10 Celebrities Who Died Young

Gia
Feb 17, 2017
11 min read

Death is inevitable. Once you were born you will die. Sad truth. No matter how much money or fame you have your day will come. Unless you know the Messiah returns before your end comes in which case if you aren't saved your end will still come anyways if you believe in such things you know what I mean. Here is a list of 10 Celebrities who died young;

1. Amy Winehouse [1983-2011]

Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer and songwriter. She died on July 23, 2011 a month before her 28th birthday from alcohol poisoning. She was known for hits like Rehab and her second album Back to Back releases in 2006 which won five Grammy Awards. She was the first British woman to win five grammies. In 2011 VH1 ranked Winehouse at number 26 on the on their list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music.

2. Paul Walker [1973-2013]

Paul Walkers shocking death swept through Hollywood and the world on November 30,2013 he was 40 years old and in the middle of filming Fast 7. He had played Brian O'Conner a starring character in the previous six installments of Fast And The Furious. Walker has appeared in over a dozen other films. He and Roger Rodas died in the Porsche Carrera GT that crashed into a concrete lamp post in Valencia California . A security camera footage in close to the accident scene confirmed Rodas was the driver and Walker was the passenger. They had just left an event for Walker's charity Reach Out Worldwide for victims of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). Rodas died of multiple traumatic injuries while Walker died from the combined effects of traumatic injury and thermal trauma, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner's office. Both of their bodies were burned beyond recognition.

3. Heath Ledger [1979-2008]

Heathcliff Andrew Ledger was an Australian actor and director. His has been credited for over nineteen films throughout his career. These include the 1999 film Ten Things I Hate About You, 2000-The Patriot, 2001-Monster's Balls,2001-A Knights Tale, 2005-Lords of Dogtown and 2008-The Dark Knight in-which he played The Joker.

On January 22, 2008 Ledger was found unconscious in his bed by his housekeeper and his masseuse in his Soho Manhattan apartment. Attempts to revive him by a private security guard sent to the apartment by Mary-Kate Olsen a close friend to Ledger was of no use according to police report. And so was the efforts by paramedics who arrived at the apartment . Ledger was pronounced dead at 3:36 pm and removed from the apartment. It was later reported that he had died from acute intoxication caused by combination of prescription medication. He was 28 years old when he died.

4. Phillip Seymour Hoffman [1967-2014]

Phillip Seymour Hoffman Oscar winning American actor, director and producer of film and theater. His career began in 1991 in an appearance on a episode of Law and Order and in 1992 he began appearing in films. Between 1997 and 2005 he gained recognition for his supporting role in a number of films including 1997-Boogie Nights, 1998-Happiness, 1998-Patch Adams, 1998-Big Lebowski, 1999-Magnolia, 1999-Talented Mr Ripley, 2000-Almost Famous, 2002-Punch Drunk and 2005-Capote for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor. He also played lead roles in Charlie Wilson's War in 2007, Doubt in 2008 and The Master in 2012 for which he received three Oscar nomination.

He also worked in several private films and Hollywood blockbusters such as Mission Impossible III in 2006.Hoffman appeared on Broadway three times. One of his later roles was Plutarch Heavensbee in the Hunger Games series from 2013-2015.

Hoffman was found dead in the bathroom of a Manhattan apartment on February 2, 2014 by a friend. Detectives who searched the apartment reported that they found heroin, cocaine, and other prescription medication and the Police report stated that a syringe was found in his arm. His death was officially ruled as an accident caused by acute mixed drugs intoxication. He was 46 years old when he died.

5. Kurt Cobain [1967-1994]

Kurt Donald Cobain was an American musician, artist, songwriter, guitarist and poet. In 1987 he and Krist Novoselic formed the band Nirvana their debut album Bleach was released in 1989.

It was said that Cobain suffered from depression as he found it difficult to cope with his fame and his health was not stable and as a result started substance abuse as a coping mechanism. His wife Courtney Love later stated that he had tried several times to end his life before he succeeded and was found dead in his home on April 8, 1994. The Coroner later reported that he may have died on April 4. He was found by an electrician who had went to the premises to install a security camera. He reported that besides very little blood coming from Cobain's ear there were no signs of trauma and it appeared that Cobain was asleep and that is what he thought until he saw the gun shot pointed at his chin. A note found addressed to Cobain's childhood imaginary friend stated that he no longer "felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing... for too many years now". A high concentration of heroin and traces of diazepam were also found in his body. Cobain has shot himself in the head.Kurt Cobain was 27 years old when he died.

6. Diana Princess of Wales [1961-1997]

Diana Spencer was born on July 1, 1961 into a family of nobility with Royal ancestry. On July 29, 1981 she got married to Prince Charles of Wales and her wedding bore two sons Prince William and Harry who were then respectively second and third in the line of succession to the British throne. She was known for her charity work. Problems started in the Prince and Princess's marriage not very long after they wedded and stories began circulating about infidelity by bout Diana and Charles. In 1992 the affairs where exposed by the publication of 'Her True Story' by Andrew Morton and it spoke of Diana's alleged suicidal unhappiness. During 1992 there were several leaks of photographs and telephone conversations from both Charles's and Diana's affair and they were made public via articles in tabloids and magazines and in December of 1992 Prime Minister John Major announced the couples amicable separation to the House of Commons. In December of 1993 Princess Diana announced her withdrawal from public life and Prince Charles sought understanding from the public in the form of a television interview with Jonathan Dimblely on June 29, 1994. In November of 1995 Diana's interview with BBC aired and in December of 1995 Buckingham Palace publicly announced the Queen had sent letters to the Prince and Princess of Wales advising them to divorce. On August 18, 1996 the divorce was final, Diana received a lump sum payment of £17 million as well as £400,000 per year and the couple signed a confidentially agreement that prohibited them to discuss their divorce and their married life.

On August 31, 1997 only a year after her divorce Diana died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris while fleeing reporters. The crash also caused the death of her companion Dodi Fayed and the driver, Henri Paul, acting security manager of the Hôtel Ritz Paris.The initial French judicial investigation concluded the accident was caused by Paul's drunken loss of control. Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of the Paris Ritz where Paul had worked, publicly maintained that the crash had been planned. Over a decade later he recanted his story that Princess Diana's death was murder and not an accident. Diana was 36 years old when she died.

7. River Phoenix [1970-1993]

River Phoenix was an American Actor, Musician and Activist. He began his acting career at age 10 appearing in TV commercials and his work included 24 films and TV appearances. His early rise to fame dubbed him "teen idol". In 1985 he appeared in the film Explorers and in 1986 he appeared in Stand By Me a film based on the Stephen King novel The Body and in 1988 he played a role in Running Empty for which he earned a Academy nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 1991 he played a role in My Own Private Idaho.

On October 30, 1993 Phoenix had a scheduled performance at the Viper Room a Hollywood nightclub then owned by Johnny Depp but had flown to California to finish Dark Blood. He wouldn't make that performance he collapsed outside the nightclub. His brother and sister along with his girlfriend Samantha Mathis who were all in town to join him were present on the scene of his death. It was reported that he died from acute multiple drug intoxication caused by elevated levels of cocaine and morphine in his body. He was only 23 years old when he died.

8. Whitney Houston [1963-2012]

Whitney Houston was an American singer, songwriter, producer actress and model. Houston is one of the pop music best selling music artist of all times and in 2009 she held the Guinness World Record for the most awarded female act of the time. She released a total of seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums which all have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston first movie role was in the Bodyguard released in 1992. The movie received mixed reviews but was a huge success. The soundtrack for the movie was later certified 4x platinum by the RIAA which made Whitney the first female with a single to reach that level in RIAA history. On July 18, 1992 she got married to Bobby Brown an American singer and on March 4, 1993 she gave birth to Bobbi Kristina their only daughter. Whitney would go on to gain roles in Waiting To Exhale, The Preacher's Wife and Cinderella meanwhile her husband was having several run ins with the law and even served jail time. Their relationship was plagued by rumors of drug abuse which many claimed was vivid in her weight lost and frequent cancellation of appearances. In 2002 while promoting her then upcoming album 'Just Whitney' in an interview with Diane Sawyer Whitney admitted substances abuse including cocaine but said crack was cheap and she made way too much money to use crack, she used the term 'crack is whack' which was a Keith Haring's mural painted in 1986 on the hardball court at 128th Street and 2nd Avenue. After years of turmoil Whitney separated from Bobby Brown in 2006 and filed for divorce in October in 2006 and in 2007 she decided to start recording music again. In 2009 Whitney did her first TV interview in seven years on the Oprah Winfrey Show season premiere and in the interview she admitted that she had use drugs lightly before and while filming The Bodyguard and after her daughter was born she became a heavy drug user. She used laced marijuana and cocaine with her then husband Bobby Brown. She stated that she was very unhappy and losing herself. In 2009 she released ' I look to you' and the studio album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart.

On February 11, 2012 Houston was found unconscious in a guest room in the Beverly Hills Hotel. She was submerged in the hotel bathtub. Paramedics arrived at approximately 3:30 pm and found her unresponsive and performed CPR in an effort to revive her which proved futile. She was pronounced dead at 3:55 pm. On March 22, 2012 the Los Angeles Coroner reported that her cause of death was drowning and the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use. The manner of her death was listed as accidental. Her toxicology report recorded a number of substances in her blood including cannabis diphenhydramine and alprazolam. She was 48 years old at the time of her death.

9. Tupac Shakur [1971-1996]

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks on June 16, 1971 and was also known by his stage names Tupac, Makaveli or just Pac. He was a American rapper, record producer, actor and poet. Today he is widely rated as one of the greatest and most influential music artist of all times. His music dominated by violence and expressed the truth of hard life growing up in inner cities, racism along with other social issues. Among his greatest hits are Keep Ya Head Up, Hail Mary, Dear Mama, Changes and Brenda Got A Baby. Pac made his first film appearance in 'Nothing But Trouble' a product of Digital Underworld. He later starred In Juice, Poetic Justice and Above The Rim. After the release of ' Ready To Die' Pac became friends with Notorious B.I.G and its reported that he would frequently visit Pac and they agreed that they might celebrate their birthday together. After several run ins with the law some of which resulted in Pac spending a few days in jail he was he was charged only with other members of his entourage with sexual assault. He denied the charges stating that he had sexual relations with the woman a few days before her rape allegation, the woman admitted to have had performed a sexual act with Pac as he stated but said that she returned to his hotel room a few days after and he along with his crew raped her. Pac was subsequently sentenced to one and a half to four and a half years for the crime. In October 1995 Pac's case was on appeal but he couldn't afford the one and a quarter million dollars bail. After serving nine months of his sentence Suge Knight the CEO of Death Row Records posted his bail in exchange Pac was to release three Albums under the label.

On September 7,1996 Tupac was shot in a drive by shooting while leaving a boxing match he had attended with Suge Knight in Las Vegas Nevada. He would die from the complications of the four shots he received six days after. Suge Knight was also in the car with him got grazed in the head by a bullet fragment.This had been the second attempt on his life as he had been shot five times on the night of November 30, 1994 the day before the verdict in his sexual assault trial. He had accused fellow rapper Notorious B.I.G and Sean Combs along with others for the attempt on his life in an interview with Vibe Magazine in 1995. At the time of his death there was an on going beef between him and Notorious B.I.G which many had tried to link to his death but to this day his murder remains unsolved and others said Suge Knight set up the hit on Tupac because he was in-debt to Pac. Tupac was 25 years old when he died.

In April 2017 Tupac will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

10. The Notorious B.I.G [1974-1997]

The Notorious B.I.G was an American rapper born Christopher George Latore Wallace on May 21, 1972. He was better known by his stage name Biggie Smalls, Biggie or as previously mentioned Notorious B.I.G. Like Tupac his music was influence by the violence and pressures of inner city life and it was later said that he was influenced by Tupac's style of music. Their friendship had collapse after a 1994 attempt on Tupac's life which he blamed on Biggie as well as Sean Combs for orchestrating.

At an early age Biggie got involved in drug dealing which landed him in jail at a very early age. After spending nine months in jail for dealing of crack cocaine in North Carolina Biggie released a demo tape under the name Biggie Smalls and eventhough its said the tape was made with no real intent the tape was promoted by New York DJ Mister Cee who had previously worked with Big Daddy Kane and it was heard by the editor of The Source. In 1992 Biggie was featured in The Source's Unsigned Hype Column and the tape was heard by Uptown Records A&R and record producer Sean Combs, who later signed Biggie to the label. Combs was fired from the label soon after and went on to form his own label Bad Boys Records. Biggie left Uptown Records A&R as well and signed to Bad Boys. After the birth of his first child Biggie reverted to selling drugs saying he must do what it takes to provide for her but Combs found out and forced him to quit. Biggie would gain exposure on a remix to Mary J Blige's single Real Love under the name Notorious B.I.G. He used the name for the remainder of his career after he found out the name Biggie Smalls was already in use. In the months following, his success grew as he worked with artist like LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes. On September 13, 1994 he released his album Ready to Die which featured Juicy/Unbelievable the song which was the lead single on his debut album, the song Big Poppa climbed the U.S rap charts to Number One . Ready TO Die went on to be certified four times platinum. The album's success shift the prominence from West Coast Rap to East Coast Rap and in the months to come a West Coast East Coast rivalry developed between Tupac and Biggie.

On March 8, 1997 Notorious B.I.G attended an after party held by Vibe Magazine in Los Angeles which was also attended by his wife Faith Evans and a number of other artist. He was shot and killed on March 9, 1997 after he left the event. Like Tupac Biggie was the victim of a drive by. Many linked his murder to Tupac's murder a year before because of the similarity in their deaths and like Tupac, Biggie's murder was followed by a number of theories including that Sean Combs was involved in his death. His murder like Pac's is still unsolved.Notorious B.I.G was 24 years old when he died.