like him. Always wonder if that was him considering the timelines match up.
Kobe from an emotional standpoint. Someone I absolutely loved from my late teens to now, definitely Guru. I was fucked up out of my mind for many of the concerts but saw him in 4-5 shows. He hit so many different groups of people between the hip hop and jazzmatazz. Will always be at the top for me.
Good to see other people see Chris Cornell because that is the one that bothered me the most for whatever reason.
Kobe Bourdain Tom Petty - I was at this last concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Just crazy it was a week later or so. JFK jr and Princess Di were shocking and the world seemed to sort of stop for Di. They were ubiquitous celebrities during my youth that suddenly died at their seeming prime.
Chester Bennington hit me bc of his depression part of his life. I was battling depression at the time of his death. Kobe hit hard bc of the father daughter aspect. All I could think of was holding my girls tight if we were in a similar scenario.
woody durham even tho he had been fading for years. so many childhood memories listening to him call unc football and basketball
Tom Petty Prince Robin Williams Chris Cornell Musicians that you grew up with or represent a special time in your life are always the hardest because music touches you in ways most other mediums can't.
When I was a young kid and lived in Mass and didn’t even know about him in college, I absolutely loved Derrick Thomas, so that one got me. Tom Petty and Robin Williams are obvious ones for seemingly everyone. Prince wasn’t fun. Kobe knocked me p good. I’m someone who is not being ironic when they say they love fast and furious so I’ll say Paul Walker, too.
I wasn’t old enough to register Cobain‘s death, and hadn’t gotten into AIC enough at the point that Staley died. But both unplugged performances are what I turn to when I’m feeling down.
Was a huge Skynyrd fan, and had tickets to the concert that was scheduled a couple of nights later. Ronnie Van Zant. Also Tom Petty.
1) Robin Williams: Only celebrity that I know I would have geeked out if I met him. I missed meeting him by one day, when I worked on some shitty Christmas movie with him. He was only scheduled to be there one day that week, and I worked the day before and the day after. He and Prince were the only two celebs that I teared up a little over. 2) Prince: I’m a child of the 80s and he was my favorite musician. I had tickets to his last show, but I was filming. I figured I would just see him the next time he toured...damn 3) Kurt Cobain: I was young and angsty when the grunge era started, so I loved Nirvana. I knew Cobain had mental health problems. What was messed up, is that I remember my parents coming to my room to ask if I had heard the news, and without knowing what they were talking about, I said “Kurt Cobain killed himself, didn’t he?” I took it pretty hard, and started listening to a lot more rap after that, and Tu Pac was my artist of choice. 4) Tu Pac: Of course, I started to listen to Tu Pac, and he eventually is murdered. It was weird, everyone wanted to believe that he faked his death, b/c of the Makavelli album. I never bought into that, but the feeling of closure took a while, with other tracks still being released. 5) Paul Walker: Worked with him on Fast 7. Talked to him for a while on one of the days, and we ate lunch together. Very down to earth and friendly guy. He was one of those people that gives you best friend vibes after you met him. 6) Steve Irwin: I have a healthy fear of large predators, and The Crocodile Hunter embraced those fears and tried to make people respect the animals. The amount of balls he had was unparalleled...and he was entertaining as shit. The world was a better place with him in it. 7) Kobe Bryant: I stopped following the NBA closely, shortly after his career started. I basically just watched marquee games and the playoffs...which meant that I watched many Kobe games. I never bought into him being the next Jordan, but he was the closest facsimile to it. The way he died (with his daughter and friends, and it being very sudden), just hit hard. 8) Macho Man Randy Savage: I watched a lot of pro wrestling with my older brother, when I was little. When we would practice moves on each other, he was always Hulk Hogan, and I was always Macho Man. I would do promos in his voice before entering the ring (the living room), and emulated his moves/mannerisms. We had to stop when our dad caught 10 year old me launching across the room from the arm of the couch to deliver an elbow from the top rope (all while screaming “OH YEEEAAAHHHH!!!”). When he died, a little piece of my childhood died. 9) Chris Farley: He was such a brilliant physical comedy guy, which with him being as big as he was, was so rare. I used to practice some of his gags, like stair falls and “falling” through tables. He inadvertently became one of the people that inspired me to become a stunt man. Still watch some of his cheesy movies, to this day. 10) Phil Hartman: I watched a lot of Saturday Night Live and The Simpson’s as a kid/teenager in the 90s, so the man made me laugh a lot. Being murdered by his wife kind of messed with my head a little. TL;DR...I’m just a big bitch who doesn’t handle death well.
Bourdain, for sure. Only one really. Dude opened up a generation's eyes to traveling to places that other travel shows disregarded. And sat in peoples' living rooms. His show as much as any was an education for me at least on places Western media made look scary with people that were supposed to be scary.
Kobe Dimebag Darrell Lemmy Cornell Robin Williams Bourdain Tony Sly (from one of my favorite punk bands ever)
not a big pantera guy, but you might like to know how revered he is in dallas. absolutely a legend around here