Ask Lemmy

Not celebrities, but, i usually get teary when learning someone has killed themselves due to depression.

I guess it just hits close to home.

Happened recently but i forget who it was.

Sure. Sometimes things touch your soul when you're open to it or vulnerable.

Nope. I have never cried over a celebrity or a stranger. It's strange to see so many people who have. Isn't that a parasocial connection? The person you cried for never even knew you existed. You're hurting for no good reason.

Robin Williams. I grew up knowing his more kid-friendly side as the voice of Genie and Batty Koda, his role in Jumanji, etc. Then growing up saw him in films like What Dreams May Come, Patch Adams, Mrs. Doubtfire. When I heard the news he not only died, but by suicide because the man suffered from a severe mental illness it really cut me to the core. It was like losing a favorite silly uncle. I still haven't been able to bring myself to watch any of his movies as I fear it will make me emotionally unstable again. Every year since it seems like I find out more about how much of an amazing character he was, and I'm glad he left a legacy, but god damn does it suck.

Carrie Fisher really hit me hard. I don't know why. I guess she's always just has a soft spot in my heart.

I did when Mac Miller ODed, actually. Another friend of mine had also ODed somewhat recently and I was a huge fan of Mac's music.

Leonard Nimoy was a pretty tough celebrity death for me. It was like losing a super cool uncle, a person who'd been in my life for my whole life, but hadn't seen in a long while, was dead.

That toddler that got shot in a road rage incident a while back. I broke down when I read that the child said "Mommy, my tummy hurts" before he died. I think it hit me so hard because I have a little brother who was around that age at the time.

Freddie Mercury.

Diana Spencer.

Robin Williams.

I was watching American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden the other day and the details about 9/11 really got me emotional. The suddenness and intensity of the attack, the efforts of first responders and government agencies, and the heroism of the passengers of flight 93 affected me very deeply.

I remember seeing another video once of firefighters hearing the sound of people jumping from the towers and crashing into the roof of the building they were in. Absolutely unimaginable how that day must have felt to the people that were there...

Yeah. While I rarely work on the road these days I am a critical care paramedic by trade.

....and tbh, I did cry about some patients. ....the old nana who accidentally set herself ablaze a day before Christmas. ... The young lad who died a very gruesome death despite the efforts of over 50 rescuers. ... The 1 year old who died because the psychotic dad had stuffed his crib with blankets. (And dad was "clear" in the head when we arrived....imagine the pain he felt) ... And over the same dad when he hanged himself 6 months later.

There are a few more,worse ones, that I don't want to think back to

I'm not even really sure why but for some reason, Alan Rickman hit me pretty hard.

Kevin Conroy died in 2022. I'm not over it.

Robin Williams.

That man was a staple of my childhood, and him passing felt like the final nail in the coffin to where my childhood ended.

When Carrie Fisher died, I was very sad and for the next week I found myself rolling back a few tears every now and then. I was a SW fan from a young age and she was always like the sister I never had.

Yeah the first time was in 2009 after the German goalie Robert Enke had committed suicide. That one hit me mostly because of his wife. She made a very emotional public statement right after.

Second time, also 2009 a month after the first, was Brittany Murphy. Just came out of nowhere and she was still so young.

Then again in 2021 when Sean Lock passed. Still not fully over it if I'm being honest. That man is irreplaceable.

Edit: I forgor but just remembered another one. Carrie Fisher in 2016. Idk why her in parcicular but it was untimely and I always liked her.

Grant Imahara. I don't have to explain myself with this one. He made me childhood and his absolute inventiveness, curiousity and enthousiasm just was so terrific.

Chester Bennington made me sad.

Robin Williams, Norm Macdonald, and if David Attenborough ever dies, that's pretty much all the light gone out of my life.

Totalbiscuit / John Bain. He died twice, physically in 2018 then most of his legacy in the following years.

David Bowie. He was such a cultural touchstone that influenced so much artistry on top of being a brilliant artist himself. I lived in New York City when he died and the stoop of his apartment turned into a makeshift memorial with countless people contributing objects that held significance to their relationship with him. I was so overwhelmed to see it that I cried.

A man only dies when he is forgotten.

Technoblade never dies.

The two that come to mind are George Harrison and Tom Magliozzi.

Robin Williams and Steve Irwin hit me the hardest for sure

No, but the closest I've ever gotten to it was Steve Irwin. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times and he was just the most genuine, caring guy you could ever meet. His entire being was dedicated to making the world a better place.

Alan Turing, they did him him real fucking dirty for way too fucking long

Steve Irwin was my first, but Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington back to back definitely got me hard. I choked up when LP played numb with nobody at the mic during their remembrence concert

I didn't cry, but was pretty sad when Mitch Hedberg passed. And earlier, when I learned my childhood fave Harry Chaplin had been gone for a few years.