r/AskReddit • u/Electrical_Carpet753 • 5h ago
The death of which famous person made the strongest impression on you when you heard about it?
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u/JNorJT 4h ago
Robin Williams
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u/Ordinary_Victory_868 4h ago
Robin Williams hit me like a truck, i was in the barracks just scrolling news before duty and saw it. guy brought so much laughter but you could tell there was something heavy behind his eyes in some interviews
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u/Mega-Steve 4h ago
Same. I've only recently been able to watch his stuff again
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u/BunnyLovesTheStars 4h ago
Still can't. Still feels like I lost a favorite uncle who was there for me in tough times, and I usually hate parasocial-type celebrity stuff. But damn, some people really do move you forward even if you never meet them.
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u/Ordinary_Victory_868 4h ago
Robin Williams hit me like a truck, i was in the barracks just scrolling news before duty and saw it. guy brought so much laughter but you could tell there was something heavy behind his eyes in some interviews
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u/CaptainDabs1 4h ago
Chester Bennington
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u/TheAlphis 4h ago
One of my top favourites for life. Really hit me hard and I realised how big depression can really get and no one around you would even see it.
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u/InterPunct 4h ago
Princess Diana. It was pretty impactful in the US at the time and she was about my age.
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u/PepsiAllDay78 3h ago
That's the one I came to say. I was her same age as she, and my daughters are the same ages as Will and Harry. It's so terrible to lose a parent at that young zge.
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u/SpamIsGreatOhEight 4h ago
Norm MacDonald
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u/JohnLeePettimore 4h ago
Same. Those of us that are into Norm are really, really into Norm. Not even a "I didn't even know he was sick" joke here. I've watched hundreds upon hundreds of hours of his clips and podcasts and I still remember exactly where I was when I got a NY Times push notification that he died.
Even compared to other younger celebrities like Steve Irwin or Robin Williams, I felt so connected to Norm that it just knocked the wind out of me and I've never gotten past it.
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u/Rage4Order418 4h ago
Chris Cornell. Still hurts.
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u/Electrical_Carpet753 4h ago
It's hard to listen to his music now without shedding a few tears. He was so perfect. Super handsome, rich and successful, beautiful family, fantastic voice, great musician. He had it all..
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u/HeartonSleeve1989 4h ago
Losing Robin Williams was like losing a favorite uncle that everyone liked...... it killed a part of my heart, to be honest.
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u/flippingypsy 4h ago
Same, personally the only one that made me straight up quite sob and still makes me tear up.
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u/Clear-Boat3077 4h ago
Carrie Fisher. Childhood died, and it felt like a harbinger of the difficult years ahead. Losing Debbie Reynolds the next day was Greek-level tragedy.
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u/notAnn 4h ago
That was 2016. I think David Bowie was the first and then they dropped like flies until Debbie Reynolds went out at the end of December. What an awful year… until Covid.
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u/DStew713 3h ago
Bowie and Alan Rickman were only a few days apart. And Lemmy was only a couple weeks before, albeit in 2015.
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u/SpeedyGoneSalad 4h ago
John Lennon. My mother was devastated, and it was the first time I saw her cry.
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u/jfklingon 4h ago
Steve Irwin was the first celebrity I was sad about, Robin Williams was the only one that made me cry
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u/MrBanballow 4h ago
Owen Hart
Was watching the PPV when they came back to shots of the crowd, explaining that Owen had fallen from the rafters to the ring. JR announcing later in the night that Owen had passed away. The tribute show the next night where everybody talked about how great a guy he was.
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u/scm0610 5h ago
Michael Jackson
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u/MissingExplanation 4h ago
I was digging through the comments figuring someone else had to have said this too
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u/NerdTalkDan 4h ago
The loss of Anthony Bourdain is something I still think about regularly. He was such a treasure.
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u/Bloc_Party43 4h ago
Cobain was most shocking to me, as I was younger at the time and Nirvana was the biggest band in the world (or on the radio).
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u/Exciting_Contact922 4h ago
Alan Rickman was hard.. So was Bob Saget. Right in the childhood
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u/AdderPlayz 4h ago
David Lynch and David Bowie, two legendary people and I think the world is a worse place now that both of them are gone. For me especially Lynch cause he was working with Netflix on a new project and it’s sad that we will never see it.
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u/atfguitar123 4h ago
Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip. He passed in 2017, and I still haven’t fully gotten over it.
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u/coquihalla 4h ago
I don't know that any of us will ever get over Gord. He was like losing a family member.
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u/atfguitar123 4h ago
For real. I still get teary when listening to certain Hip songs. Gord was special.
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u/RubixRube 4h ago
The is going to be painfully Canadian.
Gord Downie.
After his terminal diagnosis, The Tragically Hip went on one final tour. I was lucky to see one of the shows. Not a Dry eye in the place. It was a fantastic show.
His music career spanned 3 decades. His philanthropic work, contributions to social causes and activism live on.
Gord Downie is a true Canadian hero.
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u/raspberryhydrangeas 4h ago
Michael Jackson. The only celebrity death in my lifetime that truly shook me to my core.
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u/KamikazeFox_ 4h ago
Steve Irwin. I was obsessed with west he did and what he stood for. He was such a shining light in such a dark world.
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u/MultipleEeyoregasms 4h ago edited 4h ago
Walter Payton. He was my childhood hero. Always wanted a replica jersey of his, but my father was the principal of a Lutheran school which meant our pennies were saved in heaven - ‘cause he didn’t make ‘em here. Then one day I found a used Payton jersey at a garage sale for .50 cents. I wore it till it fell apart. He was just such a positive role model - never complaining despite the crap teams he was on for years. And it killed me that he didn’t get his Super Bowl touchdown. Yes - he got the ring, and yes he never complained about that either. It was the “principal” of the thing. (Tying it back to the beginning.)
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u/Tralalero_Shark 4h ago
Robin Williams or Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson was my idol when I was kid, bought magazines, even had an iPod and downloaded all his songs at the time.
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u/TranslatorCritical11 4h ago
Princess Diana.
She was the most famous person on the planet and she was killed at such a young age.
I was 9 and I remember people crying in the street. Such a weird time
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u/silent_fungus 4h ago
I was never the biggest fan of his, but Chris Cornell really shocked me when the news broke.
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u/Finance_Plastic 4h ago
Queen Elizabeth II. anyone that jumps from a helicopter with 007 is memorable
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u/Hopeful-Winter9642 4h ago
James Earl Jones. I grew up with Star Wars, so now it doesn’t really feel like Star Wars is Star Wars anymore without James Earl Jones as Darth Vader
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u/Gigi4825 4h ago
Robin Williams and George Michael, Robin made me laugh and George helped me dance and feel happy.
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u/Dismal_Assignment555 4h ago
Michael Jackson. And also Paul Ruebens. They just came out of nowhere.
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u/StewieL69 4h ago
I was sad when Princess Diana died. Lately, Glen Hansard. I finally got to see the play 'Once' and afterwards, while still in the theater, found out he died three days earlier.
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u/abihargrove 4h ago
I had a reaction to Anna Nicole which seems like a weird one. Kinda not a surprise. Still really like her.
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u/IntergalacticPopTart 3h ago
I was an absolute train wreck for a few days after Steve Irwin passed away. I think I was a freshman in high school. Used to watch the guy on TV every day. Got into conservation partially because of him, and became a career park ranger. Whenever I have to assist an injured animal, he always crosses my mind.
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u/30-Wandering-Wombats 1h ago
Not a huge celebrity, but ice hockey player Johnny Gaudreau is the only famous death that has rocked me.
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u/insomniacmomof3 4h ago
Andre Braugher. He’s the first celebrity where I felt like I had lost a friend.
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u/Blue_Kangaroo_42 4h ago
Chester Bennington
LP was huge when I was a teenager and his music got me through a lot.
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u/Jaredthewizard 4h ago
Maybe Mac Miller. I had been pretty into his music for a bit and admittedly had kinda fallen off as a fan by the time he passed. He was pretty much exactly my age though and his music had definitely resonated with me a lot at a certain time in my life. It really felt like losing someone I knew at least a little in a way I hadn’t experienced.
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u/anacanapona 4h ago edited 4h ago
Princess Diana. I had stayed up past midnight watching 12 Monkeys on TV. When the movie was over I switched channels and heard she had been in a serious car accident in Paris. At that time they were talking about serious injuries, but mentioned broken bones. I was gutted when they announced she died. I live in the US and was bereft. Such a force for good.
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u/Natural_Wedding_9590 4h ago
Immediate shock value was John Lennon. I had someone yell at me from a passing car, no internet or 24hr news cycle. Who, What, Why would someone shoot this supposed man of peace. Surreal.
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u/Live-Anything-99 4h ago
Probably David Lynch. It was the thing that eventually got me to quit vaping.
Either that one or Michael Jackson. I remember going to swim practice and sitting on the divider in the pool looking at the sunset and thinking about life.
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u/JeffTheRef72 4h ago
MCA Adam Yauch. It was so sudden. The world was a better place with the Beastie Boys in it.
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u/DelightfulCompany 4h ago
Man there were so many so quickly in 2016/17. David Bowie, Prince, Carrie Fisher, Alan Rickman, Gene Wilder, George Michael, Muhammed Ali, all in the same calender year. Then into '17 and the one that hit me most was Chris Cornell.
That was such a shitty couple of years.
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u/WildBad7298 4h ago
Christopher Reeve. I loved him as Superman, and after his accident, I loved how he became a spokesperson for the disabled and even managed to return to acting. He was so positive, I truly thought he would live long enough to see advancements in spinal injury.
He made me believe a man could fly, and then he made me believe a man would walk again.
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u/TheRateBeerian 4h ago
Taylor Hawkins, I’m a drummer too and about the same age. He was living the dream, playing with Page and Jones, with Alex and Geddy. Just nuts.
And Wendell Berry
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u/zoosha2curtaincall 4h ago
Philip Seymour Hoffman, to me, was the greatest actor in the world, to the point where it seemed like a genuine loss for our culture when he passed.
I had NO idea Chadwick Boseman was sick, and the MCU had been so charmed up until that point.
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u/Matdredalia 3h ago
Robin Williams. Chester Bennington. Freddie Mercury. Princess Diana. Carrie Fisher. Dolly Parton.
Can't really pick just one. I've grieved hard over all of them.
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u/MonsieurAK 3h ago
Chadwick Boseman's death had me in tears for an hour. It was so out of nowhere and then to find out how he was suffering as he filmed, did press tours and touched so many as T'Challa.
Anthony Bourdain was super tough as I got to meet and talk with him once and it had a profound impact on me.
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u/DodgersRamsJazz 3h ago
John Lennon. I was a sophomore in high school and excited about “(Just Like) Starting Over”. It was like a nightmare and fucked me up big time.
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u/UnderDogPants 3h ago
John Lennon was brutal. At the time all I could think of was that nobody kills a Beatle. None of it made sense. The grief hit deeper than I can express in words.
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u/Jessiwithlovexoxo 2h ago
Oliver tree. I know that’s pretty recent but he was truly the first artist that I was really into to pass away. And so tragically, too. Very sad all around.
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u/SubstantialButton770 4h ago
Anthony Bourdain. Why? It didn’t make sense.