Prince’s death tops music’s saddest year

Kellie Bowen, Arts & Entertainment editor

Everyone is talking about Prince’s un-timely death. He died this Thursday from causes that are not yet known at the age of 57. But he is not the only well-known and loved entertainer that has passed this year.

David Bowie died of cancer in January when he was 69 years old. We also lost Alan Rickman, or better known as Snape from Harry Potter, to cancer just eleven days after Bowie.

In December, the metal community lost Motörhead lead singer and bassist Lemmy Kilmister to aggressive cancer.

Maurice White died of Parkinson’s Disease in February. Frank Sinatra Jr. had a cardiac arrest in March.

The list of big-celebrity obituaries has grown too long, and we are only half way through the year.

Blake Thomas, ’19, said that even though he only listened to a handful of Prince songs, he is still shocked about the musician’s death. “Everyone knows [Prince] no matter what music you listen to. He’s basically everyone’s guilty pleasure for at least one of his songs.”

As a Motörhead fan, Thomas was heavily affected by Kilmister’s death. “It sucks that he died. You think they’re gods, but they’re not, and when they die it’s just big a blow.”

We can only hope this is the end of pop culture tragedies.