Saddest Deaths of 2017
Chester Charles Bennington (March 20th, 1976 - July 20th, 2017) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor, best known for being the lead singer of Linkin Park. Before he was known for Linkin Park, Bennington was the lead singer of post-grunge act Grey Daze who was heavily inspired by Stone... read more It is the first time the death of a musician I liked personally affected me.
I started listening to Prince a few months before he died, but I started listening to Linkin Park 10 years before Bennington died. That's half my life. I'm 20 now. Plus, I know it was suicide from depression, and you can feel that in the music.
Linkin Park was one of the rock groups everybody seemed to like. Back when I was 10, in our school, they were THE band. But no one listened to the lyrics. Even though most Germans and Austrians speak English, most will tune the language out when listening to the music or care about the emotion packed in there. It just rocked to us.
Later, when I was a teenager bordering on adulthood, I dug deeper into the music and understood the rough feelings in it, and loved it even more. One can say Linkin Park accompanied me on my way from childhood to so-called adulthood (I am not grown up yet and still have lots to learn, I'd say). And all that makes me sad. To be honest, this is the first time a celebrity's death personally touched me so deeply.
William West Anderson, known professionally as Adam West, was an American actor known primarily for his role as Batman in the 1960s ABC series of the same name and its 1966 theatrical feature film. RIP Gotham's greatest hero and Quahog's mayor. I'm going to be honest: this is the first celebrity death to make me cry. Batman was and still is one of my greatest fictional heroes.
It was just so sudden, and the fact that nobody told us he had leukemia made it sadder.
He was 88 years old, though. But I'll always remember him as the '60s Batman and the mayor in Family Guy.
My favorite Batman, the only real one in my opinion, has died. He will be missed.
Christopher John "Chris" Cornell was an American rock musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter and rhythm guitarist for Seattle rock band Soundgarden and as former lead vocalist and songwriter for the supergroup Audioslave. His vocal range was C2 to A5, while... read more In terms of ranking based on sadness, I think that Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell should both be above Chuck Berry. His was a great loss as well, but to me, his legacy is already set in stone, and I feel like he's given all he can to the world.
Chris and Chester, on the other hand, still had a career ahead of them, still had shows to play, and still had time left that is now tragically gone. They deserved longer.
Terrible thing, depression.
I don't really know what to say. He was a huge inspiration to my own personal songwriting. He had a voice that hasn't been replicated. His music was one of the contributing factors to why I love Grunge (and practically the alternative music genre in general).
Rest in peace, Chris. We'll miss you, buddy. Hope you're rocking up there in heaven.
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. He died on 18 March 2017. I seriously didn't know he was still alive, but I'm really sorry to hear that he passed away. R.I.P. Chuck.
Johnny B. Goode is not going anymore, but he is still the father of rock and roll. R.I.P. Chuck Berry.
I'm crying manly tears right now for such a great loss. This man was, is, and will always be a legend who will transcend space-time as future generations remember him as the man who pretty much invented rock and roll.
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty was an American musician, singer, songwriter, multi instrumentalist and record producer. It was so shocking when he died. Tom Petty has always been one of my favorite artists.
Really sad. He died today, October 3. R.I.P.
I'm still shocked that he's gone. Rest in peace, Tom.
Mary Tyler Moore was an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms, including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which she starred as Mary Richards, a thirty-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and, earlier, The Dick Van Dyke Show, in which... read more
Sir Roger George Moore KBE (1927-2017) was an English actor. Moore played the British secret agent James Bond in seven feature films such as Moonraker, The Spy Who Loved Me and Live and Let Die, between 1973 and 1985. Moore worked as a model and made several appearances in minor films and television... read more Bond. James Bond. Personally, losing one of my favorite Bonds was some of the saddest stuff ever.
Malcolm Mitchell Young was an Australian musician and songwriter, best known as a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter for the hard rock band AC/DC. A sad death. While Chester (never forget) chose to die, this guy just died from dementia. Rock in peace.
This man is one of the reasons why AC/DC is so great.
He was a great actor. Too bad he died at 61 of surgery complications.
He was part of Titanic, Aliens, and others.
Sad to see him die so soon. R.I.P.
The Newcomers
Sir John Vincent Hurt, CBE (January 22, 1940 - January 25, 2017) was an English actor and voice actor whose career spanned six decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors; director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in the world". R.I.P. Mr. Hurt. Thank you for being such an amazing actor.
June Lucille Foray was an American voice actress who was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Lucifer from Disney's Cinderella, Cindy Lou Who, Jokey Smurf, Granny from the Warner Bros. Just got back from watching Animat's tribute podcast to June Foray. To see someone as important to not only some of the most beloved characters in animation we all know and love that she has voiced, but also someone important to the medium of animation in contributing to its ability to stand out in the eyes of Hollywood is tragic.
While I will always remember her most as the voice of Granny from Looney Tunes, whom she voiced throughout the entirety of her career, now everyone shall remember her as the first lady of voice acting and an important figure in animation for her legacy.
Raymond Louis Heenan, better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, was an American professional wrestling manager, color commentator, wrestler, and comedian.
My grandmother met Don when she was a teen, right before Toy Story. It's sad to see him gone. I wonder who will voice Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story 4?
Dan Castellaneta did a great impression of this guy on The Simpsons. He could work as Mr. Potato Head.
Yordano Ventura Hernández was a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball.
On January 22, 2017, Ventura was killed in a car crash in the Dominican Republic. Ventura died in one of the most horrible ways possible. He sadly died in a car crash. Goodbye, Ventura. You will be missed.
Kim Jong-hyun (April 8, 1990 – December 18, 2017), better known mononymously as Jonghyun, was a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, radio host, and author. He was the main vocalist of the South Korean boy band Shinee, and participated in S.M. Entertainment's project group S.M. The Ballad... read more It just happened this morning and I've been crying my eyes out ever since. His death affected me the most not only because I am a K-pop fan but because he was so young. Probably the youngest person on this list.
R.I.P. Kim Jonghyun.
Even though I haven't listened to your music, may you still rest in peace. Many people from my country will dearly miss you.
I'm pretty sure Jimi Hendrix is in heaven welcoming him to the 27 Club. I don't like K-pop, but R.I.P.
Tony Rosato (1954-2017) was an Italian-Canadian actor and voice actor who has appeared in television and movies in both Canada and the United States. He is most known for being the original voice actor for Luigi. Without him, the YouTube Poop probably wouldn't be the same.
"That's Mama Luigi to you, Mario!"