News of celebrity deaths is always absolutely tragic, and often feels like it came out of nowhere. I know it sounds a bit parasocial, but every time a major celebrity dies, it feels like the whole world just stops for a day.So recently on Reddit, people answered the question, “What was the most shocking celebrity death of the last 50 years?” and the responses have me gutted. So let’s go through some of the top responses:1. Steve Irwin died in 2006, at age 44.
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“It was the first major celebrity death that crushed me. I was 12, and I was a weirdo kid who read the daily paper every morning — my dad took the sports section, and I took the rest. It was a brutal Monday morning bus ride to school that day. I work as a dog trainer now, and have my own small business. Watching him gave me hope that I might have a future working with animals, too. I was terrified of a life in the office, and in many ways, he saved my life. He was and is my hero.”
–ScreenOk1746
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“The day she died was my birthday, and when we left to go out that night to celebrate, she’d said on the news that she was fine. We ended the night at a British pub in Phoenix, and when we walked in, everyone was crying. We were shocked that she’d died.”
–Exotic-Day-1082
3. Rob Reiner died in 2025, at age 78.
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“I makes you really sit with how ****** up murder is. Like obviously we KNOW it’s ****** up, but when it (allegedly) happens to a celebrity, you get to see the reactions of their friends and families. You know their work well. You get to know that they had plans for the future. You hear all about the weird little details leading to their death. Odds are they’re someone you liked, so you’re grieving someone you never even met, in most cases. Celebrity murders are just so…intimate.”
–Advanced-Comedian-75
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“No one saw that coming. It just makes me urge people: If something is troubling you, please talk about it with loved ones, and maybe just have a consultation with a therapist. It’s not that big of a deal, at all, and it can be a huge relief after taking that first step. Don’t think that you have to carry so much weight through life. We’ve got your back.”
–AK_Sole
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“Robin Williams was the only celebrity death in my lifetime that stopped me dead in my tracks. I was a little young to understand the gravity of Princess Diana, and I wasn’t born when John Lennon was murdered. But Robin Williams — especially because it was to suicide — hit me really hard.”
–timewellwasted5
6. Heath Ledger died in 2008, at age 28.
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“His death broke my heart. I had seen him in so many things growing up, and he was one of my favorites. I remember him getting cast as the Joker, and feeling like he was gonna absolutely nail it. I argued with so many people on IMDB about the casting. This was my most shocking celebrity death, for sure.”
–The-Cynicist
7. George Michael died in 2016, at age 53.
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“Ooooof, that was a WILD one. Especially on Christmas Day. That voice, those looks, his Gen X influence and global appeal…it’s so tragic.”
–Knowitsome3000
8. Prince died in 2016, at age 57.
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“His music was heavily present in my life since I was a child; it was literally the soundtrack of my life from middle school on. I was leading a workshop at the time he died, and during a break, looked at my phone. I saw a million texts from friends and family, some of whom I hadn’t spoken to in years, asking if I’d heard and if I was okay. I asked a colleague to finish the day for me and drove home, bawling.”
–ItsNotAFraggle
9. Naya Rivera died in 2020, at age 33.
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“One morning I woke up, and saw the news that she went missing while boating. I couldn’t believe it. I refreshed Twitter every 10 minutes for days while they searched for her body, as a very scarce amount of details came out at a time. It was just her and her very young son out on the lake with no witnesses, so there was a lot of investigating to be done. It was such a shock as a Glee fan, given how young she was, and also after losing two other main cast members from the show. It felt unreal.”
–Blanche-
10. John Lennon died in 1980, at age 40.
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“The most shocking death would have to be John Lennon. A Beatle being shot to death by a crazed fan outside his house, in the middle of New York, is hard to top. It’s all the more tragic because he had just released his comeback album.”
–punky63
11. Chester Bennington died in 2017, age 41.
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“Chester’s death really got to me. My brothers and I had grown up listening to Linkin Park, so their music was a big part of my childhood. I remember exactly what I was doing the day I read about his death on the news. Not long after, my brother got a tattoo to remember him by.”
–Early-Historian-6517
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12. Chris Cornell died in 2017, at age 52.
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“Of all these celebrity deaths, Chris made me the saddest. It absolutely broke my heart. I just love hearing his voice. I grew up to his music, so he was like home.”
–Sorry-Researcher3386
13. Carrie Fisher died in 2016, at age 60.
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“It was right around Christmas, too. Her daughter, Billie Lourd, has written some very moving things about grief on her Instagram since then. It ended up being surprisingly helpful to me after my mom died.”
–Longjumping-Brick200
14. Tom Petty died in 2017, at age 66.
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“Tom Petty’s death coincided with the mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed sixty people, and I remember that because of it, he was barely a mention in the news cycle at the time. It was a very sad time for the country on both accounts.”
–zenunseen
15. Matthew Perry died in 2023, at age 54.
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“Matthew Perry was the one celebrity I shed the most tears over when they passed. He seemed like he was doing so much better, and many of us die-hard Friends fans were really holding out for a reunion show of sorts.”
–Zero_Radishes
“The depth of my grief over him and Luke Perry surprised me.”
–whereisbeezy
16. Chadwick Boseman died in 2020, at age 43.
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“He was so great. I used to work at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee, and he visited the kids once during the Black Panther era. It was only after he died that I realized he was visiting them while battling cancer himself.”
–Immediate_Benefit52
17. Brandon Lee died in 1993, at age 28.
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“Film sets are supposed to be safe. Being shot dead while filming your character’s death scene because the damned crew didn’t check to see if the gun was safe was a mother of all ****-ups.”
–Dabrigstar
Related: Kumail Nanjiani Finally Addressed The Rumors That He Had An Affair With Michelle Obama
18. Amy Winehouse died in 2011, at age 27.
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“For me personally, hers was the most shocking. So often, I think about all the great music she still had to give. It’s such a tragedy.”
–Striking_Intern_7575
19. Michael Jackson died in 2009, at age 50.
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“He died the day before my birthday. We found out as we were headed to Las Vegas to celebrate, and that whole weekend ended up being about Michael Jackson. They brought in an impersonator at one of the casinos, and he was lip-syncing and dancing. It was standing-room only. People were crying everywhere, including the impersonator. We saw the famous ventriloquist Terry Fator, and he said Michael Jackson was the reason he started doing impressions. He said he was his very first impression, but he had never performed it because he never felt it was good enough. But he did it that night.”
–Professional-Hall729
20. Kobe Bryant died in 2020, at age 41.
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“I remember where I was, who told me, and just not being able to wrap my head around it. I’ve never really been left speechless before, but that did it.”
–missv2g
21. Betty White died in 2021, at 99 years old.
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“When Betty White died, they were getting ready for her birthday special. I had also just seen her in an interview, talking about how people on the internet had been saying she was reported dead for years. Then, when her death was announced, I had this big speculation that it was either that again, or she was trolling the world, putting out some fake information. I looked in the news for several days hoping to find a ‘gotcha’ from her in the headlines, but no such luck.”
–ryamanalinda
“She was in pretty good health right up until she passed. Figured she’d have been around a little longer.”
–MonarchGrad2011
22. Elvis Presley died in 1977, at age 42.
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“I know that we’re aware of much more about his life and struggles now; however, in 1977, there was not nearly as much media as there is now. And the paparazzi was very different, so what we saw of Elvis was usually not live, or even immediate. So it was definitely shocking when he died at 44 years old.”
–LeCourougejuive
23. Tim Bergling, also known as Avicii, died in 2018, at age 28.
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“Avicii is my answer. I’m a former raver and club kid, so it was a major shock when I found out he was dead. His death feels very unsolved and murky to me.”
–princesssockhead
24. Kurt Cobain died in 1994, at age 27.
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“I guess it wasn’t extremely shocking, given his history of drugs and depression, but I was a teenager when Kurt Cobain died, and everyone — from jocks to goths — was weeping.”
–Sargasm5150
25. Mac Miller died in 2018, at age 26.
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“This one hit me very hard, for some reason. I really liked his music, and he seemed like such a kind and funny soul. He was really talented. I sometimes rewatch interviews on YouTube and stuff. It’s so sad.”
–Journeytoheal83
“There are moments where I still can’t believe it.”
–SouroDot
26. Steve Jobs died in 2011, at age 56.
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“His death was shocking, because he had infinite resources but couldn’t cheat death.”
–OpportunitySalty7087
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27. Aaliyah died in 2001, at age 22.
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“I liked her music and really fancied her at the time. I feel like she could have made it much further than she already did. She died at the top as well.”
–PeroniNinja84
28. Bob Saget died in 2022, at age 65.
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“Bob Saget slipping, hitting his head, and then dying in his sleep probably thinking his head injury wasn’t that bad is one of the deaths that has stuck with me.”
–Advanced-Comedian-75
29. Jim Henson died in 1990, at age 53.
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“For me as a teen, it was Jim Henson. He was just a little older than my parents, and his death was just so completely out of the blue. Plus, a healthy 50-ish-year-old man dying from a bacterial infection was just so random. He was so beloved, and so talented. We should’ve had many more years of The Muppets with him still at the helm.”
–Sneezydiva3
30. Anne Heche died in 2022, at age 53.
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“I had nightmares about Anne Heche. Then I woke up, and was shocked to see all the footage related to the accident, including her struggling to get off the stretcher after she was freed from the car. A horrific death.”
–Queen_0f_5tars
31. John F. Kennedy Jr. died in 1999, at age 38.
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“I know it’s come back around again due to the new TV show Love Story, but I honestly think it’s JFK Jr. it was such a tragedy, especially after all that had happened to his family. Unfinished history, and it really felt untimely.”
–pedrojuanita
32. Brittany Murphy died in 2009, at age 32.
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“She was so young and vibrant, so full of life. Never in million years did I think she would go the way she did. And then to add to the mix, the ending of her husband, and all the bizarre things that were happening with her mom.”
–Reasonable-Fudge-960
33. Catherine O’Hara died in 2026, at age 71.
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“She was a supremely funny Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, and an absolute comedic genius.”
–brwn_eyed_girl56
34. Cameron Boyce died in 2019, at age 20.
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“Disney Channel kids were absolutely gutted the day Cameron died. I remember feeling like I got the wind knocked out of me when I found out, and I don’t think I’ll ever actually come to terms with it. He was so young, so talented, and truly seemed like such a wonderful person.”
–Me, @abbyzinman on BuzzFeed
And this list is by no means exhaustive — so which celebrity death shocked you the most? Do you remember where you were when they died, and how you felt? Tell us your story in this anonymous form, or in the comments below.
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