Dead rockers or morbid memories...pick your title

Posted Friday, June 26, 2009, at 6:59 PM

Over the years, and long before my time, we have seen many a rocker come and go. Thursday evening, as everyone who hasn't been hiding from the real world already knows, Michael Jackson joined that not-so-fortunate list.

I'm not writing this blog to moan and groan over Jackson's death, so it's safe to keep reading. I'm writing to ask you all to take a moment and reflect over your life and answer a question that might not be so simple.

Which rocker's death has had the most profound affect on your life? Anyone who stands out in your memory, maybe? Like where you were when John Lennon died, or maybe Elvis, Morrison or even Shannon Hoon.

For me I'm not sure and I've thought about this all day.

The first that I recall was the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was 1990, and I had just gotten out of school for the day. My mom, an avid Stevie fan, and I were heading to Hardees in Sikeston for one of those fantastic pizza pockets that no one seems to remember them having. It came across the radio as we were getting out of the car.

It wasn't a super-emotional time or anything like that, but it was the first time I realize that people like that really die. I was 10 and up until then I guess I just assumed that famous people were above those pesky things in life. Like, well, you know, death.

So, what do you think? Any special memories stand out in your mind that you want to take a minute and reflect on?

Comments
Showing comments in chronological order
[Show most recent comments first]

Yes, it was definitely stevie for me, I was 29, and just like people say they remember the spot they got the news way back on November 22 abt. JFK, I remember exactly where I was when I heard and even what I was doing at pretty much his time of death as well. Just like ill always remember where I was and who/how the events on 9-11 were delivered to me as well.

-- Posted by tdb921 on Sat, Jun 27, 2009, at 1:03 AM

Mine would be the deaths of my good friends Bon Scott, Robbin Crosby, Dimebag Darrell, and Layne Staley. Still tough to take.

-- Posted by shannonhoon on Sat, Jun 27, 2009, at 10:13 AM

I remember when Elvis died, I was in the fourth grade, fixing to leave to go to school when it came across the bottom of the t.v.

-- Posted by marshawndas@gmail.com on Sun, Jun 28, 2009, at 9:13 PM

Black & white TV images of JFK's funeral...all week..mourning...black hearse & riderless horse...his son John-John, standing beside his mom in the cold, wearing wool shorts and heavy coat, saluting his father's hearse. I was in college, newly married, sitting in our sparsely furnished house, watching the dark images.

-- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Jun 30, 2009, at 7:08 AM

She wasn't exactly a rock star but for me it would have to be Princess Diana. I was in college and my roommates and I would set and watch the news coverage for hours!

-- Posted by shoe lady on Tue, Jun 30, 2009, at 11:22 AM

Yes, I vividly remember the death of JFK, Bobby, Martin Luther King, John Lennon, Princess Diana, Dennis Wilson (Beach Boy), Janis Joplin and Jim Croce. JFK's probably hit the hardest of the celebrities.

The one that hit closest to home was in 1974 when I was driving along in Montgomery, Al and heard a news report that a buddy of mine from college had been killed in a Marine Corps helicopter training accident. The very next story on that news report was how some people who had death experiences were sorry to be saved because the afterlife was such a wonderful place. I always felt like that report was God's way of telling me not to grieve for my buddy because he was in a better place.

-- Posted by Ducky on Wed, Jul 1, 2009, at 12:36 PM

Other than the passing of my parents, nope.

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Sat, Jul 4, 2009, at 11:18 PM

Corey I know you gonna argue with me on this one next time we talk but for me it was Kurt Cobaine. Nirvana and other bands like them at the time were pretty much all i listened to. The day I found out that Kurt died was like a punch to the stomach.

-- Posted by michaelc76 on Wed, Jul 8, 2009, at 9:35 AM

Corey Noles' response:

HAHA! No, I won't argue with you Mike! What I will say that bothered me about Cobain's death is that suddenly he became some kind of musical God that he was not before his death. Funny how that works.

I am certain there will be more memorable days than that of the demise of the Crotch Clutcher such as his inevitable re-incarnation.

-- Posted by wartz on Sun, Jul 12, 2009, at 9:51 PM

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Corey Noles, staff writer for The Daily Statesman and Editor of The North Stoddard Countian, is the author of a regular baseball/St. Louis Cardinals column and also uses his blog to sound off on various happenings in sports. He also operates a weekly baseball mailbag column.

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