the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually still alive

^founding

I think Ray Tabano was their rhythm guitarist before Brad Whitford, but if you leave that aside I believe you are correct.

The most recent touring Sonics were the sax player + ringers, although the other guys still would do hometown gigs.

The Wikipedia article on the Sonics doesn't mention if any of them have died, which doesn't mean they haven't because they're not exactly notable individuals.

There are people with Wikipedia open in the background purely so they can dive into the article and add a death date, so I imagine if anybody in The Sonics died it would appear in the article immediately. Right now I imagine several dozen Wikipedia editors have Clint Eastwood as a perma-background-tab so that they can beat everybody else.

I often wonder how you can win the "update the death of a celebrity on Wikipedia" game. Presumably you'd have to live in Los Angeles and have a police or ambulance scanner, plus an intimate familiarity with the addresses of major stars. Obviously a lightning edit would be reverted because it wouldn't have a source, but you'd still beat everybody else. If the rules require that you make the edit stick, you'd presumably have to be the first journalist with a verified Twitter account.

Is there a “the last famous person you were surprised to discover is dead” thread?

Anyway I think I must’ve heard that Lauren Berlant died when she did, but I’ve gone over a year now forgetting that she had

Surprised no-one has ever mentioned David Attenborough, now 96, in this thread.

That'll be because he's on the BBC so often no-one in the UK could possibly be surprised he's still alive.

Yeah, I'm sure he'll still be working on a new series about The Magic World of Lichens long after he's gone

It's a bit like someone being surprised the Queen is still alive... oh hold on though.

Jane FOnda

just for Attenborough's cold Malthusian English arrogance I hope the old cunt dies very soon

Jaye P. Morgan, 90.

Roger Whittaker, 86

I’m surprised he’s only 86! That’s first gen rocker/outlaw country age. Seems of an earlier generation.

It's not really on-topic, but I was surprised to find out that David Whittaker - the unrelated 8-bit chiptune composer - is 65! In fact he's a year younger than Rob Hubbard. It's odd to think of the man who made the buzzy multi-channel music for all those old Codemasters "simulator" games being of pensionable age, but there you are. In comparison Tim Follin was born in 1970.

That led me to this Reddit thread, which makes me feel old:
https://www.reddit.com/r/chiptunes/comments/xg2n5/what_are_some_great_chiptune_artists/

Why does it make me feel old? I have no idea who those people are. Who is Godinpants? Who is Saskrotch? Who is Shitbird? When I was young I could get by in middle-class society by knowing a little bit about Stereolab and having some friends who were clued in to Warp / Rephlex. Now it's futile. I'll never catch up.

sure you will, yr on ilx

Norman Podhoretz, 92.

Vocalist Helen Merrill (92), whose first album in 1954 was arranged and conducted by 21-year-old Quincy Jones (89)

Wow, good one!

Kenny Burrell (91)

Virginia McKenna of Born Free and A Town Like Alice fame, 91

I was sure Amanda Barrie had died a couple of years ago but proved wrong on her birthday this year.

Why the fuck is Reagan Interior Secretary and noted Beach Boys hater James G. Watt still alive?

heh, dude was only 45 when he resigned.

I assumed he was 100 years old back then!

Radio 2 DJ Pete Murray, 97.

Bob Barker, 98

murray started on radio luxembourg in 1949

in the 70s he already seemed like part of the ageless landscape (not old exactly but definitely like he'd always been there)

Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy, 97.

Benny from Crossroads! aka Paul Henry. Could have sworn he'd moved onward, but no.

Ned Rorem, 99 in two days time.

Frederick Forsyth, 84

Frederic Raphael, 91.

After the Pharaoh Saunders news I wholly expected to have missed Marshall Allen's passing but was delighted to be wrong.

Sonny Rollins is a mere slip of a lad in comparison.

lou adler, 88, is still around

xxp saw Sun Ra Arkestra earlier this summer at Solid Sound Fest and Allen was presented with a cake onstage for his 98th birthday! Band was smokin’ too.

I notice there's a Bert I. Gordon film on tonight. He'll be 100 in September.

― Doodles Diamond (Tom D.), Friday, June 3, 2022 11:52 AM (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Unless the family is holding back bad news, he made it to 100 on 24 September.

Raoul Vaneigem, 88.

he'll be happy w/how things are turning out

Roberta Flack, 85

Composer (Mission Impossible theme, among others) Lalo Schifrin, 90

Heard an interview on NPR this morning.

Richard Stilgoe, the UK's answer to Tom Lehrer, 79

Jerry Lee Lewis, 87.

WHole lotta livin goin on

I watched the 1956 musical comedy The Girl Can't Help It last night; Fats Domino and Little Richard are gone, but which musical performers from the film are still around?

Johnny Olenn, 85
Nino Tempo, 87
Ray Anthony, 100

On a tangent Mamie Van Doren - I was thinking of MST3K - is still around. She's 91.

Eddie Cochran was in The Girl Can't Help It and Untamed Youth, so he must have met both Mamie Van Doren and Jayne Mansfield. Thus packing a lot into a short life.

This photo from Wikipedia, although small, radiates late-80s energy:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/MamieVanDoren87AlanLight.jpg

Though Cochran only appears in The Girl Can't Help It alone on a TV program watched by the other characters; I suspect it's likely he never met Mansfield.

had work-reason to google mangosuthu gatsha buthelezi earlier today and he's still with us

Had no idea Roberta Flack was still alive. 85.