Why so many celebrity deaths?

I don't think there's anything strange about it at all really - from the 1950's onward the number of celebs has been increasing in number. Before then it was mainly Hollywood movie stars and a handful of really famous musical artists. Post 1950's you had the explosion of TV and pop music. During the 60's and 70's there were many times more celebs in existence than there was in the 30's and 40's. After a certain age the chance of dying increases dramatically. Put all of these factors together and it was inevitable that after a certain point the number of celebrity deaths would increase dramatically too. Add to that the proliferation of social media and online news and we are making considerably more fuss about famous deaths, which adds to the perception that there are more of them.

I remember the pre-social media days when you would have those newspaper articles around New Year which paid tribute to all the celebs who had died that year. I would read through those thinking "Oh HE died? SHE died? I had no idea!" Not much chance of that now since every celeb death is hammered down our throats online.

Anyway that's my $0.02. I hear a lot of people talking as if there's some kind of mystical force which has it in for celebs of late. It's nothing of the sort.

We're getting older, that's all. More funerals than marriages, it's the way of things.

Don't worry Baps.
 
I'll spoof your account and zombify the frack out of ya iffen' that's yer wishes.
 
I'm sure the real deal will be haunting these halls for a long time to come though.
 
Perhaps longer than me. lol

ampfixer
I think the reason it hits this crowd so hard is because there's a lot of geezers here. The celebs are very close to us in age and their deaths remind us of our mortality. If a guy like Prince dies you have to wonder what your chances are, given that most of us don't live as clean as he did. 
 
Nobody is immortal, and nobody knows when the bell will ring announcing the end of game.

Prince? Clean living? From all accounts he was steeped to the gills on painkillers!

SteveStrummerUK
"Why so many celebrity deaths?"
 
a) Because they're no longer alive
 
b) Define "celebrity"/everyone's a celebrity etc

Damn, Strummy beat me to it!
 
A lot of these so-called "celebrity" deaths are of people few remembered until they died.

eph221
You're all right, but you forgot to mention the number *3*.

Didn't know you were a Dale Earnhardt fan!
 

eph221
I have *I love you* shaved in my back hair.

Merriam-Websters has a newly added word for that.

Hi,
 
I have my tears here and there, it's really as if some of these were your best friends ... and then you move on. A little piece of them is always with me anyway, or you would not remember them, see? Thus, I tend to raise the imaginary wine glass (with water) and toast ... love you my friend, and thanks ... and then go back to my own heaven and hell.
 
The rest is just sentimental bruhaha ... that does not help my creativity a single iota ... I can write about it all day, but there is better material out there when you are free of it!
 
Do I miss this or that person and musician? Heck yeah ... but in many ways, they had their chance and they stood up, and maybe it is my turn or yours ... to do so, and that is their message. 
 
Does it mean I do not miss a Richard Wright, or Lothar Meid, or this person or that person? NO. It means that they left a golden moment in my soul that inspires me endlessly ... and no words will ever replace those golden moments ... sorry Judy G.

Moshkito
Hi,
 
I have my tears here and there, it's really as if some of these were your best friends ... and then you move on. A little piece of them is always with me anyway, or you would not remember them, see? Thus, I tend to raise the imaginary wine glass (with water) and toast ... love you my friend, and thanks ... and then go back to my own heaven and hell.
 
The rest is just sentimental bruhaha ... that does not help my creativity a single iota ... I can write about it all day, but there is better material out there when you are free of it!
 
Do I miss this or that person and musician? Heck yeah ... but in many ways, they had their chance and they stood up, and maybe it is my turn or yours ... to do so, and that is their message. 
 
Does it mean I do not miss a Richard Wright, or Lothar Meid, or this person or that person? NO. It means that they left a golden moment in my soul that inspires me endlessly ... and no words will ever replace those golden moments ... sorry Judy G.

I think we had so many great *golden moments* growing up (as a gen x'r) that it seems like we're suddenly losing too many folks, but like the man said in another post, the entire baby boom generation is gigantic, it's just the combination of media awareness (the information age) and the sheer numbers of *golden moments* we had.  Our parents generation had alot of celebrities as well, but no where near the number we have.  We've have had an assembly line of 15 minute fame-celebrities for quite awhile.  Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!

(Um, what or who was Dexter?)

slartabartfast
As of a couple of minutes ago the number of deaths worldwide has been over 19.5 million people. 

Over what time period?
 
'Cause I know the "real" number is much, much higher...  
 
Hmm... that would be an interesting brain game, guess how many "people" have actually died.  First you'd have to decide when, exactly, we became considered "people" then factor in the much smaller worldwide populations along with the average yearly death rates per some relevant time period...
 
According to my math, as of exactly 12:00 am (GMT) on April 29th, 2016 there have been 19,537,245,869,014 deaths of "people" (including conjoined twins that weren't recognized as such but only as an extra appendage here and there).
 
Go ahead, try and prove me wrong. 

There's a season for everything under the sun... a time to be born and a time to die....
 
Solomon.

Guitarhacker
There's a season for everything under the sun... a time to be born and a time to die....
 
Solomon.

But is there a seasoning? 
 
(I'd choose becan of course).