2016 - The Dark year for much loved Celebs...

Despite the year only approaching its fifth month, we have already lost many much loved stars and personalities. 2016 had already seen the passing of global stars such as pop-star David Bowie, actor Alan Rickman, and arguably Europe’s best ever footballer Johann Cruyff. Whilst here in the UK, icons such as Sir Terry Wogan, Ronnie Corbett and Victoria Wood have also lost brave battles with illness.

Prince, live in Abu Dhabi 2010

Yesterday a true global icon passed away aged just 57. Prince, was a superstar, whose music touched millions. He inspired a generation, and his music will live forever. I was lucky enough to watch him perform live in Abu Dhabi in 2010, at the closing party for the Formula 1 Grand Prix. He performed for over three hours, embracing the crowd with three encores, inviting 50 fans onto the stage to dance with him, and giving the thousands in attendance a night they would never forget. His passing, similar to David Bowie’s in January has led to their back catalogue of albums and singles storming back to the top of the music charts, bringing their music to a new generation of fans.

The BBC have reported that nearly double the number of obituaries have been used at this stage in a year, than in previous years. Almost five times the number from this time four years ago.

It is interesting to know, that major broadcast produce obituaries in advance of people dying. There is a catalogue of obituaries which are updated accordingly over the years, in advance of someone passing away. According to a BBC article, they have 1500 obituaries on file, waiting for the celebrity, sports star, politician, or even member of the Royal family to pass away, so that they can run the footage if the sad news breaks.

But why has 2016 been such a dark year in terms of much loved people passing away? There have been various articles and news pieces in recent days, and it raises some very interesting points.

Firstly, the rise of popular culture in the 1960s and the arrival of the television in most households lead to more people becoming famous. Back then, if you became a star, you would be in front of an audience of millions. It launched the start of celebrity as we know it. In the UK for an example, a popular light entertainment show could attract 18million viewers on a Saturday night. In that pre internet, pre social media, pre YouTube generation, if you were on television, you would become a genuine house hold name, instead of the Z-listers we have forced down our throats nowadays.

Secondly, the people who became icons in the 1960’s or 1970’s are now in their 70s and 80s and simply starting to die, as is common for us all as humans. It certainly helps that the boom in people becoming famous had led to higher figures. There are simply more famous people than there used to be. Many of these people were born in the post WW2 era, where the population grew due to the famous baby boom. With more babies born in the baby boom, at the same time where these babies grew into the age of the launch of television and pop culture, more and more people became famous.

Thirdly, various reports state that we, as the social media generation, are highlighting and spreading the word of more deaths than ever before. We post #RIP messages about people and share our stories or our pictures of said celebrity, which we probably learned of their passing via social media. In the old days, you wouldn’t find out that someone had passed unless they were important enough to make it on to the evening news, or in a newspaper obituary column. 

This image titled 'Dear Cancer...' went viral after the passing of three global stars. Motorhead front man Lemmy, David Bowie and Alan Rickman

We as this current generation, have grown up watching these older figures, and have formed an affinity to them. Alan Rickman for example was, to me, The Sheriff of Nottingham in one of my favourite movies, Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves. As I mentioned, Prince was one of the best gigs I have ever seen. Sir Terry Wogan was a UK television and radio legend who I watched every year for Children In Need. As a boy I learnt the ‘Cruyff turn’ from very early football training sessions inspired by the Dutch football icon’s signature move. David Bowie to me, was the actor in Labrynth, which was the last film my Grandfather ever worked on, who referred to Bowie as the ‘young rock star’ despite Bowie approaching his 40^th birthday when they made the film. I didn’t become a fan of his music until much later in life. When each of these people died, I, like thousands of others, wrote our own words on social media to pay our respects.

As the year rolls on, there is a huge chance that we will continue to lose many much loved stars. But that is life, and life goes on. Death waits for no man. It is just such a shame when we lose someone we care about. 

Top to bottom (L-R) Alan Rickman, David Bowie, Denise Robertson, Sir Terry Wogan, Victoria Wood, Ronnie Corbett

David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Sir Terry Wogan, Lemmy, Johann Cruyff, Harper Lee, Sir George Martin, Paul Daniels, Ronnie Corbett, David Gest, Chyna, Victoria Wood, Prince and all of the others who I haven’t mentioned. #RIP

The Soap Opera with Huge Men in Small Pants...

Like the majority of young boys in the late 1980s and early 1990s, WWF (now WWE) wrestling was the biggest thing in my life. I had posters on my wall, a collection of action figures to be proud of, and a desire to one day become a WWF wrestler. 

In 1992 I was nine years old. I was luckily enough to go to SummerSlam at London’s Wembley Stadium, as part of an eighty thousand capacity crowd. My Dad took me. It was day I will never forget. I got to see my heroes perform live. Heroes like The Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man Randy Savage, The British Bulldog, Bret Hitman Hart, The Undertaker, The Legion Of Doom and many more all appeared that day, which all added to my excitement. My dad mentioned that he remembers the look on my face that day, despite not remembering much else about the event. I think I found out that we are going to the event a couple of days before hand. I had wanted tickets so bad, but they were like gold dust. Luckily a relative worked for a national newspaper, and somehow three tickets were in our possession. 

When I was a kid, we only had four channels on our television. Therefore, I would beg my father every weekend to take me to our local video store, to rent the latest WWF video. We didn’t have satellite TV until I was in my teens, where I would be able to see the WWE events live on television. 

My mum often reminds me, that as a boy I would spend the majority of my day, laying on my belly in front of the television, watching my latest wrestling video, crashing my prized wrestling figures into one another, making up a full running commentary for the events I had created. The Royal Rumble was always my favourite event to play, I would select my favourite 30 figures, and would create the running order using the information cards on the back of the toy box packaging that I collected from each one. I would shuffle the cards to determine how the match would line up. 

The Ultimate Warrior usually won my events. He was my favourite wrestler on the videos I would watch, and was my favourite figure to play with. He was like a superhero. Sprinting to the ring, shaking the ropes, bright neon colours and awesome face paint, an infinite energy, huge muscles, and a theme tune that would make me so hyperactive. He was the total package for a 9year old boy to aspire to be.

I wouldn’t grow up and become a WWE wrestler. My passion for football had overtaken as I entered teenage years, and by thirteen, it wasn’t really cool to say to your school friends that you still watched wrestling. But secretly, I did still watch it, and I have done sporadically until this day. 

Two years ago, when clearing out my room at my parents’ house, I found my collection of wrestling figures. The one set of toys that I never discarded through my growing life. I had the ring, the soundbox, the accessories, the belts, and the wrestlers themselves were in great condition, despite hours and hours of play. 

My old wrestling figures appearing on TV with Rob Beckett

Despite a real reluctance, I convinced myself that now was the time to part with the collection. I ended up selling everything to an old friend from university, who wanted to use them as inspiration for fancy dress ideas for his brother’s stag party that he was arranging. I sold the collection for £40 + two tickets to my friend’s next comedy gig that was coming up. 

Years later, my friend was appearing on a UK comedy quiz show, where he took some of my former toys as his mascots. It put a huge smile on my face to think of all of the hours spent during my childhood playing with them, but in the time that I had sold them to him, and him appearing on TV, I have had a baby boy, who one day may have loved those toys as much as I did. 

The thing about wrestling, is that it is timeless. There are still guys competing in the WWE who I watched as a boy. (The Undertaker!). The 8year old son of a family friend is as mad about wrestling as I was at his age, and he is learning through TV and video games about the legends of the spot who I grew up watching. The enthusiasm with which he speaks for John Cena and the new generation of superstars, reminds me of my love for the superstars of my generation. Sure it is a soap opera with huge men in small pants, but the technical skill and risk these guys are taking can be awesome to watch, and can bring generations together. We tried in vain to get get tickets for the WWE coming to the UK in September, but we have been unlucky this time. Hopefully he will get to see his heroes next time they are in town.

Warrior accompanied by his daughters during the WWE HoF

As I mentioned earlier, I have only watched it sporadically over the years, but this weekend I watched a tribute programme to my hero The Ultimate Warrior, who had sadly passed away shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame in 2014. What struck me was I now saw the man, opposed to my hero. During his acceptance speech, his words touched me as he addressed his daughters who had accompanied on stage:

“The most awesome thing I will ever do, is be your father”

Despite all the adulation, the money, the super star lifestyle and experiences in his life, the best thing for him was being a dad.

I think many of the young boys of the late 80s and early 90s, will have watched that documentary and probably identified in their own lives. We may not have become The Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan or The British Bulldog, or whatever we said we wanted to be when we were older. But we have grown up, and some by now will have had families of our own. No matter what we have achieved, whether we have been hugely successful or have done as well as our means would allow, if you have become a father, then that is the best thing you will have ever done. 

As a father now, I cannot wait to see if my young son will be as passionate about WWE as I was myself. If he is, I will move heaven and earth to attend a show here in the UK, as I remember the joy and excitement that I felt as a young boy, watching the Ultimate Warrior wrestle, and the main event where The British Bulldog, (the late Davey Boy Smith) won the Intercontinental title from his brother in law Bret The Hitman Hart at SummerSlam 1992. WWE can bring fathers and sons together. It can allow grown men to revert to the boy they once were.

 For me, there is nothing I have achieved in life that comes remotely close to becoming a father. It is with mixed feelings that I am glad to see that Warrior managed to tell his kids how he felt, and that in turn they will be able to see him live on as a hero in all of those Ultimate Warrior fans who loved him & will teach their kids about him.. But also so sorry for his daughters that they won’t have the man himself.

RIP Warrior and all of the other wrestling superstars of my childhood who have passed too soon.