# Yesterday opened Google News to headlines of David Bowie's death. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 12, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980 "2016-01-12T23:48:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/1 "2016-01-12T23:48:31Z")
Yesterday opened Google News to headlines of David Bowie’s death. More today. I’m 77 years old and I never heard of the person. Elsewhere here is a poll about my favorite David Bowie song. None mean anything to me. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/2 "2016-01-12T23:52:28Z")
And? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/3 "2016-01-12T23:54:05Z")
My step-dad (aged 86) had a similar reaction when Robin Williams died. Seemed to be proud of the fact that he had no idea who this guy was, and thought it was silly that his death was taking up so much of his 24-hour news watching channels AND his 6:30 nightly news broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/4 "2016-01-12T23:57:08Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > My step-dad (aged 86) had a similar reaction when Robin Williams died. Seemed to be proud of the fact that he had no idea who this guy was, and thought it was silly that his death was taking up so much of his 24-hour news watching channels AND his 6:30 nightly news broadcast. and don’t get me started on Michael Jackson’s death. He was some singer, i gather. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/5 "2016-01-12T23:57:25Z")
His songs that were played on the radio should be reaching your star system any day now. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/6 "2016-01-13T00:03:45Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > And? thie is ''Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share ‘’. [Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS) For general discussion: from frivolous chatter to deep thoughts; from harmless diversions to life-changing announcements.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/index.php) ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/7 "2016-01-13T00:05:05Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > Yesterday opened Google News to headlines of David Bowie’s death. More today. I’m 77 years old and I never heard of the person. Elsewhere here is a poll about my favorite David Bowie song. None mean anything to me. I take it you’re a Motörhead fan instead? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/8 "2016-01-13T00:27:11Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > I take it you’re a Motörhead fan instead? Who? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/9 "2016-01-13T00:28:15Z")
David Bowie was a singer. Now you know who he is. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/10 "2016-01-13T00:30:03Z")
Well, he was no Messi… ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/11 "2016-01-13T00:30:14Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > I take it you’re a Motörhead fan instead? > [@running\_coach](#): > > Who? No, Motörhead. Who’s got Roger Daltry. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/12 "2016-01-13T00:33:41Z")
I’m not the biggest fan of much of his music, either, but I did know who he was. (I’m quite a bit younger than you.) If my math is correct, he broke big when you were in your early 30s…which was about the same time I (in 2004) started not paying much attention to new music, either. Here’s one you may actually quite like. It’s not one of his rock, soul or funk songs. It’s a duet with Bing Crosby, very mellow and beautiful. [Bing Crosby & David Bowie - “The Little Drummer Boy (Peace On Earth)”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9kfdEyV3RQ) (Fast forward to about 1:45 if you want to get right to the singing; the beginning is banter.) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/13 "2016-01-13T00:33:49Z")
I don’t know, THIRD BASE! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/14 "2016-01-13T00:58:20Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > His songs that were played on the radio should be reaching your star system any day now. I think the problem is that Bowie never made any releases on cuneiform. I do kind of feel like he was one of those people who got more album play than radio play. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a single song from Ziggy Stardust on the radio, it’s usually 80s stuff like Let’s Dance or Under Pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/15 "2016-01-13T01:04:38Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > Yesterday opened Google News to headlines of David Bowie’s death. More today. I’m 77 years old and I never heard of the person. Elsewhere here is a poll about my favorite David Bowie song. None mean anything to me. Super cool story. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/16 "2016-01-13T01:36:59Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > thie is ''Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share ‘’. It’s a forum title, not a dictum. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/17 "2016-01-13T01:58:50Z")
I often feel the same way as the OP when I open the news in the morning and see a story about the passing of this celebrity or that celebrity. I usually mumble something to myself like “don’t know who that was, don’t care” And even for celebrities who I am very familiar with, it just doesn’t matter so much to me. I harbor a certain degree of dislike for society’s deification of ordinary individuals. With that said, I felt an unusually deep sadness yesterday when I read about David Bowie. As I sat with the kids eating breakfast I said “Kids, we’re listening to David Bowie this morning on the drive to school.” I put on Ziggy Stardust and rocked on as we cruised through the cold New Jersey morning. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/18 "2016-01-13T02:08:41Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > It’s a forum title, not a dictum. But can you imagine a world where we didn’t _know_ the OP had never heard of David Bowie? I mean, we’d go about our merry way and just _assume_ she’d heard of him, like everyone else has. I can see how that would really get under the OP’s skin - all these _assumptions_ about having something approaching a normal exposure to popular culture. It’s a blessing, a god damn _blessing_, that we have been set straight, and now know for a certainty that the OP had never heard of David Bowie before he died. Thank you, OP, for letting us know this crucial piece of information. You are automatically so much cooler for not having heard of someone completely famous, and it will be noted in your permanent file. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/19 "2016-01-13T02:11:04Z")
Wasn’t he a knifemaker? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980/20 "2016-01-13T02:21:13Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Wasn’t he a knifemaker? Yup. I met him at the Alamo. There we were, standing shoulder to shoulder with Sonny Crockett. Cannon to the left of us, cannon to the right of us. I turned to ol’ Sonny Crockett and said, “Well, Sonny, it looks like this is the end.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yesterday-opened-google-news-to-headlines-of-david-bowies-death/742980.md?page=2)