You may have noticed that I've not been bombarding you with posts this month. Truth be told it's been a pretty rough month for music legends. As you may or may not have seen I did share my thoughts on Lemmy's passing from cancer at the end of last year. In the time since I last posted here at Norris Approved we have lost fantastic musicians including Mott the Hoople's Dale 'Buffin' Griffin, Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey and of course the incomparable David Bowie. (That's not even including actor Alan Rickman who also sadly passed away this month) No matter what way you look at it it's been a rough month to be a fan of classic rock.
Both Lemmy and Bowie knocked me particularly hard. I've listened to David Bowie since I was a 6 year old boy nosing through his dad's CD collection. Meanwhile Lemmy has been part of the soundtrack to my life since my early teens. In a random moment, I thought to myself how respectful people were being. People were united in grief, particularly for Bowie. Fans of his music as well as fans of the movie 'Labryinth' same together online and shared their grief and I can genuinely say I didn't see anything spiteful or inappropriate.
Today on my Facebook feed I came across an article from the Guardian which really piqued my interest. The article compared how the world (particularly the online world) grieved for David Bowie earlier this month and how the online world has reacted to Eagles' guitarist Glenn Frey's death this week. For those who don't know a lot about Eagles they are a huge band beyond their seminal hit 'Hotel California'. They like Bowie have sold millions of albums and toured the world several times over. To my surprise the article claims that the same people who grieved so publicly for Bowie are now mocking Frey and his fans!
The article which can be read here raises a very interesting debate. How does the work of Frey get ignored upon his death in favour of a punchline or the suggestion that he's 'no loss' compared to the Starman?
I thought back to around four years ago when Robin Gibb passed away. Like Bowie, the Beegees have been a huge part of my musical childhood. Beyond the 'Saturday Night Fever' era that everyone associates with the band, Robin was part of one of the greatest songwriting partnerships in music history. Yet what did I hear online (and via texts from people who knew how much I loved the Beegees?) Jokes! Jokes about 'Staying Alive'. It was too easy. In that moment because the Beegees didn't rewrite the rule book, the death of one of them was merely joke fodder. I'm sure it was the same when his brother Maurice died years earlier but the online community wasn't as strong back then.
Take Steve Irwin. Steve Irwin was a true hero of mine. Yes he was wacky and a strong TV personality but he did so much for the environment and to raise awareness of endangered species throughout his life. People knew the high esteem in which I held him. That didn't stop people texting me sick jokes within hours of his death.
What we're talking about here is a side effect of celebrity. It's almost as if we think because we see them everywhere that we KNOW them and OWN them. At the end of the day they're people too! I'm guilty of it myself. Someone on my Facebook made a joke about swapping Lemmy for Justin Bieber and I went along with it. But... and this is the only time you'll EVER hear me say this... if Justin Bieber was to die tomorrow I wouldn't mock him. If One Direction were to die in a plane crash I wouldn't poke and prod at their fans who love them. I can rip their musical output until the cows come home but they are people too.
Several months before Amy Winehouse passed away I predicted she wouldn't make the year. It didn't fill me with joy to learn that I was right. Others however joked and cajoled at the death of a very tragic figure in music. With all the respect in the world to David Bowie who I loved and respected just as much as everyone else, why is his death any different to Amy Winehouse's or Robin Gibb's or Glenn Frey's? It doesn't belittle what any of them did in life to treat their deaths with the same respect such a sad occasion deserves.
I sincerely hope that this trend of great musicians (and other national treasures) passing away isn't a sign of things to come. Of course death is always prevalent but it certainly seems all around us at the moment. But if yet another public figure passes away soon, think before you comment. They have a family. They have fans. They have a right to be celebrated by those who loved them.
Throughout 2016 I will be raising money for Cancer Research UK. My first fundraising idea involves my tackling a life long fear and going on a rollercoaster. You can donate at www.justgiving.co.uk/mike-norris
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