That's a perfectly rational explanation. I don't really get the celebrity culture or why anyone accepts it, but they do. There is certainly nothing innately virtuous about it, and as you illustrated, it's pretty irrational.

Folks accept it because it's entertainment. Folks like celebrity gossip/entertainment, especially if it's negative (lies or truth).

Yep.

Singers usually provide the soundtracks to folks' lives (ex. I love XYZ because she was on the radio when I had my first kiss). Of course, this is going to cause people to get attached to them.

If (general) YOU don't have a connection to the artists, that's fine, but we can't discount their contributions to entertainment. The Beatles were before my time, so while I wouldn't flip tables and take off of work when McCartney passes away, I'll understand if others are upset.

I was also thinking about something else recently. I'm 27, so MJ and Whitney (among others) have been constants in my life (as long as I can remember, MJ and Whitney have been around). With their deaths, it's making me feel like I'm "closer to death" (if that makes sense), which is a bit of a downer.

Ditto. Seeing people who have been "present" my ENTIRE life die trips me out. I remember watching the world premiere of the "Remember the Time" video when I was 7. To think that MJ is no longer living (even though he died younger than most) is a huge reminder of how much of my life has passed and how much older I am. Time is precious and that loss made me more aware of how fast it's going. In that vein, it's also trippy seeing people close to my parents' age or younger die. It makes me more aware that my time with them is limited as well. :(

When I think of Whitney, I remember watching The Preacher's Wife with my mom, dancing to her music with my friends, etc. So it does feel a little bit like a personal loss because Whitney was "there" in those intimate moments.

Dolly wrote the song.;)

I understand this on a general level ... but the song still exists, and all that, you know?

This is a very good point, as it's essentially the dissonance I was talking about - and it's a mechanism we all share. We just have different manners of expression.

But she didn't sing it the way I sang it and it wasn't the words that got the baby to sleep! This is not the Dolly Parton thread! :p

But you and Whitney couldn't have sung it at all if Dolly hadn't written it in the first place. ;)

Fine! Thank you DOLLY for writing the song that Whitney made epic and I remixed into a lullaby full of win. You happy? :p

No. Dolly made the song epic while Whitney was still a child.

I'm sure, though, the lullaby was full of win. ;)

Jesus effing Christ in a chicken basket, you people.

I swear.

I'm pretty sure christiangirl knew that Dolly Parton wrote and originally sang the song. Dolly Parton is making money from the success of Houston's version regardless.

R.I.P. Whitney Houston. I still can't believe it. She was my motivation behind wanting to be a professional singer. Keep the music going.

Well hell, I personally have always adored THIS version:

http://youtu.be/D090T2MSxKY

She sang it in concert at the TCC Music Hall in 1976 or 1977 and I thought every single piece of glass in the building was going to shatter and the ceiling was going to lift up and the angels were going to come and sit on the stage. So much power came out of that tiny package. I held my breath the entire time she was singing.

AzTheta, thanks for that. I had no idea Linda had covered it. Gorgeous.

I had to click on the link (even though I'm sick to death of this song) because for a minute I thought you meant Linda McCartney and I was scared.