Commentary Entertainment TV/Radio slots

BBC Breakfast News – celebrity deaths – Prince, Victoria Wood, Bowie

Prince 1I did a slot on BBC Breakfast (BBC1) this morning covering why there have been such an exceptional number of high profile celebrity deaths. Newsweek have even labelled the phenomenon: the Great Celebrity Death Epidemic.

This year has indeed seen some incredibly gifted stars sadly die and the stats speak for themselves.

While there will be an expected number of ‘baby boomers’ who will simply be entering their later years and with it the higher possibility of terminal diseases/illness, there really has been an exceptional spike in numbers for the first quarter of 2016. According to some obituary experts, an almost five-fold increase.

Victoria-WoodPerhaps, more importantly has been the impact of these deaths. The stars we have lost were truly that – A list, gifted and exceptionally talented ‘one-offs’ such as David Bowie, Prince and of course, the dearly loved comedian Victoria Wood to name a few.

These stars leave lasting legacies thanks to their outstanding work that will live on through many generations – not many of today’s ‘celebs’ will have such an impact (sorry Kim Kardashian!).

When truly big stars die, whom we’ve loved and grown up with, a part of us grieves not just for their loss but also for ourselves as so much of our life may well have been brightened by their existence and contribution to the best things in life – music, laughter and art.

celebrity deathsThe list of well known names who left us is striking in its numbers – here are just a handful of those who have gone to the ‘green room’ in the sky… Sir Terry Wogan; actor Alan Rickman; Maurice White – Earth Wind and Fire; Natalie Cole; Howard Marks and the much loved David Guest.