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JOHN LENON





Outside of the death itself, perhaps the worst thing about John Lennon's death at the hands of Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980, is that it happened for virtually no reason at all.

Chapman was reportedly a Beatles fan earlier in his life, but he wasn't truly obsessed with Lennon until Chapman himself experienced a religious awakening. And he wasn't driven by some subliminal message he supposedly heard, but by the hypocrisy he thought he heard in Lennon's lyrics. In addition to that, Chapman targeted Lennon simply because he thought killing someone famous would make him famous, too. To that end, he approached Lennon, asked for an autograph, got it, and then came back later to shoot him dead. All because he wanted fame. He got infamy instead.



We know this to be his motive, because he's admitted as much. When up for parole — for the ninth time — in September 2016, he told the board (as quoted by the Telegraph) that he had "a true sociopathic mind," and that he wanted to "shoot [Lennon] so that [Chapman] could be somebody." Unsurprisingly, the parole board stone-cold rejected his request for freedom, just as they had done eight times in the past. He was up for parole again in 2018, but received his tenth rejection to the surprise of absolutely no one.

ALBERT EBOSSE




Cameroonian soccer star Albert Ebossé reportedly died at the hands of fans after a match on August 23, 2014 in Algeria. According to The Guardian, the 24-year-old striker and his JS Kabylie teammates were leaving the field after losing to USM Alger. The players were reportedly being showered by projectiles hurled by angry fans when something struck Ebossé in the head. The object supposedly dented his skull, killing him, but that story has since come under question. As reported in The Guardian, "A new autopsy has claimed that [Ebossé] was stabbed and brutally beaten to death in the changing rooms..." Pathologists said the player suffered from more than just head trauma, including a cervical vertebrae rupture and other wounds indicating a struggle. At the time of this writing, it seems there may be more to Ebossé's death than an out of control fan, but considering soccer is a sport that has incited entire countries to go to war, we're keeping all theories on the table until further notice.

MIKHAIL LERMONTOV




Young Russian artist Mikhail Lermontov was forever immortalized after his friend and admirer, Nikolai Martynov, killed him a duel in 1841. At age 26, Lermontov was making a name for himself as a poet, author, painter, and soldier, but he was also earning a reputation as a partier and prankster. The latter may have led to his demise. According to Russia Behind the Headlines, Martynov was reportedly teased relentlessly by Lermontov and eventually grew so tired of it that he challenged his friend to a duel. Lermontov accepted, but during the face off, he fired into the air, while Martynov aimed for the heart. That story is the stuff of legend, and it's unclear if Martynov suffered any consequences for the killing, but Lermontov's fate was sealed. His funeral was attended by thousands, and to this day, he is considered one of history's greatest poets.

Nathan Gale U.S Marine Dingbat

DIMEBAG DARRELL



Many folks say they'd like to die doing what they love, but not on a murderer's timetable. Damageplan and former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, 38, was shot while performing on stage December 8, 2004. His killer was diehard Pantera fan Nathan Gale, a former football player and U.S. Marine. Friends described him as a good guy until something snapped. Gale reportedly began thinking that he'd penned some of Pantera's songs. "He was off his rocker," one-time friend Jeramie Brey told The Columbus Dispatch. "He said they were his songs, that Pantera stole them from him and that he was going to sue them." According to the Daily News, Gale also blamed Darrell for the breakup of Pantera. During the fateful show in Columbus, Ohio, the 25-year-old reportedly rushed the stage screaming, "You broke up Pantera!" Gale killed the guitarist and three others before being shot and killed by a police officer.

REBECCA SCHAEFFER'S KILLER

REBECCA SCHAEFFER

The murder of beautiful beautiful up-and-coming actress Rebecca Schaeffer has had lasting legal impacts. The 21-year-old star of My Sister Sam was shot in the doorway of her Hollywood home by obsessed fan Robert John Bardo on July 18, 1989. According the Los Angeles Times, Bardo stalked Schaeffer for three years prior to the killing and had even sent her letters and tried to meet with her on the set of her sitcom. When his gestures went unanswered, the Tuscon, Ariz. resident spent $250 to hire private investigators to track down Schaeffer's address, which they acquired from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Bardo then paid his crush a fatal visit, reportedly ambushing her when she answered the door. Interestingly, Bardo also had a copy of Catcher in the Rye on him at the shooting, but he denied any desire to emulate John Lennon's killer, reported the Los Angeles Times. After Schaeffer's death, legislation was passed to prohibit DMV employees from disclosing addresses.

Selenas murderer

SELENA


Latina songstress Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (known the world over as simply "Selena") was a rising star when her fan club founder, Yolanda Saldivar, gunned her down, at age 23,

Yolanda Saldívar’s interest in Selena bordered on obsession.

She was said to have Selena’s photo and memorabilia all over her apartment before she ever bet the star. She begged Selena’s family to let her start a Selena fan club, and they allowed her to.

She soon turned to more than that when she became Selena’s boutique manager and friend


But it came out that Saldívar had been embezzling money from the fan club



When this became clear to Selena and her family, Saldívar lured Selena to a hotel room with a story that she had been raped and needed Selena’s help.

After Selena took Saldívar to a hospital and returned her to her hotel room, the two got into an argument, and Saldívar shot Selena in the back.

Selena ran from the room, and Saldívar followed her, screaming obscenities. Selena died shortly after

Celebrities get massive amounts of attention. Why should we focus on our own lives when the life of a Kardashian is so different and exciting? And it doesn't have to just be Kardashians. Fans of music, sports, and movies all have their own celeb crushes and poster children. We just want to know everything about these amazing people who have taken the world by storm. What clothes do they wear? What choices do they make that put them ahead of the pack? What does Beyonce eat? What elixir of youth has kept Steve Buscemi alive so long? How much deodorant does Justin Bieber use?


You can see the problem. If you aren't careful, that celeb crush can slip into a full-blown obsession, and before you know it you're sitting in a conversion van across the street from Adele's house and holding a telephoto lens. Then the emotions set in. Jealousy, anger, rage, whatever. Every now and then, this attraction toward famous people proves fatal. These celebs received the wrong kind of devotion from dangerous fans.

Let's begin
Dyt, LordReed(no gore), Xmuslim, hopefullandlord,paleface, Hahn, Omar09, Dublingreenb

chubinwa:
What will this new generation build to attract one of the wonders because all the monuments dated way back

True. Sadly this generation has more rappers than inventors /discoverers

COUNTRY DICK MONTANA







While they recorded a slew of well-received albums on major labels, the Beat Farmers were regarded as one of the best bar bands in the world, performing at whatever intimate venue would take them. They were "honky-tonk anarchists" (as Paste described them), and a definitive band of the 1980s "cowpunk" scene, combining countrified roots rock with a punk attitude. Country Dick Montana, who usually sat behind the drum kit, formed the band in 1983 after playing with some other bands and running a San Diego record store. Cowboy Dick was an imposing presence in a cowboy hat and a duster, and he'd usually take the mic for at least one song per show — often a quirky novelty song about the delights of drinking. 

On November 8, 1995, Montana and the Beat Farmers played in front of a packed house at the Longhorn Saloon in Whistler, British Columbia. At the end of the song "The Girl I Almost Married," Montana collapsed onto the drums. The other band members moved into the next song but stopped when they noticed Montana was silent. Road manager Tom Ames ran onto the stage and helped Montana to the ground. By the time paramedics arrived a few minutes later, 40-year-old Country Dick was dead from what was later ruled to be an acute aneurysm.

SIMON BARERE





In 1951, famed pianist Simon Barere sat in front of his instrument before a huge audience at Carnegie Hall. (How did he get there? Practice.) Barere was a featured musician performing for the first time with the Philadelphia Orchestra. His playing was masterful, as usual, for the first two minutes and change of the concerto. That's when audience members noticed Barere's tempo growing inconsistent, which is to say nothing of the sour notes. Barere's missteps subsided when he stopped playing entirely and slumped forward, his head crashing into the keyboard before he rolled off the bench and hit the floor. A doctor was, in fact, in the house, and he ran up and helped carry Barere backstage. After half an hour of revival attempts, Barere, 54, was pronounced dead, evidently from a stroke.

ALAN MARSHAL


Marshal, a theatrically trained actor from Australia, put together a solid career in the 1930s and '40s as a character actor and supporting player. He specialized in playing villains, soldiers, and the not-quite-right-for-her-guy that the main female character is with at the beginning of the movie before leaving him to be with her true love. Marshal stayed true to his theatrical roots, performing in plays throughout his career. In fact, his final role would be on stage. Marshal co-starred in Sextette, a sexy farce written by and starring silver screen sexpot Mae West. The 52-year-old actor was delighting an audience in Chicago up to the moment where he keeled over from a heart attack.

LEONARD WARREN




Operas are full of sad, dramatic, even tragic moments — that's kind of opera's whole thing. Baritone Leonard Warren, one of the most famous American opera singers of all time, added to opera's inherent darkness, not to mention its lore, by dying on stage. In March 1960, Warren was singing the role of Don Carlo in the opera La Forza del Destino by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. At about 10 p.m., Warren's voice and body gave out. He fell to the stage floor of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City immediately after finishing the aria "Urna fatale del mio destino," which translates appropriately to "fatal urn of my destiny." Less than half an hour later, the singer was pronounced dead. Cause of death: a massive cerebral vascular hemorrhage, according to the New York Times.

EDITH WEBSTER




Webster was a star of the suburban Baltimore theater scene. At the Towson Moose Lodge in November 1986, she performed a role she'd done more than half a dozen times before — the grandmother-in-law of the titular drunkard in a musical melodrama called The Drunkard. The character dies at the end Act One, right after singing a ballad called "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone." Webster finished the song, clutched at her heart, and her character died as the stage lights blacked out. Unfortunately, so did Webster. (And here we are, talking about her.) It was a poignant moment to perish. The play's director Richard Byrd told United Press International that the last thing Webster heard was "tremendous applause. Hearing that, she died."

LOUIS VIERNE



In the early 20th century, Louis Vierne held the most prestigious job possible for a professional church organist: resident organist at the legendary Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Despite drawing crowds that wanted to hear Vierne's otherworldly organ work, particularly on his own compositions (he wrote six symphonies), the Catholic Church clergy that ran Notre-Dame decided in 1937 to discontinue all organ recitals. They at least let Vierne play for the people one final time, on June 2, 1937.



Vierne was the Elvis Presley of early 20th-century organists. While Presley struggled with drugs, nutrition, and health problems, Vierne had experienced a string of tragically bad luck. His wife cheated on him, one of his sons died from tuberculosis, and the other died fighting in World War I. A fall so shattered his leg and ankle that he had to relearn his organ pedaling technique, and the stress of it all made him a three-packs-a-day smoker who also relied on heart pills, tranquilizers, and sleeping pills. 

About 3,000 people amassed for Vierne's last concert at Notre-Dame ... which turned out to be his last concert ever. After playing an original piece, he said to his assistant standing nearby, "I'm going to be ill." He then played one low, continuous note ... and didn't stop. He'd died of a heart attack sitting in his favorite seat.

MARK SANDMAN




Morphine was one of the most unique alternative rock bands of the '90s, which is to say their music was challenging and unsettling. That's due in large part to singer and bass player Mark Sandman, who pioneered a slow, droning playing style, which added a spooky and unnerving element to Morphine's tunes. Also spooky and unnerving: he suffered a deadly heart attack onstage. Morphine was performing in the Giardini del Principe festival outside Rome in 1999 when the 46-year-old suddenly stopped playing and fell to the ground, as reported by MTV. A few minutes later while in an ambulance en route to a hospital, he was pronounced dead

YU ZHAO GU


China-born husband-and-wife violinists Yu Zhao Gu and Ying Zhao moved to the Houston area and, among other professional orchestras, joined the Symphony of Southeast Texas in the mid-1990s. That became their "home orchestra," and they were regular contributors to the string section over the years. The two were also stand partners, and so Zhao was right there when, during the symphony's final performance of the season at a theater in Beaumont Texas, on April 6, 2019, her husband suddenly slumped out of his chair and slid to the floor. The musicians immediately stopped playing, and several doctors in the audience rushed to the stage to help, as did a cardiologist in the orchestra. CPR was administered as paramedics made their way to the concert hall. The violinist was rushed to a nearby hospital, but it was too late. Yu Zhao Gu was pronounced dead at the age of 60.

ONIE WHEELER



Back in the '50s and '60s, Wheeler was one of the great country music sidemen, back when they still called it "country and Western music." While he recorded lots of solo material, the guitarist and harmonica player backed Johnny Cash, Ray Acuff, and George Jones, among others, and the legendary Lefty Frizzell had a huge hit with a song Wheeler wrote called "Run 'Em Off." In the '70s and '80s, Wheeler lived in Nashville and performed regularly at the city's iconic Grand Ole Opry. There's probably no better way for a true-blue country music lifer to go out than while performing at the Opry, which is what Wheeler did. While recording the Rev. Jimmy Snow's radio show Grand Ole Gospel in 1984, Wheeler suffered a fatal heart attack.

JANE LITTLE


Dying while living out one's lifelong passion is actually kind of beautiful. It's sad and shocking for witnesses, but it's also very romantic. Such is the case with musician Jane Little. The double-bass player joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1945 at the age of 16 and stayed with the group for more than seven decades. In February 2016, Guinness World Records recognized Little for a big achievement — 71 years with the ASO, a record for orchestral musicians. Just a few months later, in May 2016, Little was playing in a symphony pops concert called "Broadway's Golden Age," a collection of show tunes. According to the Washington Post, near the end of "There's No Business Like Show Business," Little, 87, collapsed while playing her bass. She was carried backstage and passed away.

SAM PATCH

When a professional daredevil dies in front of an audience, it's just as horrifying and sad as when an actor or singer dies, but perhaps not as surprising. In 1827, Sam Patch became one of the first famous daredevils, regularly jumping off a ledge over Passaic Falls in New Jersey into the water below. As time went on, his jumps became ever more ambitious, so he attracted larger and larger crowds. In 1829, Patch and his team announced the entertainer's "last jump": On Friday, November 13, he would hurl himself 125 feet off a platform overlooking the High Falls of the Genesee River in Rochester, New York

Now, "last jump" was supposed to mean it was Patch's final attempt of the season. But fate or the universe or something took that word far too literally. According to a report of the jump from the New York Evening Post, in mid-descent, Patch's body "began to droop, his arms were extended, and his legs separated." In other words, his form was way off ... and then he hit the water wrong. He never emerged. Four months later and 6 miles downriver, Patch's body finally surfaced in a block of ice. An autopsy concluded that Patch had suffered a ruptured blood vessel mid-fall due to the sudden shock of the cold November air.

DICK SHAWN




Comedian Dick Shawn put together a full evening of entertainment for the audience of 500 or so people that paid to see him perform at UC San Diego in April 1987. First, he did a sketch where he played a disembodied head on a dinner table, then he comically danced out of time to some music. Next, Shawn launched into a routine about the end of the world, during which he lay down on the stage and stayed completely still. The audience thought it was part of the bit, that Shawn was pretending to be dead. The end of the world is about people being dead, after all. Uh right?


Tom Wartelle, a guy in that audience, told the LA Times, "There were comments from the audience like, 'Take his wallet'" and that "it all blended in very well" with Shawn's act. But then, after five minutes of Shawn not moving, the heckles and laughter pretty much stopped. A doctor rushed onto the stage, tried to find a pulse, and then flipped Shawn onto his back. The audience was ordered out while Shawn received CPR. An ambulance arrived in short order and took Shawn to the closest hospital. Less than two hours after Shawn first took the stage, he was pronounced dead at age 57.

JEROME RODALE

In the mid-20th century, Jerome Rodale (also known as J.I. Rodale) advocated some health habits considered pretty out-there at the time but which are totally normal now: eating foods that weren't loaded with antibiotics or eating local. Rodale wrote and spoke for years about how those and other healthy practices would extend his life span. On a taping of ABC's The Dick Cavett Show on June 7, 1971, for example, the 72-year-old longevity guru claimed that he "never felt better" and that he'd "live to a hundred." Unfortunately, Rodale didn't quite make it to 100 — he died a few minutes after making that statement. Rodale stayed on stage while Cavett interviewed another guest, staying quiet until he let out some kind of ghastly, guttural noise. He'd gone pale and his mouth hung open, and yeah ... Rodale died right there on the set of The Dick Cavett Show in front of a live studio audience.

LES HARVEY


There are all kinds of potential dangers on stage. A light could fall and hit a performer, or a musician could slip and fall off the stage, to name two possibilities. There's also a lot of electricity going on to power all those electric guitars and amps. That's what killed Les Harvey, guitarist for the up-and-coming Scottish blues-rock band Stone the Crows. Prior to the start of a concert in Swansea, Wales, on May 3, 1972, Harvey was tuning up his instrument in front of about 1,200 fans and made the fatal mistake of grabbing a microphone. It hadn't been properly grounded, and a volatile, fatal jolt of electricity shot through his body. He died at the hospital, and, like so many other tragically lost stars, Harvey was just 27 years old.

HIJO DEL PERRO AGUAYO

In March 2015, two of the biggest stars of the AAA, the Mexican wrestling federation equivalent to the WWE, met in the ring:  Hijo del Perro Aguayo (Pedro Aguayo Ramirez) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (Oscar Gutiérrez). During the match, the legendary Mysterio delivered a powerful flying kick that sent Aguayo careening into the ropes. The wrestler's head hit the ropes, and he appeared to have suffered snapped vertebrae. After he lay in the ring unresponsive, Mysterio and the referee sensed something had gone very wrong and summoned help. The on-call doctor took an agonizingly long 80 seconds to reach and treat Aguayo, but it was all too late. According to the Tijuana Wrestling Commission, the cause of death was a heart attack, triggered by a cervical stroke, which occurred when the wrestler's neck broke.


Aguayo was arguably the most well-known rudo, or villain, in the AAA. He was 35 years old.

BARBARA WELDENS


French singer Weldens was a star on the rise — only to have her career (and life) end because of a freak stage accident. In 2017, the 35-year-old singer had just released her first album, Le grand H de l'homme and was a big draw to the Léo Ferré Festival, performing at a church in the village of Goudron, France. According to eyewitnesses, Weldens put on a terrific show and earned a standing ovation. She was soaking it all in when she suddenly lurched forward and fell lifeless to the ground. While early reports of what happened could only provide speculation, "electrical malfunctions" were likely to blame for why Weldens' heart stopped. As to how she was electrocuted in the first place, it's notable that Weldens performed barefoot

TINY TIM





Tiny Tim was one of the most unique performers to ever score a hit record. A tall (hence the ironic stage name), stringy-haired man with a high, vibrating, lilting voice, his version of an old standard called "Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips with Me" hit No. 17 on the Billboard pop chart in 1968. (Adding to the bizarro, Tiny Tim accompanied himself on the ukulele.) A year later, the unlikely celebrity married a 17-year-old fan, Vicki, on The Tonight Show, a moment seen by 21.4 million households, then a ratings record for Johnny Carson. 

Tiny Tim was a memorable guy and he died as he lived: entertaining others. On November 30, 1996, Tiny Tim played a benefit show for the Women's Club of Minneapolis. While singing "Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips with Me," Tiny Tim abruptly stopped playing, then told his wife (Susan Khaury; he and Vicki had divorced years earlier) he didn't feel well. Then the 64-year-old performer collapsed, dying a few hours later at a Minneapolis hospital, likely of cardiac arrest.

IRMA BLUE





Remember when Britney Spears danced with a giant snake draped around her neck during the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards? Now, imagine if that cobra had not been properly handled and bit Spears and killed her. Sadly, this is actually what happened to an Indonesian singer named Irma Bule. While performing in Karawang, Indonesia, in 2016, the 29-year-old was handling a live cobra "stage prop" she'd used for years. 

During just her second song, the snake bit Bule on the thigh. She didn't think much of it, assuming that someone had defanged or de-venomed the cobra. No one had. Around 45 minutes later, Bule was still doing her show when she started vomited and seizing. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

OWEN HART


Owen Hart was among the most popular and dynamic wrestlers in the WWE in the 1990s (and, alongside his brother, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, part of a wrestling legacy). He was a major draw at the May 1999 "Over the Edge" pay-per-view event, set to appear as an obnoxious superhero character, under the guise of which he'd be lowered from the rafters into the ring via an elaborate wire system. But the rigging tragically malfunctioned, sending the "Blue Blazer" plunging 78 feet. He fell onto the top rope, and then into the ring. 


The 16,000 strong in Kansas City's Kemper Arena went quiet, and announcer Jim Ross horrifyingly had to tell the crowd that Hart's fall was not scripted, a stunt, or fake in any way. (Those watching the event on TV didn't see the fall — the broadcast was showing highlights of Hart's past matches to build up drama before his big entrance.) Hart was pronounced dead at a local hospital. He had recently celebrated his 34th birthday

TOMMY COOPER







In April 1984, Welsh prop comedian and magician Tommy Cooper appeared on the variety show Live from Her Majesty's, which was broadcast live to viewers throughout the U.K. from Her Majesty's Theatre in London. Cooper did his famous magic cloak skit, in which he wore a huge gown, stood in front of a curtain, and had an assistant pass him increasingly larger objects that he'd "magically" pull out from under his gown. Cooper's assistant that night was Live from Her Majesty's host Jimmy Tarbuck, who told Wales Online that the bit was supposed to end with Tarbuck emerging from the curtain with a stepladder and handing it to Cooper because it was too big to fit under the dress. (Cooper's act was a little corny.) 


But then Cooper did a bit of what Tarbuck thought was some improvised physical comedy — a Cooper habit. After a "lovely assistant" came onto the stage, Cooper suddenly fell hard onto his rear-end. The in-house audience laughed, but this wasn't comedy — it was tragedy. Cooper, 63 had suffered a heart attack on live TV. The director sent the show to an unscheduled commercial break so home viewers wouldn't see Cooper's lifeless body getting pulled through the curtain. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead upon arrival

SIB HASHIAN



As an original member of Boston, drummer Sib Hashian played on two of the best-selling rock albums of the '70s: Boston (17 million copies sold) and Don't Look Back (7 million moved). But that was then and this is now, and Boston wasn't as in-demand as it once was. In recent years, Hashian joined the classic rock nostalgia circuit and the Legends of Rock Cruise. Music fans on board were entertained by bands that included various and assorted members of Foreigner, Kansas, the Beach Boys, Boston (obviously), and more of your dad's favorite bands. While performing at sea in March 2017, Hashian collapsed behind the drums. Hashian was 67