Were There More Celebrity Deaths in 2016 Than Usual?

Credit: wikipedia.org

Many people felt that 2016 had an increase in celebrity deaths over prior years. “C’mon 2016!” and “Not again 2016!” were uttered constantly throughout much of the year. It seemed that we couldn’t go a week without hearing that a famous person had died. Some of the more notable people we lost included David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Prince, Muhammad Ali and Carrie Fisher.

Public displays of grief and sadness about celebrity icons appeared to become the norm. And in some ways, it did. Indeed, you’re not alone if at one point during the past year you found yourself asking, “Why have so many celebrities died in 2016?”

According to the BBC, we weren’t being dramatic about celebrity deaths. The BBC compiles and writes obituaries for people who are deemed to be “celebrities” (though they admit it’s a bit arbitrary.) The number of celebrity obituaries published from January 1 through March 31 during the years 2011 through 2016 increased every year. By far the largest leap was from 2015 to 2016. Twelve obituaries were published during those months in 2015. That number doubled to 24 in 2016.

Reasons For The Apparent Rise

There are two main reasons for this uptick in celebrity deaths, and they are undoubtedly connected. First of all, most of the celebrities we have seen die recently are baby-boomers. Many of them were born between the years 1946 and 1964, when the world saw massive population growth. All of the celebrities listed above (except Muhammad Ali, born in 1942) fall into this category.

This generation also truly became the “celebrity” generation. The advent and rise of television and popular music into our everyday lives gave more people the opportunity to become famous. Before TV and popular music came into the picture, the only real celebrities were movie stars.There were no long-running sitcoms, chart-topping singles or nightly news broadcasts.

For both of these reasons, there are many more famous people these days, and most of them are getting older. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2014 there were 76 million baby boomers in the United States, roughly 23 percent of the population. And death is more common as people age. 

Celebrities and the entertainment business are huge parts of many peoples’ lives. They offer us a chance to escape our personal difficulties and can pull us out of a funk every-so-often, if only for a short time. Of course, most of us have never actually met our celebrity idols, crushes and heroes. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t grieve them when they die.

If a person’s art has had a profound impact on your life, then why shouldn’t you grieve when you learn of their death? It’s easy to feel a connection to the artists you admire, particularly now in our ultra-connected world. Celebrities are more than just famous people. They are, for the most part,  highly-skilled craftsmen who bring light and happiness to those who enjoy their work. It’s appropriate to be thankful for the happiness they brought to thousands, if not millions, of people throughout the world, and to celebrate them when they die.