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No, not zany Dracula spoofs pulled off by innane Canadian comedians who nonetheless make me laugh.
Today's theme -- alert Entertainment Tonight -- is the unbelievable good fortune of deceased entertainers.
Today's theme, prompted by the short Hindustan Times story below, is DEAD AND LOVING IT.
KURT COBAIN
Kurt Cobain, former lead singer of Nirvana, has topped Elvis Presley as the top dead celebrity earner.
According to Contactmusic.com, the list was created by Forbes in 2000 and Presley had topped it since then.
But this time Cobain earned $50 million and Presley's income was $42 million only.
Other dead celebrities on the list include Peanuts animator Charles Schultz, John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe, Bob Marley and Ray Charles.
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Aside from the whole issue of what our apparent fascination with "dead celebrities" says about us as a society, I wonder where all this money goes?
To lawyers and promotions people who continue to market this stuff? To the descendants or spouses of these Unalive Stars?
What about if all this money was put in a kitty and sent to the relatives of the dead in Lebanon or Darfur or any one of a million other forlorn places on the planet that are torn apart by war or hunger or sectarian violence?
But let's not be party-poopers. Who are your favourite Performers who've passed on to the Pearly Gates?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSorry for goofing up! I deleted the previous comment by mistake! Too much of holiday hangover!
ReplyDeleteKurt cobain was one of my favourite singers.
jim morrison... freddie mercury... ayrton senna...
ReplyDeleteJimi Hendrix.
ReplyDelete*regrets never having been his groupie*
Ditto for Gram Parsons.
And Marc Bolan.
And Keith Moon.
And Brian Jones.
Hank Williams.
Patsy Cline.
Rick Danko and Richard Manual of "The Band"
Marvin Gaye.
And I still miss Frank Zappa.
Stop me. There's more. Can I have my own page?
The one I remember best was John Lennon. I was working the 4-midnight shift at a self-serve gas station (my first year of university I think) in Victoria, listening to the radio and drawing, when the news came on. I couldn't believe it. I phoned everyone I knew but nobody cared much. *sigh*
ReplyDeletei'm with andrea about john lennon, but the death that has far and away been the biggest loss for me is peter jennings. i trusted him...
ReplyDeletehey - aidan - what about all that crap they put all over his grave? - candles and crap. Let alone what these people you mentioned left behind - eewww.
ReplyDeleteThis is a bit embarrassing - O.K...you can do it..just say it.. the lead singer of the band Pilot(can't remember his name). Remember them? "January...you make me sad with your eyes, you're telling me lies - don't go, don't go". I think the poor fella died from AIDS.
The first few who come to mind are:
ReplyDeleteJohnny Carson
Lucille Ball
Gregory Hines (I had a huge crush on him)
I'm sure there are plenty others, but my brain is mush at the moment.
prompted by frontier editor - karen carpenter.
ReplyDeleteGautami:
ReplyDeleteHangover? Hope you're feeling better...
Kurt was one of your faves? I've got one of his songs playing right now, just for you (Friday, anyway).
Angel:
Ayrton Senna? Oh yeah, I seem to recall your preference for race-car drivers...
MJ:
Yes, you can have your own page. It's right...
Here.
Andrea:
I couldn't believe John's death that night either.
A part of me died that day too, just one of those unbelievable things that you figure could never happen because that would mean the end of the world really had arrived.
KJ:
You might have known that Peter Jennings was a Canadian. He did just seem so calm, reassuring somehow, solid, worth trusting, more than just a talking head...
Aidan:
A Jimi groupie? You and MJ could form a posthumous fan club in his honor...
Owen Hart? The Canadian wrestler? You're a WWF fan?
Sex on Morrison's grave: now that's a bit twisted, but obviously the guy had some sort of power over people...
Lee:
This from Wikipedia:
Pilot was a rock group formed in 1973 in Edinburgh, Scotland by former Bay City Rollers members David Paton and Billy Lyall.
Joined by Stuart Tosh and Ian Bairnson, the band recorded several demos over the course of 1973 and 1974, eventually catching the attention of EMI Records.
The 1974 single "Magic" from their debut album was a #11 UK and #5 U.S. hit and remains a pop classic. The simple but catchy pop ditty "January" gave them their biggest hit, securing the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart in January 1975.
The band's other single chart hits were "Call Me Round" and "Just A Smile" (both 1975). By the time 1977 came around only Paton and Bairnson were left from the original foursome, and they recorded Pilot's final album (the aptly entitled Two's a Crowd) alone.
By 1978, all of Pilot's members had moved on to other projects, notably Tosh, Paton and Bairnson becoming core members of the Alan Parsons Project, and Tosh also working with 10cc.
Which of these guys are you talking about who died?
Anna:
A crush on Gregory, huh? I loved Carson too. Hope all's well on the mom front...
Lee:
Why was Karen Carpenter prompted by Fronty?
In lieu of rambling on I will quickly note the first thing that came into my head when you say dead artists...all the recording artists who have died in an airplane crash
ReplyDeleteBuddy Holly, Richie Valens,
Big Bopper, Ricky Nelson,
Stevie Ray Vaughan (chopper), Patsy Cline, the Lynyrd Skynyrd guys, Otis Redding, some guy from Ozark Mountain Darevevils,
John Denver, Jim Croce....
that's all that I can remember but this way out is usually a ticket to iconville...along with automobile fatalities, suicide, or drug overdose.
I saw the new list..I never 'GOT' Cobain ... apparently his stock went up because Courtney Love, his lovely widow, sold a quarter interest in his music rights.
Grunge schmunge.
Karen carpenter 's death made me cry and I still feel sad every time I hear her sing especially "Road Ode"
ReplyDeleteIt was billy lyall who died (from the band Pilot) -the nice looking one.At 5 I thought he was just so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI want to add another name to your list -the lovely lovely lovely gene kelly.
Oh, I tried to listen to Leo thank you !) but can't...what's going on...
HE:
ReplyDeleteGood ones, all.
I never really got Cobain either, he was like a mythic figure that I got to know only AFTER he died.
Some of the few songs I've heard are OK, but I never understood the fascination with him.
Ces:
KC's death was a tough one to take, I admit...
Lee:
Yeah, you're a huge fan of his, aren't you? Are you a big fan of dancing or all old musicals?
Leo's playing on my blog fine right now and others can hear/see it. Maybe you don't have the right software or something?
Yay I just heard it -thank you very much - didn't wait long enough beofore and assumed it just was never going to happen - but couldn't see anything. When I saw Leo live was so impressed that he was still able to hit the high bit at the end of that song - not bad for a 57 year old! :).
ReplyDeleteThe thing with gene-he's just so attractive - and of course the type of movies he was in - just sheer entertainment - you don't have to think too much, just enjoy them. And the sight of him ;).