Let me say, first off, that I started to post this topic a few weeks ago but got busy with other things and it escaped my mind. But with the death a few days ago of Olivia Newton-John, I wanted to go ahead and post. Folks, this one hit me hard, even though I knew for a couple of years that this was coming sooner than later. She bravely fought the disease for thirty years.
You see, Olivia was my very first crush. As a 11 year-old boy, I kept pictures and posters of her. With those big blue eyes and sweet smile and those innocent, girl next door good looks, , I was smitten. In the early seventies, she was all over the radio with songs like "Let Me Be There," "Please, Mister Please," "Have You Never Been Mellow," and my favorite from 1974, "If You Love Me Let Me Know." Although I wasn't crazy about "Physical," it was probably her biggest hit. And who can ever forget her portrayal as "Sandy" in Grease ?
This celebrity death was one of the toughest for me, if not the toughest pop singer death of all. The night after she passed, I stayed up all night playing a lot of old ONJ records and watching some old concert footage on YouTube. I think these musicians that we grow up listening to as kids become important to us because they take us back to a meaningful time in our lives, In many cases, their music helped us to get through some very difficult times in our lives. Their songs, in many instances, helped form the soundtrack of our early years.
In this thread I would be interested to know which singers' death hit you the hardest. I am gonna post mostly pop/rock singers but it can be any genre of music. I'm mostly interested in hearing about singers but if a musician's death didn't affect you , free to list an actor, sports figure, or other non-musician celebrity that greatly impacted you.
For me, it seems like when a favorite musician dies it hits me a bit harder than when, say, an actor or even a sports figure passes. I mean, I liked Joe Morgan a lot and he was a big part of my life growing up , but his death didn't hit me nearly as hard as that of ONJ. I think it's because music touches us in such a personal way. Through the words and songs we've listened to for decades, it's almost like we knew these people. My mother, whose is 18 years older than me, I'm sure would say Elvis' death is the one that most affected her. When I was a very young kid, I remember Elvis' records being played at home all the time. Both my parents were big fans. Mom had tickets to see him at Rupp Arena, where he was scheduled to perform in August of '77. He passed away just days before the show was to take place. She still has those tickets.
I'd love to hear your feedback on this topic.
In closing, let me say that there was another death that was kinda overshadowed by the news of Olivia's death . Judith Durham died only three days before. While I was too young in the sixties to fully appreciate Judith, I came to love her musical talent when I got older. In my opinion, with the possible exception of Karen Carpenter, Judith Durham of the Seekers had the purist singing voice I've ever heard. Many of you older folks will remember Judith singing "Georgie Girl. " Tremendous, tremendous talent.