As most of you already know, legendary singer Etta James died today at 73. I say most of you know because like me you probably check your Facebook and Twitter most mornings and get your news that way. But what you also get with these two social networking sites are comments. And when a singer dies, everyone makes the announcement personal, from the RIP to the “thanks for the music.”
I always find this outpouring of emotion quite interesting. When Apple creator Steve Jobs died a few months back it was as though everyone knew him personally (maybe that had something to do with using his products on a daily basis). We form relationships in all kinds of ways – from the personal to online folks – but I find the connections we form with singers and musicians to be most interesting.
Many of us often recount where we were when we heard, say, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson died.
So on today’s show:
WHY DO WE FEEL SO BAD WHEN A SINGER/CELEBRITY WE DON’T KNOW DIES?
DO YOU FEEL A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP TO THE ARTISTS YOU LISTEN TO?
HAS SOCIAL MEDIA MADE US GRIEVE MORE PUBLCILY FOR PUBLIC FIGURES?