Every morning on the Kurre and Klapow Show, Tony reads celebrity/musician birthdays of the day. I find myself asking for so many of the birthdays, "are they dead?" (he reads for both dead and alive). I also routinely make the statement that so many of our great rockers are getting to this age (late 60s- mid 70s) where in the next 5-10 years it won't be terribly surprising if we hear they have passed. I keep focusing on a generation of musicians whose music will live forever, will be showcased on KCast Radio and other media outlets, but who physically won't be with us. I don't know any of them (Tony does), and while I know I can always hear their music, the thought of them
When Glen Fry died I cried, because the Eagles were the backdrop of my entire youth. Same story for Tom Petty, Michael Jackson, Prince and David Bowie. Music still there, people gone. Never knew them, doesn't matter. I felt the loss of their presence and now in am reminded every time I listen to their music of their passing.
When I heard the news about Chadwick Boseman I instantly thought "Damn, he was so talented, so good looking and I had no freaking idea hw was so sick". He made Black Panther in between surgeries and chemo. He fought a battle that most of us never knew existed. And I all saw was his power, talent, and presence on the screen.
Take home message for me: 1. Appreciate these amazing artists for their humanity not just their product. 2. Be grateful you are freaking alive. 3. Treat your body as if it were your most precious gift. Because it is the only vehicle you have that allows you to be here and do the great things you are capable of. Chadwick would have made countless more movies, would have touched the lives of so many, but his body quit on him. His movies live on, just like Glen Fry's (and the others) music lives on. But we have to experience all of it knowing they are not on this earth.
Not a classic rock song- but one that I always think of when someone passes too soon.
Rest in peace Chadwick and every other amazing person in our life who could have been here with us but is not.