When A Celebrity Dies...

[Orange]

Do you check out any of their material when you hadn't previously done so? I kinda did this with Michael Jackson when radio stations around here were playing his lesser known stuff. I'm not a huge fan of his music so I know chances are I probably wouldn't have dove deep into his catalog if he hadn't died and everybody started playing it. Have you ever done this?

[Cranjis McBasketball]

No. I make it a point to avoid all their material until an acceptable grace period has passed. I had a few Johnny Cash CDs, then he died and EVERYONE was Johnny Cash fan, so I just stopped altogether.

[the5thhorseman]

No

[Rorschach]

Sometimes, if the person was someone who worked in a field of interest to me. But usually, (and somewhat sadly, I might add) I'm old enough to have been familiar with, or seen/heard/read the bulk of whatever material they'd put out, so I don't go out of my way to go and buy everything with their name on it.

[Big Daddy Bad Booking]

Seems to me I watch/listen to stuff BEFORE they die. Case in point, Leslie Nielsen and the Naked Gun trilogy (worth 40 bucks on ebay kids!), and earlier Michael Jackson with Off the Wall and Thriller back March of last year.

[willywonka666]

Yes. I've gotten into a lot of artists I only casually knew when they died. Queen and Frank Zappa come to mind. When I would hear their music in a tribute or see an interview I was intrigued to say the least and that led me to becoming a huge fan

[8-BitAssassin]

Eh, sometimes. But I check out work by recently deceased celebrities mostly because it becomes so accessible for a time after they die. Usually, though, if I'm interested in it in the first place I'm already familiar with most of their work.

Perfect example is Johnny Cash. I was a fan of his when I was a kid because of some of my relatives and I really became a fan of the last few albums he put out before he died. Now that he died and "Walk the Line" came out I'm suddenly really cool for having "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison" on vinyl.

Michael Jackson died and suddenly his music was everywhere and everyone was a fan. While I can definitely dig his music and it was cool hearing it again (and I loved playing Moonwalker in the arcades), I still don't own anything but Thriller and I don't really listen to it very often.

[Deleted]

Nope. If I thought someone sucked when they were alive, the fact that they died doesn't change my opinion.

Everyone is going to die. Does that mean we should be fans of every piece of work that everyone creative puts out?

[biafra]

Dec 15, 2010 6:38:24 GMT -5 @therealoblivion said:

Nope. If I thought someone sucked when they were alive, the fact that they died doesn't change my opinion.

Everyone is going to die. Does that mean we should be fans of every piece of work that everyone creative puts out?

No, because some of those artist suck.

There is a difference between getting into someone simply because they died and being exposed to the work after they are dead and becoming a fan. The first is a bit silly and bandwagony; the second there is nothing wrong with.

[Slingshot Suplay]

No. If they didn't catch my attention before and I didn't care when they were alive, why should I be interested in them after they died?

[khyledeen]

Rich Cronin, of LFO fame, huge LFO fan here, although i only like Summer Girls and Girl On TV, i love those 2 very much, kinda sad but i was 7 then, love those days

i was saddened, didn't cry, but i was very saddened when Rich Cronin passed away, i'd only heard Story Of My Life by him, so i went and heard more songs from Billion Dollar Sound, and really like them, very underrated as a solo artist, it's a real shame, he should have gone far, he bombed as a solo artist, and it's sad, he was a great singer/songwriter, talented dude

[YeahYeahYeahYeahYeah]

The only one I've ever done this with is Suzan Tamim. She's an Arabic pop singer that was murdered (very, very sad story), and the article I was reading about her had a video linked in it, and I just fell in love with her voice. I just wish that that hadn't been the way I'd discovered her music, though, obviously.

[Big L]

No

[Glitch]

I don't, but I do realize that you don't know what you have until it's gone. I start to appreciate what they left behind even more because they will no longer be making it.

[agent817]

I have never really had that happen to me. With Tupac Shakur, I enjoyed his earlier stuff long after his death, but still, I have the same opinion that I've always had about him. Great artist, had passion, but really, people give him too much credit and act like if someone doesn't think he was the best, then they're wrong for thinking that way.

With Michael Jackson, I have always dug his music, respected him as a performer and admitted his problems in the process. I noticed a lot of wagoners of his after his death. It wouldn't surprise me if people were bashing the guy before his death.

[fw91]

Mitch Hedberg

[Young Game]

A good portion of the celebrities I appreciate or am into died LOOOONG before I was born.
The ones that have passed away in my lifetime, I've pretty much liked for quite a while.

[tigermaskxxxvii]

I have but not in the sense "They're living and they suck....Oh wait, now they're dead and they're cool". But I had "I didn't of them until after they died but I wish I got on the bandwagon sooner"

1. Bill Hicks- Didn't become aware of him until I first saw the documentary "It's Just A Ride" (or as it's known state side, I believe it was called "Totally Bill Hicks" in the U.K.) was shown on Comedy Central in '96 or '97. Started buying his albums in '99 and have been a fan ever since.

2. The Ramones- I knew the song "I Wanna Be Sedated" but became better aware of their catologue of songs after Joey's death in 2001.

[Bub (BLM)]

When Heath Ledger died, people suddenly acted like he was "TEH GR8EST ACTOR EVERZ TEH DARK KNIGHTZZZORRRZ OMG!" when they hadn't given two shits about him beforehand. It happens when every celebrity dies. "Fans" suddenly crawl out of the woodwork.

[The Ichi]

Dec 31, 2010 17:00:45 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

When Heath Ledger died, people suddenly acted like he was "TEH GR8EST ACTOR EVERZ TEH DARK KNIGHTZZZORRRZ OMG!" when they hadn't given two s***s about him beforehand. It happens when every celebrity dies. "Fans" suddenly crawl out of the woodwork.

I see this complaint a lot, and I for one see nothing wrong with it. Sure you'll get some bandwagoners when a person dies, but what exactly is wrong with being drawn to a person's work and realizing they were better than you gave them credit for? I was one of those people that checked out some of Heath Ledger's roles after he passed and realized what a good actor he was, they certainally weren't false feelings because I was jumping on some kind of bandwagon though.

Just a really cynical thing to complain about in my opinion.