No, It’s NOT Our Imagination. More Famous People HAVE Died in 2016.

December 16, 2016 Alan Cross 0 Comments

No, we’re not imagining things. This past year has been especially bad when it comes to losing famous people. A streak that began with the death of Scott Weiland on December 3, 2015, just kept snowballing. Lemmy. Bowie. Nathali Cole, Keith Emerson. Glenn Frey. Ali. George Martin. Greg Lake. Harper Lee. Leonard Cohen. It goes on and on.

One way to track the number of deaths is to look at the number of obituaries published or broadcast. Here’s how things looked at the BBC.

However, if we dig deeper, 2016 reveals itself to be rather lopsided. The first half of the year paced ahead when it came to celebrity deaths with more than half of the notable passings coming during the first four months. The second half was in more-or-less in line with previous years.

More analysis here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38035 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross