Famous people (living or dead) whose deaths are mentioned in a song

Cafe Society
1

For obvious reasons, I was thinking of the showtune from Billy Elliot Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher, which includes the line

Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher
May God’s love be with you
we all sing together in one breath;
Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher
We all celebrate today
For it brings us one day
closer to your death!

(That will probably be an awkward moment next time it plays in the show.)

I can only think of one other song that mentions the death of a person who was living when the song was written, that being Timothy Leary in The Moody Blues Legend of a Mind.

I can think of a few famous people whose deaths were referenced after they were dead, but can anybody think of any others whose deaths were mentioned in song while they were living?

And if not, who were some famous folk, living or dead and OTHER THAN JESUS, whose deaths were mentioned in songs?

A close-but-not-quite: McCartney wrote a song about Picasso’s Last Words the day he read them, per anecdote to win a bet with Dustin Hoffman that he could write a song about a random event in the newspaper.

2

Well, Maggie Thatcher merited a couple more death songs: Tramp the Dirt Down by Elvis Costello and Margaret on the Guillotine by Morrisey.

3

While he isn’t mentioned by name, Martin Luther King Jr’s death is the subject of U2’s Pride (In the Name of Love)
and having actually read the OP fully, I see that he’s asking for people who were living when the song was written…so never mind…

4

How about “Don Henley Must Die” by Mojo Nixon? (Mentions Sting too)

I guess there are a bunch of songs in which the singer sings about their own death; does that count? David Bowie’s is the only one I know in which it was used as the title.

5

Paul Simon’s song “The Late Great Johnny Ace” mentions three Johns dead before their time: R & B singer Johnny Ace (naturally), JFK, and in the last verse:

On a cold December evening
I was walking through the Christmas tide
When a stranger came up and asked me
If I’d heard John Lennon had died
And the two of us went to this bar
And we stayed to close the place
And every song we played
Was for The Late Great Johnny Ace.

6

“If I had a million dollars,
I’d buy you John Davidson’s remains …”

7

“Timothy Leary is dead…” (Moody Blues)

8

John Lennon in ‘I Just Shot John Lennon’ by the Cranberries

9

Ha, the original lyrics are “John Merrick’s remains… all them crazy elephant bones” but they say “Davidson” in the live version from Rock Spectacle.

10

John Denver discussed his simple funeral needs in Forest Lawn…

11

Which led me to believe that John Davidson was actually dead for a number of years.

12

James Brown is Dead.

13

No no, he’s outside, looking in.

14

Abraham, Martin and John, oh and Bobby too.

“Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio?”

15

Lenny Bruce is dead - Bob Dylan

16

It’s too late / to fall in love with Sharon Tate

17

Paul Simon (& Garfunkel) So Long Frank Lloyd Wright

His/their third mention so far in this thread.

18

Bela Lugosi’s Dead

19

There was also the repulsive song “We’ll Dance On Your Grave Mrs. Thatcher”.

20

There’s also “The Day That Thatcher Dies” by Hefner.

Badly Drawn Boy in You Were Right mentions a swathe of them