For me it was Cheater Bennington. Linkin Park music helped me through some hard times and I know some of the more impactful lyrics came from him and what he experienced.

Knowing he couldn’t take it anymore definitely hit
Me hard particularly as someone I looked up to from young age …

Who was yours ?

Probably Chris Cornell. (I'm old)

Robin Williams

It hit Chester hard too

Billy Mays.

Yeah, I know that they were close. 😢

His death hit me harder than Michael Jackson’s that same year

Mitch Hedberg

Came to say this. Guess I'm old

imoutoid

Trevor Moore

Steve Irwin

I don't know if he counts as a celebrity but, Aaron Swartz.

Sorry for the convenience.

Andre Braugher

Not many will know him but: Alex Chilton.

It just didn't seem possible when he passed in 2010 at 60.

Yeah. Homicide and Brooklyn 99 rule

Jesus Christ

Akira Toriyama

Phil Hartman

I remember I was driving when the news about MJ's sudden death broke over the radio. I was on my way to grab some lunch before meeting up with some friends to see a movie. I think we were gonna see the "Transformers" sequel.

I pulled into a fast food joint and they had the news on TV. I felt bad cause Farah Fawcett died the same day but her death was entirely relegated to the little news ticker at the bottom of the screen.

Watching Dragon Ball reruns is legitimately hard for me some days since Toriyama's passing. His death hit me harder than any other I can recall. The global outpouring of grief and camaraderie was a sight to behold. It was comforting to know so many other people loved him and his work and were mourning together.

Chadwick Boseman. I was 24 when he died. I'm mixed and a huge nerd. He was one of the first times I saw representation like that in a comic book hero in a movie or TV show. T'Challa was a king, and his death came out of nowhere

Anthony Bourdain

That same week

I happened to be out in the middle of nowhere on a backpacking trip when both of them died, and along the way we ran into a couple other groups who had started their treks more recently, and they dropped the news of those two deaths on us, so I think that was the first thing each of of us asked our families about when we got back to civilization and got a cell signal

We were also a little relieved that the H1N1 swine flu hadn't killed everyone while we were gone.

Kurt Cobain

Anton Yelchin was so goddamn young and had an entire career ahead of him.

Same. I'll never forget that day. :(

Yeah, that guy was really ahead of his time.

Taking the question literally, I'll say Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Terry Pratchett

I was at a Devin Townsend concert when the news broke. I remember it well

Frank Zappa and Christopher Hitchens. Maybe not personally, but i really feel like there are some losses that the world doesn't realize.

After hearing he had Lewey Body disease and it was very advanced. It was crippling to comprehend.

The few things he got to do were all spectacular. Fuck Chrysler for making the shitty vehicle that ended up killing him.

Ozzy Ozbourne.

Just researched B99 and he had so many great moments, and he was absolutely perfect in the role. I read this thread thinking on each name "yeah him, felt sad about them". Andre here though, yeah that hurts deep

A couple I haven't seen yet but both were impactful to me: Prince and David Bowie. Both deaths felt so close in time together and came by complete surprise.

Jimi Hendrix

Chris Cornell hit hard especially when you go back and listen to his lyrics.

I remember the day. So sad. My husband still gets emotional when the topic comes up.

I wonder if Joe Rogan would be less of an idiot if Phil had lived? Probably not. At one taping of News Radio when Rogan did the warmup he said, "i just flew in from the million man march and boy is my hatred of white people tired." We should have known.

My adult kids got together with their friends to watch Aladdin that night.

This is how I know he passed away?! Fuck me

My wife and I still quote his Captain Holt character from time to time

Put the gun and the yo-yo down.

Damn. Hard call. There's only been a few that have hit me because I don't really have a parasocial connection to anyone to any degree worth mentioning.

That being said, the three that made me actually cry were Vonnegut, Kris Kristofferson, and Chester Bennington.

Chester, I was listening to the one more light album when I found out, so it hit extra hard.

Vonnegut though, he more than any other writer made me think and want to create with words. He shaped how I view literature and think about writing. So his death hit harder than most.

Kristofferson, it's that I had known it was coming. He'd already been lost to a great degree, but I had been low key dreading the news because he's so damn iconic. He's the kind of poet I wish I could be. And his music was also damn good lol. Also, he's symbolic of an era of music that's disappeared, and as the last of the highwaymen have died, with only one left there's this hole in the world that isn't likely to be filled now that the entire music industry has fallen into disarray. It's much harder for that kind of poet bard to exist and have their music spread now. In any genre, btw; the same difficulties exist in folk, metal, rap, etc.

Anyway, those are the ones that made me cry as a grown-ass man. I suspect I'll shed another tear when Willie goes, and I know I'm gonna fall apart a little when Dolly does. Luckily, the next wave of writers and musicians that I'd likely cry over are a good twenty years younger (or more) than them, so I'll have a break after that. Likely be dead myself before most of the others would go.

Dude, not the fucking thread for that

Sean Lock

The first time I've felt genuine shock at a celebrity death, RIP undisputed Carrot in a Box champion

Watching one of his later interviews was rough. Heroin is one hell of a monster.

Hearing about Rush Limbaugh's death made me smile pretty big.